Overall sentiment in these reviews is mixed, with strongly polarized experiences: several reviewers praise the facility for excellent rehabilitation outcomes and attentive, courteous staff, while others report serious lapses in basic nursing care, communication, and professionalism. The dominant positive theme is the quality of rehab/therapy services. Multiple reviewers explicitly describe therapists and rehab staff as exceptional, providing personal attention that led to meaningful improvements (one reviewer described a "phenomenal experience" and others said the rehab staff "helped dad"). Several commenters contrasted Woodcliff Lake favorably against other local rehabs, indicating that for post-acute rehab needs the facility can be markedly better than alternatives. The family-owned, hands-on nature of the facility is repeatedly noted as a strength, with some families feeling that management and named staff (e.g., Maryann) contributed to a caring environment where residents felt loved and well cared for.
However, the negative reports raise important and recurring concerns about nursing care, basic activities of daily living, and administrative practices. Multiple reviewers describe poor communication — including inconsistent call lists, unreturned messages, and nursing staff not being aware of patient-specific allowances (for example, walking privileges). There are serious allegations around the handling of medical proxies and advance directives, which one reviewer labeled "incorrect". Another reviewer described an in-house social worker as unprofessional. Together these point to systemic communication and documentation weaknesses that can directly affect patient safety and family trust.
Care delivery issues are a frequent negative theme beyond communication. Some reviewers report long waits for aide assistance to go to the bathroom and being told to urinate in a diaper, as well as infrequent showers (one report stated showers occurred only every two weeks). Several comments describe aides as having limited English proficiency and being "snippy" or "lazy," suggesting both a language barrier and potential staffing morale or training problems. These accounts indicate variability in the quality of basic nursing and aide-level care; while some families experienced attentive nursing, others encountered neglect or rough treatment, which is a major concern for long-term or post-acute care settings.
Coordination between clinical teams is another area of inconsistency. A number of reviewers stated that rehab services were not well integrated with nursing staff — for example, nursing personnel being unaware of rehab-prescribed walking allowances — which suggests gaps in interdisciplinary communication and care planning. This lack of coordination can undermine rehabilitation gains and cause frustration for families expecting a unified care approach.
Administrative and ethical concerns appear in a few reviews and merit attention: one reviewer alleged the facility refused to release a patient to home health services in order to continue billing, an accusation suggesting questionable discharge or financial practices. There are also repeated complaints about inconsistent or unreliable call lists and unreturned messages, which contribute to a perception of poor management responsiveness.
Notably, the reviews contain little to no direct commentary on dining or formal activity programming aside from references to residents "exercising there." Because dining and structured activities were not mentioned in these summaries, no definitive conclusions can be drawn about those domains from the available data. The most consistent positive indicators are centered on rehabilitation outcomes and certain caring staff members; the most consistent negatives relate to communication failures, variable nursing/aide care, and coordination problems between rehab and nursing teams.
In summary, Woodcliff Lake Health & Rehabilitation Center appears capable of providing excellent, even outstanding, rehabilitation and therapy care under some circumstances, with a compassionate, hands-on management culture reported by several families. At the same time, there is a clear pattern of operational and clinical inconsistencies that have led to serious negative experiences for other families — ranging from poor basic care (toileting and hygiene) and language/attitude issues among aides to administrative lapses and worrying allegations about proxy handling and discharge practices. Prospective residents and families should weigh the strong rehab reputation and positive staff experiences against the reported variability in nursing/aide care and communication, and consider asking the facility specific questions about care coordination, staffing, documentation of advance directives, response times for call lights, and how they ensure integration between therapy and nursing teams before admission.
