Avocado Post Acute

    510 East Washington Avenue, El Cajon, CA, 92020
    2.9 · 10 reviews
    • Skilled nursing
    AnonymousLoved one of resident
    2.0

    Caring staff but systemic failures

    I wanted to love this place - the grounds are bright, the food is good, rehab is excellent, activities plentiful, and many staff treated us like family and were kind and attentive. But administration and communication were atrocious: nurses often unreachable, care plans mismanaged, delays in meds/services and Meals on Wheels, and chronic understaffing. Safety and dignity were compromised by roommate noise and odors, discharge errors, mishandled hospital transfers/COVID response, and poor accountability (I was even told a body was sent to the wrong funeral home). I appreciated many caring individuals, but I cannot recommend the facility given these systemic failures.

    Pricing

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    Amenities

    Healthcare services

    • Activities of daily living assistance
    • Assistance with bathing
    • Assistance with dressing
    • Assistance with transfers
    • Medication management
    • Mental wellness program

    Healthcare staffing

    • 12-16 hour nursing
    • 24-hour call system
    • 24-hour supervision

    Meals and dining

    • Diabetes diet
    • Meal preparation and service
    • Restaurant-style dining
    • Special dietary restrictions

    Room

    • Air-conditioning
    • Cable
    • Fully furnished
    • Housekeeping and linen services
    • Kitchenettes
    • Private bathrooms
    • Telephone
    • Wifi

    Transportation

    • Community operated transportation
    • Transportation arrangement
    • Transportation arrangement (non-medical)

    Common areas

    • Beauty salon
    • Computer center
    • Dining room
    • Fitness room
    • Gaming room
    • Garden
    • Outdoor space
    • Small library
    • Wellness center

    Community services

    • Concierge services
    • Fitness programs
    • Move-in coordination

    Activities

    • Community-sponsored activities
    • Planned day trips
    • Resident-run activities
    • Scheduled daily activities

    2.90 · 10 reviews

    Overall rating

    1. 5
    2. 4
    3. 3
    4. 2
    5. 1
    • Care

      2.7
    • Staff

      2.8
    • Meals

      3.7
    • Amenities

      2.3
    • Value

      2.9

    Pros

    • Many staff members described as kind, caring, and patient
    • Attentive nursing and therapy staff in some cases
    • Strong rehabilitation program with positive outcomes
    • Good meals and reported weight gain for some residents
    • Plenty of activities reported by some reviewers
    • Bright, inviting facility and pleasant grounds
    • Clean and professionally run experience reported by some families
    • Friendly, welcoming staff; some residents felt 'at home'
    • Responsive to care and medication changes in some instances
    • Helpful staff and supportive rehab therapists
    • Some families highly recommend the facility

    Cons

    • Poor and inconsistent communication with families and POA
    • Rude, intimidating, or snarky administrative or nursing staff
    • Care plan mismanagement and capacity/misassessment issues
    • Delays in in-home health services and Meals on Wheels
    • Lack of information and failure to provide hospital paperwork
    • Safety concerns including electronic bracelet issues
    • Roommate conflicts (noise, coughing from tracheostomy)
    • Placement in double/shared rooms against family wishes
    • Persistent foul odors and smell of decay in rooms
    • Understaffing and unresponsive nurses
    • Hospital transfers without proper documentation
    • Allegations of dishonesty and lack of accountability
    • Severe clinical incidents reported (sepsis, life support, death)
    • Mishandling after death (body sent to wrong funeral home)
    • COVID outbreak mishandling and misinformation
    • Not thoroughly cleaned rooms and hygiene issues
    • Risk of skin breakdown and inadequate care for wounds
    • Discharge errors (e.g., PICC line left in)
    • Inconsistent quality between shifts/units
    • Some reviewers found dining and activity offerings inadequate

    Summary review

    Overall sentiment across the reviews is highly mixed and polarized: many families and residents praise individual frontline caregivers, therapy staff, meals, and the rehabilitation program, while a substantial number of reviews describe serious systemic problems with communication, administration, cleanliness, safety, and consistency of care. A recurring theme is a sharp contrast between the bedside manner and effectiveness of many direct-care staff (who are frequently called kind, caring, attentive, and like family) and the facility’s administrative, documentation, and communication failings.

    Care quality and clinical management show wide variability. Several reviewers report excellent rehab outcomes, weight gain, and responsive medication/care changes, describing the facility as the "best rehab" with helpful therapists and attentive staff. Conversely, other accounts describe care plan mismanagement, nurses who did not know the patient’s treatment plan, capacity misassessment, and serious clinical lapses such as sepsis, life support, hospitalizations, and in at least one report, death. There are also specific clinical errors and unsafe transitions noted: hospital transfers without paperwork, failure to provide hospital documentation to families, discharge errors such as leaving a PICC line in place, and alleged dishonesty or lack of accountability from administration.

    Communication and administration emerge as the most frequently mentioned problem area. Multiple reviews cite poor, delayed, or misleading communication with families and powers of attorney, failure to notify relatives in a timely manner, and inconsistent or missing information about a resident’s status. Reviewers describe rude or intimidating interactions with some staff and administrators, mislabeled paperwork, and a general perception of atrocious administration despite many compassionate frontline employees. COVID-19 outbreak handling is specifically criticized in one account for mishandling and misinformation. The net effect described by several families is distress caused not only by clinical events but by opaque or evasive communication from the facility.

    Staffing, responsiveness, and safety concerns are prominent. Understaffing and unresponsive nurses are reported repeatedly, with families unable to reach nurses or obtain status updates. Safety concerns include electronic bracelet problems, roommate-related risks (for example, a roommate with a tracheostomy producing loud coughing and potential infection risk), and placements in double rooms that exposed residents to odors, noise, and distress. Several reviews mention smells of decay or persistent odors in rooms, inadequate cleaning, and concerns about hygiene and skin breakdown risk—conditions that affect dignity, comfort, and basic safety.

    Facilities, cleanliness, dining, and activities are described inconsistently across reviews. Some families praise the facility as bright, inviting, clean, with nice grounds, good meals, and plenty of activities; those residents reported positive rehabilitation progress and satisfaction. Other reviewers report stinky rooms, inadequate cleaning, limited or poor activities, and that some units were "not a place to eat." This split suggests that experience may depend heavily on unit, shift, or which specific staff are on duty.

    Notable patterns and takeaways: (1) strong and caring frontline staff are frequently acknowledged and are often credited with good rehabilitation outcomes and compassionate day-to-day care; (2) administrative failures, poor communication, and documentation errors create substantial distress and, in some reports, safety risks; (3) cleanliness and infection-control concerns are mentioned alongside serious clinical incidents, raising red flags about consistency of protocols; and (4) experiences vary greatly between reviewers, indicating inconsistent quality and reliability across units and shifts. Families considering this facility should weigh the positive reports of rehabilitative success and compassionate caregivers against repeated reports of administrative breakdowns, communication failures, safety concerns, and cleanliness issues. If considering admission, prospective residents and families should explicitly ask about staffing ratios, single-room availability, documentation and transfer procedures, infection control measures, and how family notifications are handled during clinical changes or emergencies.

    Location

    Map showing location of Avocado Post Acute

    About Avocado Post Acute

    Avocado Post Acute sits over on East Washington Avenue in El Cajon, California, and it's a nursing home designed for adults and older seniors who need skilled nursing, short-term rehab, or long-term care, and you'll see they cover a lot of ground with both post-acute care and regular support for folks who need help with daily activities. The rooms come in semi-private styles running from six to nine thousand dollars a month, or if you need a private room, those range from seven to ten thousand. Meals are included, and they've got special kitchenettes, air conditioning, furnished rooms, private bathrooms, and safety features built in, and you'll notice details like cable TV, Wi-Fi, telephones, housekeepers, washers and dryers, and regular room maintenance, which keeps things tidy and safe, especially for anyone with mobility needs.

    You walk down the halls and see a lot of activity-a game and activities room, a library and arts room, a fitness center, spa and sauna, even a small movie theater, and they make room for organized social events, arts and crafts, music programs, outings to places like the San Diego Zoo, and group education. Residents join wellness programs, use the walking paths, take part in the garden, and there's a resident-run activities program that helps folks stay connected. They do meals every day, with options for special diets, and a registered dietitian nutritionist on staff, plus a director of nursing. For care, they have licensed vocational nurses, a registered dietitian-medicare insurance broker, personal care assistants, and nurses available 12-16 hours a day, with a 24-hour call system and around-the-clock supervision.

    Medical support runs deep here, with skilled care in cardiopulmonary recovery, wound care, neurological disorders and stroke, feeding and oral motor needs, and staff can help residents with bathing, dressing, transferring, and medication management, and there's transportation if someone needs to get to appointments. You'll find that they're set up for safety-handicap accessible, emergency alert system, sprinkler system-and the community caters to both adults and the elderly. Since opening in 2008, managed by Mr. Owner/Manager, they've maintained a good standing, run a team of about 51 to 200 employees, and have a CMS 5-star rating and an A+ business file, though they aren't listed as BBB Accredited. Long-term care insurance is accepted, and the team helps coordinate move-ins, provides social services, and creates tailored care plans, working with therapists and doctors for rehab after a hospital stay, surgery, illness, or injury. If you head outside, you'll find gardens, outdoor programs, and guest parking, and inside, amenities like a salon and dining room keep daily life comfortable and social. The facility keeps developing more services, and residents have chances for both inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation. The website has more updates as new services come along.

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