1 Star User Review
I will give this facility one star, only because there is not an option to give it fewer stars. My 92 year old mother was in this facility in July 2017. She was transferred from the hospital for rehab, after having surgery for a broken hip. While hospitalized, she developed pleural effusions (fluid in the pleural space around her lungs, which caused shortness of breath and difficulty breathing). She had bilateral thoracentesis in the hospital to remove the fluid, and was transferred to LifeCare in good shape, and breathing fine. She arrived at LifeCare on a Friday. The physical therapy staff did not work on the weekends, so other than being pushed in a wheelchair to the restroom and to the dining room for meals, she was not allowed to get out of bed. "Physical therapy" was to be given 4 times a week, for less than an hour each time, but as you will see below, she only received therapy a couple of times in the 10 days she was there. She was in bed most of the time, which ultimately caused her being rushed to the emergency room. By Tuesday, she was getting short of breath and the LifeCare staff put her on oxygen. No testing was done to see WHY she was short of breath. By Thursday, she was so short of breath and fatigued, she could not do physical therapy. I told the nursing staff that she needed a chest x-ray to see if her lungs had filled with fluid again (since she just had a procedure the previous week for this reason). I was told that the doctor would be notified. Friday - I found out that no chest x-ray had been ordered. I, again, told the staff that testing needed to be done, and was told that the doctor would be notified. Saturday - I could not visit, since I was ill, but later found out that the chest x-ray still had not been performed, even though I had already requested it twice. Sunday, I walked into my mom's room, and she was struggling to breath. I ran out of the room and found her nurse standing just outside of her room, in the hallway. I told him that she couldn't breath, and he said, "She's fine. I was just in there." I ran down the hall for the charge nurse and told her that she needed a chest x-ray and lab work NOW! I was concerned that she either had pleural effusions (again) or a pulmonary embolism (just had surgery, had not been up and moving around and could have developed a clot). I asked that she be transferred to the emergency room. I was told that they needed to talk to the doctor before they would call an ambulance. A chest x-ray and labs were performed at LifeCare, and she was rushed to the emergency room via ambulance with a PULMONARY EMBOLISM and SEVERE bilateral pleural effusions! Neither of these life threatening diagnoses were recognized by the LifeCare staff, and even when I brought them to their attention, they did not recognize that this was an emergency situation. Needless to say, the staff at LifeCare is not trained or equipped to handle any medical issues - even when life threatening issues are staring them in the face. DO NOT trust LifeCare to care for your loved one!! I am in the medical field, and would never recommend this facility to anyone. P.S. My mom was at this same facility three years ago, and the staff administered the wrong medication and almost killed her - major medication error. We said at that time that she would never go back to LifeCare, but, unfortunately, her insurance is very limiting when it comes to skilled nursing facilities, and she chose to give LifeCare another chance. Obviously, that wasn't a good choice.