ArchCare at Mary Manning Walsh Nursing Home & Rehabilitation Center — Local services in New York

I have serious doubts about this place. My mother is there right now.. has been for about a week. The elevators are often on the fritz, leaving just one elevator for the whole building. I waited 8 minutes for it to reach the first floor and it took another five minutes to get to the 13th floor because so many people needed to get on and off. Trying to leave is even worse. When I call my mother, they repeatedly disconnect me or misdirect the call, then reprimand me for reaching the wrong department. The floor my mother is on has one nurse for the whole large ward and you are lucky to see her for longer than it takes for vitals to be taken. Some of the people have been very nice, thank goodness, but overall I get an impression of indifference and a poorly run facility. At one point my mother's alarm was triggered when she moved too far from the bed. No one ever came and I figured out how to disarm it myself. When she first arrived, her TV was on and the remote was gone. It stayed on for 3 days. I did some digging and found this 2014 article in the Gotham Gazette; "Mary Manning Walsh is one of the lowest-rated nursing homes in Manhattan, according to the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). It is one of the two nursing homes in Manhattan rated one star (out of five) in the health inspection category. The CMS equates one star with "much below average" care. The average health inspection rating for the 18 nursing homes in Manhattan is 3.5 stars.

The CMS gave the facility only two stars (out of five) for overall quality, whereas the average rating in the borough is four stars. The CMS equates two stars with below average care.

A higher-than-average percentage of short-term residents at the 362-bed nursing home suffer problems with bedsores, according to data compiled by the New York State Department of Health. The data show that 2.2 percent of residents at the facility have bedsores that are "new or worsened," compared to an average of 1.4 percent statewide and 1.3 percent the nationwide.

In another health-related matter, Mary Manning Walsh was fined $6,500 last year for excessively hot water in the sinks in residents’ rooms. State inspectors measured water temperatures as high as 136 degrees – hot enough to blister the skin after 10 seconds of exposure, according to safety guidelines.

Other deficiencies reported by CMS and state Health Department in the past three years include errors in administering medication, failure to report medication errors and failure to store and cook food in a safe way. Inspectors also reported that 15 percent of the residents at Mary Manning Walsh exhibit symptoms of depression, compared to an average of 12 percent statewide and 6.6 percent nationwide.

Jpiece in the...

This place is so poorly managed as to be unacceptable. Physical therapy – the main reason to be here --is very minimal and low level. Hard to see the same therapist more than once. The therapists appear to keep no records of diagnoses or treatment goals or progress and ask instead “What exercises would you like to do”? Therapy is haphazardly scheduled – they may come at any time when patients are not ready or dressed and give no timing warning in advance. Sometimes they neglect to come entirely. For a good number of days I felt my therapy here was so mild that it was a waste of time – less than 40 minutes per day. One therapist who did not know my case had me do an exercise that was inappropriate and ended up injuring me. Response time to call buttons can be as long as 20-30 minutes. Few offices ever answer the phone – only message machines and they rarely call back. I asked repeatedly to have my toilet cleaned after being sick into it and only saw action after 5 days – a clear health hazard. I also tried unsuccessfully for someone to adjust my bed to meet my therapeutic needs and got contradictory communications about what could or could not be done, resulting in no action. Some staff are genuinely caring and respectful but others clearly dislike their jobs and make it clear that they don’t want to be here. There were many issues with understaffing and overly long wait times for almost everything. Staff argue about who should do what – creating an counterproductive atmosphere for healing. They woke me up each morning at 6 am – sometimes earlier – for no apparent reason other then to check in at shift change. The food is tiny portions and terrible – almost always served cold. No choice of food. About 20% of all meals are inedible. Very poorly balanced and inadequate nutrition. Heavy on cheap carbs and almost all vegetables are canned. Coffee is like weak dish water. They often try to take the tray away within minutes before there is time to eat. I was hungry much of the time and lost 10 pounds in about 10 days. The “doctor” on call frequently had a downright hostile attitude and would not give more than a few minutes of harsh attention before running out of the room to do something else. Rude and impolite. Very unpleasant discharge rules and procedures by a largely absentee social work staff. They did not send documents to my home health care company in a timely manner. This resulted in my being home alone with no help for five days. I think releasing a patient to an unsafe environment is a violation of state law. For your own peace of mind, health and even safety stay away...

My husband was admitted to Mary Manning Welsh for an injury that required rehab this summer. Due to Covid, we were not allowed to see him except for window visits. When such an event, crisis occurs I understand that protocols may lax, but you think a large facility like Mary Manning Welsh would have found ways of handling the new issues they now face. I had to call EVERY DAY just to find out where, how, my husband was doing as doctors, care takers, would go weeks without a response. My father had several falls in the facility, which we were not notified until days after they occurred. My daughter and I were allowed to set up a window visit, which was the worse experience ever. To see my husband from the street side walk through a window, a man who has trouble seeing and hearing, also suffering from dementia, and have him try to communicate through a glass was horrendous. My daughter noticed that his jaw looked off. When we asked the nursing staff if he suffered an injuries we were told no. We also had a lot of trouble with ill experienced Social Workers, who may have had too many cases on their hands or lacked general knowledge. My husband ended up in the emergency room months later for heart problems. Upon in the ER the doctors asked if they could do a CT Scan of his head and neck and there they discovered an old injury from a fall months ago that showed he broke his jawline. I find Mary Manning Welshes lack of ability to have noticed my husbands jaw and my daughters report of it, disgusting. I contacted the Director of Mary Manning Welsh to discuss my husbands care during his time there and a social worker who lacked experience covering his case, but no one ever got back to me. I am not seeing, having had to deal with nursing home the last year of my husbands life, how terribly managed they are. I would suggest Riverside Rehab and Long Term care as they seem to be better experienced, equipped to take care of the elderly. It also makes me sad to see the old and the lack of 5 start treatment they deserve, go...