Nemasket Healthcare Center

BEWARE

While Nemasket is very well-maintained and in a clean, lovely setting, based on my direct experience for several months there seems to be some serious issues behind the pretty picture that’s presented. There are many employees who truly seem to care and are doing a great job. Unfortunately, there are several in key leadership positions who do not seem well-suited for this business. They seem to have created a culture of “anything goes” with no accountability. I heard a CNA swear and yell at a resident, berating him for wetting the bed overnight. Unprovoked, the Administrator called my family member a demeaning name (in front of employees), “doubled down” the next day when she had a chance to retract and the parent company Whittier Healthcare stood by the Administrator. There have been many mistakes in my medical and therapy records and they refuse to correct some items. An RN told me I am "institutionalized and do not need to know about my care” even though I am cognitively competent. The parent company, Whittier Healthcare, has a private airplane yet puts posters in the lobby looking for donations for bird food, Easter candy and more. I brought forward items of concern and it seems I was punished/retaliated against for doing so. There seems to be serious issues with communication, coordination amongst departments and many of their processes (or lack thereof). They are often very short-staffed, resulting in my sitting in wet clothes for hours (yes, hours) many times. Please learn from my mistake and misfortune as a resident. Don't be fooled by the pretty setting. Stay away.

Son of past resident

My 86 year old father was recently transferred out of the facility after approximately 1 year. My experience was horrible. Dad entered the facility in December 2020 in need of some rehabilitative care due to some intestinal bleeding, an infection, oscillating blood sugar, and mild dementia. The original plan was to get him out of bed, walking, exercising, and engaged in activities in order to return him back home. By the end of the first 90 days, his general health had deteriorated. He spent much of his time in bed, with little to no exercise. I was forced to visit him by talking to him through an outside window. It was clear by now that he was depressed, much weaker, and now unable to leave either his bed or a wheel chair. I could sense through the window, the hopelessness he felt and my heart wrenched each day as I left his window in tears. I couldn't believe how my dad could be chopping and stacking wood with me the entire month of November 2020 and now he was confused, his speech slurred, sentences made little sense. He needed to be hugged and loved and I was unable to do that. One of the weekend nurses was so rude that she would slam the window shut to ensure I could not be close to him. Other nurses had opened the window as little as a half inch just so that he could hear me as he could not hold a phone very well. The rude nurse persisted multiple times by scolding my 85 year old mom who was able to visit him on the inside as she was vaccinated. I visited him nearly everyday for a year. I stood in the rain, ice, snow, and thunderstorms, in order to see him. The nursing home made no accommodation for me to see him inside until the final month of his stay. The staff complained they were short staffed, which was true. My dad was incontinent and remained wet for hours many days, especially on weekends. There were some very nice CNA's, but I could tell they were trapped in a bad system. The facility seemed to "lock down" often. I could see the turn over of employees. The facility appeared to be clean. After moving my dad to another facility only 5 miles from Nemasket, believe it or not, they have him walking, out of bed all day, everyday, and he now has a favorite chair for the first time. I have yet to see him in a wheel chair at anytime during his first 3 weeks in the new facility. To sum this up, I would not recommend Nemasket to anyone. I would rather die myself than go there. Now that I know there is at least one awesome facility in Middleboro, MA, there is no question in my mind that we made the right decision to get him out of there. Hope this helps.

Gayle

I've been to Nemasket Healthcare Center many, many times. It's a nursing home and my husband's grandmother is a resident there, so we've gone there for years now. It's very clean, well-staffed, and the patients' rooms are very spacious. It’s nice and all on one floor. All the rooms have beautiful views of green areas with trees and flowers. The staff is very responsive to the patients' needs. I've never had an issue with them being short-staffed, which is nice. They're also just very, very nice and easygoing. The food is very good, as well.

James

My wife was at Nemasket for about a year before she died. They took very good care of her. The staff members were the best that you could get and all especially selected. They're great workers. Sanitation was second to none. The care was great. My wife was in four different nursing homes. Nemasket was the best one. The rooms were spotless. They're all dedicated. For a nursing home, the food was good. They did as good as they could with what they had. The activities were great, and every day they had something different.