Crystal Lake Healthcare & Rehab

    395 Lakeside Boulevard, Bayville, NJ, 08721
    1.8 · 5 reviews
    • Skilled nursing
    AnonymousLoved one of resident
    1.0

    Prison-like facility, neglectful and unsafe

    I visited my mother and was shocked by the prisoner-like setup - ankle bracelet, restricted movement and visits, old elevators and residents lined up in hallways. Meds and tests were often delayed or rescheduled, night staff rarely checked on people, and I felt there was neglect and possible overmedication; I cried all the way home. Day nurses were caring and some staff pleasant, but overall I found it unsafe and wouldn't recommend sending a loved one there.

    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

    1.80 · 5 reviews

    Overall rating

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

      1.8
    • Staff

      2.3
    • Meals

      1.0
    • Amenities

      2.0
    • Value

      1.8

    Pros

    • Professional and pleasant staff
    • Caring day-shift nurses
    • Friendly/nice nursing staff
    • Ability to form relationships with staff and family members
    • Some family members would recommend or send another relative

    Cons

    • Allegations of resident abuse
    • Neglect, especially on midnight/night shifts
    • Overmedication and medication delays
    • Restricted movement (ankle bracelet/prisoner-like treatment)
    • Restricted visitation or denied visits
    • Old, poorly maintained facilities (elevators, general upkeep)
    • Residents left lined up in hallways
    • Poor food quality
    • Rescheduled tests and delays in medical care
    • Uncaring, unresponsive, or understaffed shifts
    • Discrimination reported
    • Perception that facility is unsafe or unsuitable for loved ones

    Summary review

    Overall sentiment from these reviews is mixed but heavily weighted toward serious concerns. A minority of comments describe positive, personal experiences — primarily involving professional, pleasant, and caring day-shift nurses and the ability for families to form relationships with particular staff members. A few reviewers explicitly stated they liked the facility and would consider sending another family member there. However, the dominant themes are negative and consistent across multiple reviews, with several reporting safety, care-quality, and management problems.

    Care quality and staffing show a clear split in reviewers' experiences. Many reviewers praised the daytime nursing staff as caring and professional, but multiple reviews describe neglect and poor monitoring during overnight or midnight shifts. Reported problems include residents rarely being checked on at night, staff appearing uncaring or uninformed about residents' medications, delayed medication administration, and tests being rescheduled. Overmedication is explicitly cited in some reviews, and several family members described situations that caused emotional distress (e.g., crying on the drive home). These reports point to inconsistent standards of care depending on shift and personnel, with apparent lapses in medication management and follow-through on medical orders.

    Safety, resident dignity, and physical environment are recurring issues. Reviewers describe the facility as old and poorly maintained (noting old elevators), with troubling operational practices such as residents being lined up in hallways. Several reviewers allege treatment that felt "prisoner-like," including the use of an ankle bracelet and movement restrictions. Some family members reported being prevented from visiting their loved ones. Collectively, these accounts raise concerns about resident autonomy, supervision, and basic safety. Strongly worded comments characterize the facility as unsafe or call it a "hellhole," with some reviewers wishing it would be shut down — language that indicates severe dissatisfaction and fear for resident welfare.

    Management, communication, and institutional culture emerge as additional negative themes. Reviewers report discrimination and a lack of responsiveness from staff or administration when concerns are raised. There are complaints about rescheduled tests and delays in care that suggest poor coordination with outside providers or internal scheduling problems. A few comments frame the facility as a low-quality, state-run institution; whether that is a universal descriptor or reflects individual perceptions, it highlights a perception of systemic underfunding or low standards. At the same time, the presence of praised day-staff indicates that there are dedicated individuals working within the facility, but their efforts may be undermined by staffing shortages, policy, or management issues.

    In summary, these reviews present a facility with pockets of competent and caring staff — especially during daytime hours — but with frequent, serious complaints about neglect, safety, and institutional practices. The most concerning patterns are alleged resident abuse or degrading treatment, medication mismanagement or delays, restricted visitation and movement, night-shift neglect, and deteriorating physical conditions. Families reading these reviews should weigh the positive remarks about individual staff relationships against repeated reports of systemic problems and potential safety risks. The pattern suggests the need for closer oversight, improved staffing and training (especially overnight), clearer visitation and restraint policies, better medication management, and facility maintenance to address the most serious concerns raised by multiple reviewers.

    Location

    Map showing location of Crystal Lake Healthcare & Rehab

    About Crystal Lake Healthcare & Rehab

    Crystal Lake Healthcare & Rehab sits with a total of 235 certified beds and keeps around 200 residents each day, offering long-term skilled nursing care and short-term post-acute rehab, and this place is known for having a wide range of care services like high acuity care, incontinence care, medication management, non-ambulatory care, and staff who help with treatments for people who need extra attention, and they also handle things like respite stays, hospice care, post-stroke care, tracheotomy needs, and several types of recovery care including for hip and knee replacement, wounds, diabetes, and pain. Folks here get access to a mental health program that includes psychiatric and psychotherapy services, social workers, individual and group therapies, and even methadone maintenance, along with a Certified Dementia Unit and behavior management for those who need it, and there's therapy available like physical, occupational, and speech therapies, IV treatments, cardiac, and pulmonary care, too. Rooms come with Wi-Fi, and community features include a computer room, library, recreation rooms, beauty parlor, lounges, dining hall, and even a smoking room and outdoor patios so residents have different places to spend their time, and meals offer choices like low or no sodium, vegetarian, kosher, and no sugar menus. They've got special therapeutic activities, outings, an exercise room, common areas with TVs for social time, and amenities like free Wi-Fi, complimentary rides, and a concierge, so there's a little extra comfort and convenience, plus they offer medical and social services from podiatric to diagnostic lab work. Nurse staffing is lower than average at 3.28 nurse hours per resident per day (state average is 3.9), and nurse turnover is high at 60.9% compared to the state's 41.8%, while ownership is held by Pbv Herman Holdings LLC and others, though there's no clear info about who's managing the day-to-day. It's important to know that Crystal Lake Healthcare & Rehab is a Special Focus Facility Candidate, meaning it's had serious quality problems before, with 38 deficiencies in recent inspection reports that include issues with resident privacy, responding to claims of abuse and neglect, infection control, and steps taken to protect residents from harm, so these are real challenges, but the facility still works to provide needed services for many types of residents, including veterans and those with behavioral health needs.

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