St James Healthcare Center

MrDon

March 7th, 2022 - Things have changed. Things have changed here over the years. The staff turnover due to covid has taken its toll on St James. The weekends suffer the most having little to no staff. Mary my wife is always left in bed on the weekends because it's easier for them when they only have 1 nurse and 2 aids for 60 people and this was told to me by one of the staff aids. My wife can't feed herself or cut her own food. When they bring her lunch or dinner it's just left in front of her than when they come back they just take it away. I can't even imagine how many times she has gone without eating. I try to go every day after work but now it's just getting a little much to handle. When I started to notice this decline in St James I did a test to see how long it took for someone to come to the room after the aide button was pressed and after 50 min of waiting I just gave up. What happens to people who are just left to fend for themselves? I have talked to some residents who are very aware of what's going on but have no recourse. Now my wife does have seizures once in a great while they can be brought on by straining to go to the bathroom this did happen on the first day we had been let back inside after almost two years and the aide could not identify a seizure as it was happening right in front of her. That was shocking to me. When I come to see her she always tells me she has to go to the bathroom. When I find someone to actually help her they would rather have her use a bedpan she hates to do that but they find this easier because Mary needs the assistance of a lift and they either have no one to help them or they just don't want to bother. I currently think my wife may have had another stroke or she has a UTI. UTI can enhance the effects of a stroke so I have been asking them to give mary a test. It took two weeks with asking two on-staff nurses and a call to the administration after hours. Does it really have to be this way? (Results Pending) Look around at other rehab centers ask what are the patient-to-staff ratios so you know what to expect. On another note, They are just starting to get group activities back at St James. Mary painted a mask for Mardi Gras and had a wonderful time doing so. The music program which is headed by Dani is everyone's favorite I'm hoping he has his group sing-along again. Getting Mary to these events that's another thing. Mary gets a calendar of events but she's not able to read it, if she's not asked “do you want to go” she misses it all and stays in her room day after day. If things do not improve I will have no choice but to take action. Good luck to you all I just hope things get better for all of us ---------------------------------------------------------

Cindy

My aunt is in St. James Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center for rehab. They care for my aunt very well. She's always clean, and there are no aches or pains. They're taking care of her properly. They notify me if anything is up. It's a very good place. They're very professional, and they try to accommodate her with everything that she likes. They don't allow us in her room because of the virus. We have visitations in the dining room with masks on and two at a table. I haven't seen the rooms, but I see all her flowers and plants in the window of her room upstairs. She says it's roomy. They have a drape that goes between the beds with their own TV. I haven't had any blowups or disagreements with the staff at all. From the time you go in, you have to go see somebody, fill out paperwork, and talk to nurses and the social worker. They were all very nice. They were gonna do a new planting area, but the town was so slow at getting permits this year because of the virus. It's a very nice looking place.

harrypj

This may be the place for non-rehab patients but it sure is not the place if you are seeking a place to do P.T. so you can return to your normal life. The P.T./rehab here amounted to less than 5 hours a week. That is only .02% of the 168-hour week: The remaining 163 hours was spent either sitting in a wheelchair or lying-in bed with absolutely no physical activity. Regarding meals: Food is disastrous. I lost 25 pounds in two weeks as the food served borders on inedible. Food brought from my home made it possible to get my weight back to normal. Daily, save for a few very conscientious aides, the staff ignores calls for help and come at their convenience. Weekends the halls are quiet because …it is a skeleton staff at best. I.E.: One Sunday there was a 7-hour wait in a wheelchair to get ”cleaned up’. To top all off’ I suffered a very severe bed sore on my foot which was created because staff kept telling me to “push with your good leg” to move in bed. This cause a deep, painful bed sore which now meant I had two bad legs---a very poor way to begin P.T. The wound requires a new dressing every day and three months later the sore is still very painful requiring a new dressing every other day. Since there was virtually no progress, my family had me discharged after almost nine weeks. Happily, P.T. progress has significantly improved in the first two weeks of home therapy. Conclusion: Based upon my personal experience, I would say that St, James is not the place to bring a loved one for therapy and rehab.

sofie123

The staff is wonderful ! PT/ OT is amazing! The social workers always go out of way to help ! Love the therapeutic recreation team especially the gentleman from music !! My aunt loves it there ! Definitely a wonderful nursing home !

SF

My mom has been staying at St. James Rehab (St James Healthcare Center) for 30 to 40 days now. The people are very good and helpful. I really don't have any complaints. It's 24-hour care, and they have a couple of people going around giving medicine at the scheduled times for the patients. They also have a house doctor, so there's always somebody covering the patients. My mom is in a shared room with four in the room. Sometimes they have two in a room. They have quite a bit of activities, like music, bingo, and tai chi, so there's something happening every day. The pricing is expensive.

GemGirl66

Can't say one bad thing about this place! My mother is 81 yrs old, had a mild stroke Aug2017 & has been battling stage4 breast cancer for 8 years! .. She went to another rehab (next door), which I thought was going to be wonderful... NOPE! After 6 weeks there, I got the phonecall I was waiting for from St James rehab; they had the long-term availability I was hoping for! :) The staff is very kind, patient and listened to my concerns for mom and they are on top of everything. When a med was added to her chart, as per Dr. exam/advisement, I was called and conferred with immediately. She loves her speech therapy and is making more progress in the 2 weeks she's been here, than in the 6 weeks she was elsewhere. :( She even said she'd like to live here permanently! Today she called to tell me that she ate in the main dining room and "What a difference! I even talked to someone and made a new friend!" .. She and her roommate hit it off immediately.. The only complaint I might have is that the food isn't the 'best'.. but Mom is ok with it; that all that matters. It's only been 2 weeks, but for the most part, I'm happy with the care and treatment that my mother is getting at St James rehab.