Baptist Health Homestead Hospital — Attraction in Homestead

Inpatient Rehab Center:

This place gets 5 stars, BUT the food kinda sucks.

The BAD. 1 star for the Food and Beverage Staff…

Food and Beverage Services: They are ABSOLUTELY LOST and don’t know how to prepare a properly meal (the chicken in general is always dry and hard just like a piece of leather, the sides overcooked, not hot, veggies are often grey, the rice dried out, all carry the same seasoning like meat and vegetables alike. Back to the drawing board and have HR do their job. Outsourcing may works, with annual contracts and a short leash.

To my fu$&@ing surprise, UNABLE how to pack certain items, to such as cakes. Mains are served on paper plates… WTF? Is the dishwasher on vacation, or are you running an infectious disease hospital? They would put cakes it in the smallest plastic container and thereby separating coatings like: chocolate and frostings of the cakes. OR, cut stuff too small. I even joked, that that flan gets stuck between my teeth and not reach my belly. It was an inch by an inch and tasteless. The overall portion size is smaller than in other Baptist operated hospitals. The scrambled eggs every morning is hard, clumpy, or rubbery, the side options are a poor. The overall quality in comparison to: South Miami Hospital, or Baptist Hospital are night and day. I was a professional Chef, whom worked internationally. Now, I am fairly low maintenance and not a “Karen.” I understand that’s not a four star Michelin restaurant. Why can’t you align the menus and quality? Zero: blueberry scones, Blintzen, croissants, etc. Bare basics here.

What a shame! I would let go everyone, except one worker from the dietitian staff. Zero consistency between the hospitals. It would not be so hard. 75% of the F&B staff that comes to the room, or answers the phone has NO proper communion skills, maybe they are the ones that need speech therapy..? Come upstairs and have a chat with the Speech Therapist. Beats me…

DESPITE, that they supposedly rotate positions frequently. Most workers don’t know what they have available, that also included the dietician I spoke to. Sorry! She was nice, but unaware when and, if certain items are available. Nice alone doesn’t help.

HERE COMES THE 5 STAR REVIEW

Rehab Staff: PT, PT Assistants, Students, OT, OT Assistants, Speech Therapist and the Recreation staff are: super friendly, supportive, take their time with one on one therapy, have a caring and professional attitude, great bedside manners, in general have a great attitude, are funny and knowledgeable. I always have a lot of fun with my therapists. The gym is smaller and could use a little bit a better layout to support both patients and staff. I would rearrange the beds and where some of their therapy stuff is located. I certainly would get the roach out of the light on the right side, above the therapy bed. I know it’s Florida, but otherwise the unit looks very clean, this is somewhat a minus.

Unit Nurses, Nursing Assistants and the Cleaner:

The nurses and nurse assistant, even their cleaner, Mr.Winston are very nice and supportive. They are caring, but sometimes emptying the urinal can be a challenge. Now that’s something that needs to be worked on. Especially when people have mobility issues and bed alarms are on at all times. Sadly… I guess the big bosses have spoken to avoid costly drama and paperwork, if some poor old fart, or younger individual with limitations takes a tumble. Guess it has to do with insurance drama and “statistics,” Medicaid and Medicare bullshit.

The Recreational Therapist and available options are great. Thumbs up! Give her a raise.

The setup to train people for the “jungle” outside is also very good.

Overall, if you intend to lose a few pounds then that’s a great options. 3 hours therapy and not so great food... What a combo… I still don’t regret being here.

The doctors and Nurse Practitioners are nice. Some are very caring and have great bedside manners. A few are dry and one, or two are not as easy to understand. Maybe it’s just...

I am a court-appointed guardian for my mother after my siblings, c i c e l y Cuesta and Sergio b a l b i n, filed a guardianship against her something she did not want. She lives close to Homestead hospital where she has gone to before and I maintained relations with them and I love the very very nice staff but sometimes there is a problem getting doctors to call and inform me as the guardian and son. There is incredible turnover in the same departments where you find different people approximately every two days. Worst of all they create a lot of family strife by keeping bad notes and not correcting their mistakes when it is required of them. Never mind the difficulties they create or what they themselves have labeled. I will tell you if you have a difficult situation absolutely do not take your family member there because they will create more problems for the family and you will have to be in charge 24/7 of making sure your Elder adult gets fed or responded to when you're away or you will even have to be the link between a series of alternating staff members and doctors. Sounds like a little thing but it is extremely serious and this has been the difference between life and death for my mother and Ward. And by the way I do not believe their ratings at all because no one is going to get good results unless you're on top of them 24/7 and I literally mean 24/7 like calling in the middle of the night to inform the 10 secretary over 5 days and the 10th nurse over 5 days in the third Department she has moved to of what is really going on and then hoping that you finally get a call from the intern after waiting for 3 days forcing you to sleep over and the position and park staff in the room privately paid by you to grab the doctors and staff and make sure when you do that that they have you on WhatsApp ready to speak the minute she finds out there in the room next door and heading in the direction of your family member's room. If you don't do all that and you're not ready to pay hundreds of dollars a day for private help and or to be there yourself every minute making sure you do not even go to the cafeteria which by the way, sucks, you're in big trouble and so is your family member. Also I have dealt with the director of the hospital and other Top members including Dr Augustus and all you get is candy coating three four caseworkers three and four social workers three and four coordinators and phone numbers at the minute your mother leaves a particular Department those phone numbers are no longer any good and nobody will let you speak to past staff from just a day before. Overall it's a nightmare and I'm looking for alternatives but unfortunately rich hospitals with no others around control the situation. And by the way I do not believe for one minute that those reviews, the majority of them if not all of the good ones are real I believe they're clearly made up by incredible network of people the same people that make sure your calls or dogs your efforts are thwarted instead of handling the information...

I am writing to formally share my recent experience during a hospitalization, which I found deeply concerning as a pregnant patient with sickle cell disease. I was admitted with severe chest pain and made it clear upon arrival that I was approximately 10 weeks pregnant.

Once in a room, staff asked for the name of my OB. I did not recall her name immediately, but I had her card with me. An OB entered the room and began asking questions. As he spoke, I waited for an opportunity to show him the card with my OB’s name. When I attempted to do so, he abruptly dismissed me, stating “No,” and continued talking. I waited again, trying to explain who my OB was and where she practiced, but he physically brushed his hand in my face to stop me from speaking. His behavior was not only rude but completely dismissive of critical information related to my care. I informed several nurses about this incident; only one acknowledged the interaction and agreed it was inappropriate.

During my stay, I received a scan and was told it was “less harmful than an X-ray” and used “less radiation.” I was placed in observation for three days due to low hemoglobin levels. I was told a blood transfusion might be necessary and that this would be discussed with an OB. However, no one followed up with me. Each day, I was simply told that labs would be drawn and they would “get back to me,” which never happened.

Additionally, I was placed on NPO (nothing by mouth) status, restricted to only water, with no clear explanation. This was confusing and concerning to me as a pregnant woman, given the nutritional needs of both myself and my developing baby. When I asked for something as simple as crackers, I was told I could not have any food or snacks.

Another serious issue occurred with my IV line. I notified staff that the IV had burst and was leaking. I was told it was just “not connected properly,” but I knew the vein had blown. The area around the IV became swollen and painful every time medications were administered. My concerns were dismissed.

Throughout this stay, I made multiple attempts to advocate for myself — not only as someone with sickle cell disease, but as a pregnant patient — and I was consistently dismissed. Although a few nurses were compassionate and tried to help, the overall experience left me feeling unheard, disrespected, and neglected. It is extremely discouraging to be told to speak up for yourself, and then be silenced or ignored when you do.

I share this not only out of concern for my own health and safety, but for the wellbeing of other patients who may not feel empowered to speak up or may not be believed when they do. I hope this experience will be taken seriously and addressed to prevent similar situations...