CareOne at Wilmington — Local services in Wilmington

I was sent to Care One, Woburn street in Wilmington ma after having surgery for rehabilitation. My 1 star rating is based on the poor treatment received by most of the aides and nurses. Most of the aides were lazy and uncaring. I was treated like an inconvenience. It usually took about 45 minutes to an hour for an aid to answer the call button and then there was no guarantee that they would actually help with anything you requested. The aides would say “okay” then shut off call button and never return to follow through with request. If I pressed my call button and asked the aide to tell the nurse I needed pain medication early in the morning, I was often told that my nurse was not in yet. This is a 24 hour facility so there should always be a nurse on staff to assist with any medication requests. Morning medications would sometimes not be given to me until 10am. At home I would take my morning medications at 7am. The timing of medications can vary slightly to accommodate shift changes etc. but drastic variations and inconsistencies could affect my health and recovery from surgery. I asked the doctor if he could discuss the timing of my medications with the nursing staff; he said that I could take my medications when I wanted once I was discharged. One day my tray table tipped over slightly when I was adjusting my hospital bed. I pressed my call button for help because everything on the table fell off onto the ground. An aide came in but he refused to help pick up things up off the floor. I had restrictions after surgery to not bend or lift so I was unable to pick things up off the floor myself. He walked out of my room saying “I just can’t with her.” Another aide did come in to help me when she heard him complaining about me. She was very kind. There were a few aides that were kind and caring but most were not. In the month that I was a patient, I was only given two showers. The aides did not like that I needed assistance getting to the bathroom. I was at risk for falling after surgery and needed assistance walking to the bathroom. One of the aides tried to convince me to wear an adult diaper so they wouldn’t have to assist me at night. I refused. My sheets were only changed two times in the month I was there for rehabilitation. When I was admitted I had to go 17 hours without any pain medication because they had to wait for it to be delivered. They do not have a pharmacy onsite. While I waited they offered no alternatives to help relieve pain. The nurses and aides lacked compassion. A confused elderly patient wandered into my room looking for a bathroom. He thought the closet was a bathroom. He fell and didn’t make it to the bathroom. I pressed my call button to get him help. When the aid arrived they yelled at the patient for making a mess. I asked an aide to help me get up from a chair. He yelled at me saying you are here for rehabilitation so you should be getting out of the chair by yourself. He was not a certified physical therapist so he had no right to judge what I could or couldn’t do safely. Food was horrible. They didn’t follow basic safe food handling practices like hot foods being served hot and cold foods being served cold. I expressed my concerns to the dietician about ice cream I was served being soupy. She said it just melted because it was on the tray in cart with hot foods. She was not concerned that food borne illnesses that can be caused by poor temperature control of food. There were one or two nurses and aides that were caring and compassionate and I am grateful and appreciate them. This is also NOT a review of the physical therapy staff. If I was rating Care One @Wilmington MA based on care received by the physical therapists then I would have given a five star rating. I have only mentioned a few reasons why I gave a one star rating to Care One @ Wilmington. I would not recommend Care One @ Wilmington MA to anyone based on my experience and treatment that I received by most of the aides and...

Are there worse places that CareOne Wilmington? I am sure. But there were some shocking mistakes that one employee made that were unacceptable and perhaps even reportable, the worst being that she told us my father, who was coming home for hospice, would be transported by ambulance (on a gurney) because he was dying of Leukemia and was too weak to walk or even stand on his own. Instead, she hired a van to transport him in a wheelchair and they brought him to the house with NO WAY to get him up the stairs and into the house. He arrived home in shocking condition - slumped over in the wheelchair, weak, and mumbling. He then slipped off the wheelchair and onto the brick steps, cutting himself, causing him to bleed without stopping until he died the next day. The driver was so apologetic and was not sure why CareOne hired a van instead of an ambulance to get him home given his condition. Thank GOD the private home health aid we hired was already at the house (a man who was 6'2 and strong) and he and I had to carry him into the house with the transport driver helping. We were all TRAUMATIZED by this and absolutely SHOCKED that CareOne would treat a human being like this. My father died the next day.

The staff person responsible for this absolute failure is someone who a week earlier had failed to inform me and my sister, his healthcare proxies, when his cancer appointment was changed to a day early. They sent him to his appointment by himself when he was barely cognizant due to low platelets. So when I went to see him at CareOne, along with the home health aid coordinator who was supposed to evaluate my dad, he wasn't there. He was at Dana Farber. The person at CareOne who was responsible was totally unapologetic and tried to blame Dana Farber, who were not at fault, instead of taking accountability for her failure to call us to let us know. She should be fired because she is either too disorganized or too uncaring to do her job.

Nobody at CareOne ever met with us when he was admitted, and no rehab/care plan was ever communicated to us (his daughters and healthcare proxies). They only met with us a week before he left to discuss when his Medicare coverage would run out and what our options were. They did put us in touch with a great home healthcare agency, and we are grateful for that. Karen, the daytime health aid, was very good and my dad really liked her. The food isn't bad and the environment, as far as nursing homes go, is nice. There were two nurses (black women) who were excellent and very caring and communicative. One of them left to take another job. The OT and PT staff were knowledgeable and caring. And my dad was lucky to have a private room with a view and felt comfortable there, which was really important. My sister and I visited every day, sometimes twice a day, and I think that helped to ensure his daily living care was decent (washing, changing, eating, etc.)

Like all nursing homes, they are probably understaffed and it is a hard job, and we never expected perfection. But we did expect normal communication and a humane and dignified transport of my father - and apologies when they messed up. We never received one from the person responsible for these screw ups and that has left a really bad taste...

My family and I had a terrible experience here with my mom, who was sent to CareOne for short-term rehabilitation after an emergency surgery due to cancer complications. The administrative staff did not follow through with any of their responsibilities. My dad, my sister, and I were up to visit every day, and we could not get answers from anyone. I feel so badly for patients who are stuck at CareOne with no family members nearby advocating for them, especially the elderly who at times cannot effectively advocate for themselves.

The medical staff were kind but definitely understaffed. My mom had a bedsore and was left at times for 30 minutes waiting for someone to change her bedpan because staff members were stretched so thin.

CareOne discharged my mom with little notice and did not get anything set up at home for her. They promised us that they worked with the insurance company to order a wheelchair that would be sent to her home before she was discharged, and it didn’t arrive until days after she was discharged. I had to go to the local medical supply store the day of her discharge to purchase a wheelchair and a ramp out of pocket in order to get my mother into her house.

Once my mom was discharged home and worked with visiting nurses and physical therapists, her conditions improved immensely compared to CareOne. If at all possible, I recommend avoiding...