Overall sentiment across the reviews is mixed, with clear polarization between strong praise for specific staff, therapists, and parts of the facility and serious complaints about inconsistent care, safety lapses, and management issues. Multiple reviewers describe very positive experiences: clean facilities, welcoming front-desk staff, caring nursing personnel, excellent physical therapy teams, pleasant rooms, and active on-site amenities such as exercise and swimming that give parts of the campus a retirement-community feel rather than a typical nursing-home environment. These positive accounts often emphasize staff who go "above and beyond," communicative and professional nurses, and families who felt supported when advocacy was present.
Counterbalancing the praise are numerous reports of quality and safety concerns. Reviewers repeatedly cite inconsistent care across units and shifts — praise on one day or in one area is matched by reports of neglect, apathy, or even verbal abuse in others. Serious safety issues are described: failure to follow two-person assist guidelines, lack of needed equipment like shower chairs, delayed responses to call buttons (one review specifically noted about a 40-minute wait), and at least one reported resident fall that resulted in a fracture. Several reviewers link these problems to short staffing and an over-reliance on agency nurses. Complaints about staff behavior include negative attitudes from some CNAs and a head nurse, nurses being distracted on phones, and alarming reports of staff grabbing family phones and attempting to delete photos — all of which contribute to a climate of fear about raising concerns, including fears of retaliation and descriptions of residents or families feeling unsafe to advocate.
Dining and daily-care routines are another recurring theme of variability. Some reviewers say meals were fine or good and that dining areas differ by unit; others report that diabetic diets were not followed, meals were not offered, food was left unattended, and spills were left on floors for long periods. There is also an allegation of improper dish sanitation in the kitchen. Laundry and basic hygiene care were called into question in several reviews: laundry not done, promised showers not provided, and inconsistent assistance with transfers and mobility needs. These deficits in routine care compound the safety concerns and heighten family members' anxiety about discharge readiness and appropriate rehabilitation progress. Multiple reviewers specifically complained about premature or forced discharges and unsafe transfers to other facilities when the resident was not ready or still required more physical therapy.
Management and facility-level issues appear to underlie many of the negative reports. Reviewers cite insufficient staffing levels, poor organizational structure, and inconsistency between different campus areas as drivers of uneven service. Positive operational notes — such as a director of nursing present on a Saturday and quick placement in some cases — coexist with criticisms that management needs to be more structured and that staffing should be improved. Physical facility impressions are mostly favorable (clean, great rooms), but some minor aesthetic complaints (poor rug/carpet selection) were noted.
A clear pattern emerges: experiences at Myerstown Nursing and Rehab are highly variable and often depend on the unit, shift, and individuals on duty. Strengths include committed clinical and therapy staff, a clean facility in many areas, and robust activity options that support a retirement-community atmosphere for some residents. Significant weaknesses, however, include safety lapses, inconsistent basic care (showers, laundry, diabetic meal management), potential for staff misconduct, and management/staffing shortfalls that lead to neglect, falls, and premature discharges in a subset of cases. Families who reported positive outcomes often did so after active advocacy, whereas those with negative outcomes frequently reported fear of retaliation or inadequate responses when escalating concerns. These patterns suggest the facility has capable staff and resources but struggles with consistency, staffing, and management oversight — issues that materially affect resident safety and the family experience.
