Squirrel Hill Wellness And Rehabilitation Center

    2025 Wightman Street, Pittsburgh, PA, 15217
    2.0 · 5 reviews
    • Skilled nursing
    AnonymousLoved one of resident
    1.0

    Profit-driven understaffed care caused death

    I fell for the glossy sales pitch and moved my loved one in, but it's a profit-driven, understaffed place. Communication was non-existent, staff were untrained and rude, and care was bare-minimum - no hot water, late meals with no choices, missed meds, dehydration, and neglected hygiene. Therapy was inconsistent, rooms were dirty and doubled up, and residents even wore each other's clothes. My relative developed bedsores, infections, was hospitalized and ultimately died after repeated lapses in care. Do not trust their promises.

    Pricing

    Schedule a Tour

    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

    2.00 · 5 reviews

    Overall rating

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

      1.2
    • Staff

      1.2
    • Meals

      1.5
    • Amenities

      1.0
    • Value

      2.0

    Pros

    • Friendly, cordial staff interactions at admission or initially
    • Attractive, cheerful appearance of facility
    • Some staff members are nice and personable
    • Speech therapy provided intermittently

    Cons

    • Rude, uncaring, and/or uneducated staff
    • Basic personal care lapses (residents left soiled or dirty)
    • Neglected grooming (teeth, nails, hair)
    • Inadequate or ineffective rehabilitation services
    • Care-plan meetings and promises not honored
    • Residents left immobile in bed without assistance for eating/drinking
    • Only occasional availability of certain therapists (speech only)
    • Profit-driven behavior and aggressive sales pitch
    • Poor communication from staff/management
    • Chronic understaffing and insufficiently trained staff
    • No hot water reported
    • Dehydration of residents
    • Meals late and lack of menu options
    • Medications not given on schedule
    • Residents wearing clothing belonging to others
    • Inconsistent or insufficient follow-up therapy
    • Rooms overcrowded or converted from single to double occupancy
    • Rooms and facility cleanliness problems
    • Rigid, schedule-driven care with little personal interaction
    • Poor competency in dementia care
    • Ignored bowel-care schedules and hydration protocols
    • Bed/bedding issues causing breathing problems
    • Bed sores poorly treated (gauze only) and development of pressure injuries
    • Reported deaths and emergency hospital transfers
    • Infections (E. coli, UTIs) occurring among residents
    • Noisy environment and general lack of attention

    Summary review

    Overall sentiment from the collected reviews is predominantly negative, with multiple accounts describing systemic failures in basic nursing care, therapy delivery, facility maintenance, and management communication. A small number of reviewers note positive first impressions—friendly admissions staff, an attractive and cheerful setting, and some individual staff members who are personable—but these positive notes are overwhelmed by consistent, detailed complaints about day-to-day care and safety.

    Care quality emerges as the most significant concern. Multiple reviews report residents being left soiled, unbathed, with neglected oral care, nails, and hair. Reviewers describe failure to assist with basic activities of daily living such as repositioning, feeding, and offering fluids; several accounts specifically mention dehydration and patients left in bed all day without being moved or helped to drink or eat. Medication administration is reported as irregular, and promised follow-up care or rehabilitation after acute events (including emergency surgery) was either insufficient or inconsistent. Serious clinical consequences are described: pressure injuries (bed sores) that were reportedly treated inadequately, episodes of labored breathing associated with bed/bedding issues, and transfers to hospitals for infections or worsening conditions. One reviewer explicitly reports a patient death with concerns about the timeline and the adequacy of care prior to transfer.

    Rehabilitation and therapy services are another recurring theme of concern. Multiple reviewers call rehab services "a joke," stating therapy is inconsistent, promised programs are not delivered, and the only therapist who appears with any regularity is speech therapy. For residents needing intensive post-surgical or post-hospital rehabilitation, these gaps are presented as acute problems that may have impeded recovery. Reviewers also note that therapy schedules are unpredictable and sometimes canceled or not followed up on, contributing to a sense that the facility does not deliver on rehabilitation commitments.

    Staffing and management issues are repeatedly highlighted as root causes. Reviews describe staff as rude, untrained, uncaring, or simply too few in number to meet resident needs. Several comments characterize care as "schedule-driven" rather than person-centered, implying that staffing priorities are task-oriented rather than focused on individualized care. Communication failures—both in keeping families informed and in following through on care-plan promises—are frequently mentioned. Some reviewers interpret these problems as arising from profit-driven motives, referencing a strong admissions/sales focus that contrasts with poor ongoing clinical performance.

    Facility and environmental problems compound clinical concerns. Reports of crowded rooms and conversion of single rooms to double occupancy, dirty rooms, no hot water, and a noisy atmosphere suggest maintenance and infection-prevention shortcomings. There are also troubling mentions of clothing being mixed among residents, late meals with no menu choices, and medication schedules not being adhered to. Reviewers cite occurrences of infections such as E. coli and urinary tract infections, and several describe emergency hospital transfers that resulted from or followed these issues.

    Taken together, the review summaries point to a pattern: an initially pleasant or professional front-end experience (admissions, sales, some friendly staff) followed by declining quality of daily care driven by understaffing, poor training, inconsistent therapy, and weak operational oversight. The complaints are consistent across personal hygiene, feeding and hydration, medication administration, wound care, infection control, and communication. While there are isolated positives—individual staff who are kind, a generally attractive facility appearance, and intermittent speech therapy—these do not appear to compensate for the systemic care and safety concerns raised.

    For families evaluating this facility, the reviews suggest several specific areas to probe directly before placement: current staffing levels and staff training (especially for dementia care and wound prevention), adherence to medication and feeding schedules, infection-control policies and recent infection history, therapy schedules and measurable rehabilitation outcomes, bed- and pressure-injury prevention protocols, and documentation of care-plan follow-through and family communication practices. The pattern of reports implies that prospective residents with higher acuity needs (recent surgery, dementia, mobility or swallowing impairment) could be at particular risk if the concerns noted are representative. Conversely, those seeking primarily custodial or low-acuity placement may still face problems related to cleanliness, meals, and dignity of care that should be carefully assessed in person.

    Location

    Map showing location of Squirrel Hill Wellness And Rehabilitation Center

    About Squirrel Hill Wellness And Rehabilitation Center

    Squirrel Hill Wellness And Rehabilitation Center sits in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood near Pittsburgh and runs as a for-profit corporation tied to Pollak Holdings, owned equally by Elie Pollak and Theodore Pollak, and you'll find that it focuses on health, rehabilitation, and helping residents maintain independence as much as they're able, though the care needs here are pretty high, because about 63.6% of folks living here spend most of their time in either a wheelchair or bed and 81.4% need help moving from one place to another, while 84.7% need help with bathroom or continence care, and 16.9% are living with dementia, so staff works on personalized care plans, but over the years there have been recurring staffing shortages, especially with CNAs, which means on many days people have received less than the recommended amount of direct care, with total overall care time ranging between 2.84 to 3.60 hours each day and CNA time per resident ranging from 1.48 to 2.15 hours in recent years. Inspections going back several years show a pattern of deficiencies around things like patient rights, nursing services, infection control, administration, and sometimes these issues had real impacts, including two periods in May 2024 where surveyors found actual harm and even immediate jeopardy to residents, and the center's had the lowest possible government ratings for overall quality, health inspections, and staffing at times. The place itself stays busy with about 72 residents each day, although it's licensed for up to 178 beds, and people come here for short-term rehabilitation, wound care, or long-term care. For recreation and comfort, there are amenities like recreation activities, dining facilities, accommodations, and some concierge or "patient experience" services, so the environment tries to focus on warmth and comfort, even as the business side and care quality concerns have made headlines over the years.

    People often ask...

    Nearby Communities

    • Front entrance of a brick multi-story building with a covered porte-cochère and a 'Brookdale' sign above the doors.
      $3,448 – $4,482+4.7 (112)
      Semi-private • Studio
      independent living, assisted living

      Brookdale Mt. Lebanon

      1050 McNeilly Rd, Pittsburgh, PA, 15226
    • Exterior view of a large, multi-story senior living facility building at dusk with lights on inside. In the foreground, there is a landscaped area with a sign that reads 'Legend Personal Care Memory Care' and the number 425. The building has multiple windows and a sloped roof.
      $5,725 – $7,442+4.3 (30)
      Semi-private • 1 Bedroom • Studio
      assisted living, memory care

      Legend at Silver Creek

      425 Lambs Gap Rd, Mechanicsburg, PA, 17050
    • Exterior view of a senior living facility named Legend of Lititz showing the main entrance with a covered drop-off area, landscaped greenery, and a clear blue sky.
      $3,575 – $5,270+4.1 (130)
      1 Bedroom • 2 Bedroom
      independent, assisted living, memory care

      Legend of Lititz

      80 W Millport Rd, Lititz, PA, 17543
    • Outdoor entrance sign reading 'Sunrise Senior Living' mounted on a white picket fence with surrounding landscaping.
      $3,760 – $4,512+3.9 (101)
      Semi-private
      assisted living, memory care

      River Oaks Assisted Living & Memory Care

      500 E University Dr, Rochester, MI, 48307
    • Covered entrance to a brick building with glass double doors, two chairs on either side, potted plants, and greenery around the entrance.
      $2,214 – $3,800+4.4 (137)
      Semi-private • Studio • 1 Bedroom
      independent, assisted living, memory care

      Exton Senior Living

      600 N Pottstown Pike, Exton, PA, 19341
    • Exterior front view of a large three-story senior living facility building with beige siding and stone accents, a red roof, multiple windows, balconies, a driveway with a stop sign, landscaped greenery, and parked cars under a clear blue sky.
      $2,730 – $4,895+4.4 (139)
      Studio • 1 Bedroom • 2 Bedroom
      continuing care retirement community

      Merrill Gardens at West Chester

      1201 Ward Ave, West Chester, PA, 19380

    Assisted Living in Nearby Cities

    1. 141 facilities$3,830/mo
    2. 126 facilities$3,819/mo
    3. 122 facilities$3,835/mo
    4. 145 facilities$3,866/mo
    5. 120 facilities$3,842/mo
    6. 110 facilities$3,786/mo
    7. 132 facilities$3,817/mo
    8. 136 facilities$3,831/mo
    9. 160 facilities$3,802/mo
    10. 137 facilities$3,836/mo
    11. 129 facilities$3,852/mo
    12. 138 facilities$3,836/mo
    © 2025 Mirador Living