Gurwin Jewish Nursing & Rehabilitation Center

He who has seen

AVOID! AVOID! AVOID! My experience, with this facility, showed me that they had surly and sullen Aides, as well as many lazy Aides. Some were excellent and did most of the work, while others made a science of “looking busy,” while actually doing nothing. Many times I observed Aides, congregated, in the hallways, talking, laughing, on the cell phones, etc., while patients’ call lights were on and being ignored. The RN, LPN and tech-clerk staff were, for the most part, excellent but could not compensate for the other problems. The Physical Therapy staff was caring, competent and reliable. The Aides were worse, on weekends, when only part timers were working. Only 4 Aides on duty, on a Saturday or Sunday day shift, with 3 of them doing everything they could to avoid work, laying all of it onto the one who was trying to care for the patients. Aides lied. In one instance, when my wife called for a bed pan, the Aide took at least 15 minutes to respond, which I know, since I had arrived, about 15 minutes prior and my wife told me that she had pressed the call button, several minutes before I got there. When the Aide did arrive, she had not only an attitude but insisted that she had allowed my wife to use the bed pan “less than 5 minutes ago.” When I advised her that I’d been sitting, in the room, for more than 15 minutes and, therefore, knew that to be untrue, she insisted that I didn’t know what I was talking about, then walked out of the room. She came back, about 10 minutes later, stating, to my wife: “OK. You want to go to the bathroom, again. We do it, now.” The quality and quantity of food was, at best, poor. Even the staff admitted that. The portions of the protein section of each meal, when there was any protein, was tiny. I observed one alleged “dinner,” which consisted of a tiny, severely overcooked chicken thigh, peas so overcooked that they were shriveled and olive drab in color, plus something called “pickle soup.” The size of that chicken thigh might have topped out at 4 ounces, more than half of which was represented by weight of the thigh bone and a part of the hip bone, which was still attached. I’ve never before seen or heard of chicken thighs being served, anywhere, with part of the hip bone still attached. The variety of meal entrees, for every meal, was very limited and repetitive: chicken, pasta, some form of ground beef (i.e., burger, meat loaf, hot dog) or fish. Since my wife is a diabetic, the pasta was not appropriate food, as pasta is a carbohydrate, which converts to sugar, during digestion; they were aware of that but, nonetheless, it was still served. All of the food served was required to meet kosher standards, even if you didn’t want kosher food, which was one of the reasons for the very limited availability of protein types and meal structures. I also observed one “breakfast.” It consisted of what they called an omelette. In fact, it was beaten eggs cooked, until they were golden brown, dry and tough, then filled, with severely overcooked onions and bell peppers, before being folded over, to resemble an omelette. It was served with coffee, which my wife never ordered, since she doesn’t drink coffee, plus a sweet juice, again violating her diabetic diet needs. All she was able to drink was water, with most of her meals. All lunches and dinners were served with a very sweet dessert. Again, for a diabetic? They paid no attention to her dietary needs. My wife had, initially, been admitted to a hospital, after having fallen. The hospital ran a series of tests, then decided that her best course was to obtain physical therapy. While that hospital does have an in-house PT facility, it didn’t have any available beds, at the time my wife was to be discharged, from the hospital section. Consequently, we chose Gurwin, which, supposedly, had a 5 star rating and was relatively close to home, making visiting time easier, for all. While she was at Gurwin, she started to exhibit unusual behavior, in the form of seeing things not there, losing concentration and substantial personality swings, all of which the attending physician kept minimizing, claiming that to be common and normal, insisting it was what he kept referring to as “Sundowning.” I knew it was something else and, when I insisted that she have a neurological exam, he fought with me, at first, then tried to have me wait, to be examined, by their “house neurologist,” who came to the facility only once, every week or so. I, again, disagreed and insisted that she be seen by a hospital neurologist, where they also had the proper medical equipment to evaluate her. At that point, the house physician “agreed” to transfer my wife, back to the hospital, where she could be properly examined. During the course of the hospital’s multiple testings, they discovered that my wife contracted a urinary tract infection (UTI) (she didn’t have one, when she left that hospital, to go to Gurwin; so, where else and how else could she have obtained it), at which point the hospital admitted her, for intense antibiotic treatment. Interesting enough, as her UTI was being treated, her unusual behavior also ceased. UTIs can cause permanent brain damage, if not properly and quickly treated, as they are systemic infections (running through the bloodstream), which lodge in the brain, causing it to swell, which is what causes dementia-like and Alzheimer’s-like symptoms, initially, then permanent brain damage. The morning after my wife was transferred, to the hospital, I received a phone call, from Gurwin’s billing department, advising me that, if I wanted to be able to hold my wife’s bed, so that she could return, I would have to pay them $2,975 ($595, per day) + tax, out of pocket (not covered by insurance), in exchange for which they would agree to hold her bed, as available, for a maximum of 5 calendar days, the first of which was the day on which she was transferred, even though she didn’t get transferred until after the dinner hour and that, even if she returned, in less than 5 days, none of that fee was returnable. That’s especially interesting, since our insurance paid for the whole day, at Gurwin, on the day she was transferred and it would have paid for all of the remainder of those 5 days, if and after she returned in less than 5 days, even though we had also paid for those days, with that “holding fee.” If I was a suspicious person, I might be asking many interesting questions. Draw your own conclusions.

Frankie

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for the love, care, and compassion you gave my mom during her time with you. It brought our family such comfort knowing she was surrounded by people who treated her with genuine kindness, patience, and dignity—just as if she were your own. She was more than just a resident to you, and we felt that every single day. Whether it was helping her get settled, sitting with her to share a laugh or a prayer, or offering a gentle hand when she needed comfort, your presence made such a difference in her life—and in ours. To the hospice nurses as well: your care in her final days was beyond anything we could have hoped for. You made a difficult time a little more bearable through your tenderness, grace, and professionalism. We will never forget it. Thank you for being her second family. We’re forever grateful. From the Virgone family

Eli R

Only about memory care unit- you can ask the right questions but the administration will not truthfully answer you. Staffing is 1 to 10 not 1 to 5 as I was told. There are no real activities being done besides a recreation therapist making a snack for the patients. Some patients get to go in a smaller entertainment room to watch a show. Mostly people are stuck sitting in their wheelchairs by the dining room table for hours. Staff can possibly change patients diapers that often. Maybe once a day. No wonder staff is cranky - they don’t have enough help. Don’t place your lives one in the facility!

Felice

My cousin is in Gurwin Jewish Nursing & Rehabilitation Center right now. It's clean. The attendants and staff are very friendly and attentive. They take good care of their patients. They do take your concerns, and they've been very pleasant. Their food is not good though. I've seen hospital food, and it's worse.

4C

The absolute worst facility imaginable. My Father could barely move and they discharged him. I told them he was not ready to go home but Brad their know it all therapist said he was ready. This man should not be allowed to work in any healthcare facility again. My Father was home less than 24 hours before he had to be rushed to hospital. He is lucky to be alive. He also caught covid in Gurwin . When he was leaving another patient got run over by a meal cart and was in pain and nothing was done to help them. I would not put a dog in this horrific facility

Jcass

The rooms are the nicest part of the facility. Staff originally seems caring and helpful but after your loved one has to stay for awhile the truth comes out. Food was cold, never delivered we had to get it. When asked about it responses were nasty. Care was late, majority of staff were apathetic and could not be bothered. Every time we asked for assistance we seemed to be bothering them. No-one was at the floor desk to ask questions. This facility just has a higher price tag. It is the same as the other nursing facilities. Very very disappointed with the care my father got.