Central Valley Specialty Hospital — Local services in Modesto

My dad has been hospitalized at Central Valley Specialty Hospital for 17 days. Before his transfer, we heard negative feedback from nurses and CNAs at Doctors Medical Center, as well as from friends in the healthcare industry familiar with this facility. Naturally, my family was apprehensive. However, our experience has been far better than expected.

The care team—including an RN, LVN, CNA, RNA, and a Respiratory Therapist—has been incredibly attentive. They go above and beyond to meet both my dad’s needs and those of our family. The staff is patient, compassionate, and highly responsive, always answering our questions thoroughly. The doctors also respond within a reasonable timeframe. Since my dad is unable to speak, we ensure a family member is present during visiting hours to advocate for him. While I can't say whether the same level of attentiveness would be provided if he were alone, I do know that both my dad and our family have been treated exceptionally well.

I want to recognize five outstanding individuals for their kindness, compassion, and attentiveness:

⭐ Gurmeet (RN) – She cared for my dad for about 5-6 days and went above and beyond to accommodate his needs and our family's requests. She was kind, nurturing, and had excellent customer service skills, making us feel safe and secure. She addressed my dad’s thrush with incredible timeliness and care—almost resolving it completely before a staffing change led to a lapse in treatment.

⭐ Bitu (RNA) – She has been with my dad since day one and is always sweet, friendly, and in a great mood. Her compassion and empathy stand out, and she ensures my dad gets his scheduled chair time three days a week. She is a breath of fresh air and makes us feel reassured about my dad’s care.

⭐ Anahi (CNA) – She has cared for my dad on multiple occasions and is incredibly nurturing, friendly and helpful. She ensures he is clean, bathed, shaved, and groomed, which we deeply appreciate. She treats him like family, which means the world to us.

⭐ Karin (CNA) – She has cared for my dad multiple times and has consistently been kind, compassionate, flexible and attentive. We were truly happy with her care.

⭐ Osora (LVN) – She worked with my dad once, but in that short time, she was able to build rapport with every family member present. She was exceptionally kind, nurturing, and compassionate. She even shared her personal experience with her mother’s hospitalization, which was similar to my dad’s, giving us renewed hope in his recovery. Her interpersonal and communication skills were outstanding.

While our experience has been overwhelmingly positive, there are areas that could be improved. The hospital is notably understaffed on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, leading to delays in care. We encountered one irritated worker on a Sunday, likely due to the staffing shortage, which stood out in contrast to the otherwise excellent service. Another challenge is the frequent rotation of RN, LVN, and CNA teams, making it difficult for staff to build familiarity with my dad’s needs. Additionally, my dad shares a room with two other patients, which isn’t ideal for privacy or comfort. Lastly, despite the facility's age and older equipment, everything operates smoothly, and we have encountered no issues.

Overall, despite our initial concerns, the staff has exceeded our expectations with their compassion and dedication. With improvements in weekend staffing, patient continuity, and accommodations, this facility could provide an even...

Avoid this place if at all possible!

After reading the reviews, and knowing someone who worked at the facility previously, I was worried about my parent coming here after being discharged from the hospital. The reviews were absolutely correct!! You will have to essentially stay on top of babysit the staff to make sure things are done correctly and really advocate for whoever is hospitalized here. Visit OFTEN and document EVERYTHING

Details (long):

The first night my parent was there, they called me saying they were scared and didn't feel safe. Most of the rooms have 4 patients in a room together. The staff either lie, or don't keep accurate records.

My parent was here because they were suppose to get a type of medicine administered by IV every 4 hours for 2 weeks. The staff did not do this for the first few days my parent was here. Doses were missed or there were 6-8 hours in between doses (confirmed by the Doctor who said I was right when I informed him of such). Meanwhile, the staff and case worker were assuring me that the medicine was being administered at the correct times.

2 days after they were admitted, I was visiting and the bedding/bathroom pad, and the gown, hadn't been changed. We had to ask the nurse to change their bedding and gown, give them a bath and dump their urinal/bed pan (This was another issue. The urinal/bed pan wasn't being dumped after every use. Some of the staff would argue about the "amount" that was in it as a justification for not dumping it)

One of the days I visited twice, and on my second visit at night I had asked when they last gave them their IV medication and I was told at 9:00 a.m. I then said that I was there at 10:30 a.m., and something was given through the IV and asked what that was, because I was there and physically saw it. The nurse didn't know because there wasn't anything on the chart (inaccurate records). Not only that, my parent called me at 4:30 that day and said they hadn't gotten their medicine since that morning when I visited. I arrived at the hospital at 5:30 and they were receiving their next dose of the IV medicine. (9 to 5:30 is 7.5 hours. 10:30 to 5:30 is 6 hours. They were suppose to get their medicine every 4 hours)

After that first night they called me saying they didn't feel safe, I immediately called their social worker and talked to them about pulling my parent from the facility. The social worker immediately started calling around and informed the hospital they were looking to pull my parent. I received a seemingly panicked call from the case manager/social worker about why we were wanting to pull my parent and what was going on. I talked to these people, and the patient advocate too many times to count. And like I said above, they all tried to assure me that everything was fine and being handled like it should be ... when it really wasn't. I'm not sure if they just weren't aware or if they were being untruthful, but when I told them my concerns it felt like they were being shrugged off and not...

My husband was there for almost 2 months. We we were told this hospital was well equipped and able to manage his medical issues. Their website clearly states they provide long term acute care. The first night I was not even notified that he had a change of condition and I only found out the next day when I went to visit him. He was admitted with medical and nursing care requirements. I understand that nurses have many patients, but it is still their responsibility to provide medical and nursing care. Why do I need to ask them why certain duties were not being done? Why weren’t basic care provided unless I asked or questioned the nurses? Why did it take 4 days after he was admitted to get an order for something that should have been done as soon as he was admitted. Why did he keep saying he was hungry and thirsty when he was supposed to be getting continuous tube feedings? Why did he continue to lose weight? Why did nurses take 2-3 hours to refill his feedings? Why did respiratory therapists always say they’ll be back and yet never return? I was reassured that things would get better. Even the Director of Nurses wrote up a checklist for nurses to make sure they were getting certain duties done. But that only lasted a few weeks as his drain tube was not being managed and nurses were still forgetting to keep his tube feedings going. The Speech Therapist, Laura upgraded his diet texture without even doing a swallow evaluation. She based it off seeing him walking with Physical Therapy. She said she saw him doing better so she said it was ok to upgrade his diet. But she said he wasn’t well enough for Speech Therapy to work on swallowing?? I spoke with the Medical Director a few times about my concerns and each time he reassured me he would look into things and get back to me. I believed him but unfortunately, I never heard back from him. The case manager Ruth was terrible. She never contacted me until I called her with my concerns. She never updated me on his care unless I called her. The discharge planning was disorganized. I had to give her the phone number to home health as she told me there were none in my area. He was sent home without all his medications ready for pick up at the pharmacy. There were a few nurses and aides that were great. They seemed to really care, and I am thankful for them. The dietician, Jackie was also nice and followed through. The wound care nurses and wound care Dr. were also good. PT and OT were limited but were helpful and motivating. The front desk receptionists were always friendly. I just mentioned a few things that happened. DO NOT send your loved ones here. It was an...