I've been here in the Peabody, MA location for 3 days now. I was transferred here from BIDMC in Boston for aftercare after developing a blood infection and the need to install a tunnel line IV in my chest and needing IV antibiotics for 3 weeks. I'm 40yrs old and I had the option of going to the Shattuck Hospital rehab unit but opted for this place due to its 4.2 stars on google.
I couldn't have been more wrong in picking my rehab location. This what I've seen here thus far:
-This is a nursing home. Not really geared for younger individuals with minor short term medical conditions.
-The food is terrible most days, and the portions are definitely meant for the older crowd. Very sparse, very bland. Quite frankly, I received larger portions in prison. I have to ask for a 2nd tray every meal. The kitchen sends up incomplete trays as well. Sometimes it will be missing an item.
-You're not allowed out of your room for the first 14 days you're here due to COVID-19. After that, you're transferred to a regular floor where there's a high likelihood you may very well be roommates with a 70 or 80 year old person. They try to keep the rehab patients together, but I have been told that doesn't always happen.
-The shower on the "Quarantine floor" is a community shower. They don't have showers in each room. When the CNA was prepping the shower for me, she laid down a blanket on the shower floor, but did not provide me with shower shoes or flip flops. There were back brushes hanging from the disability handles, half empty bottles of soap lined the floors. The shower head is not capable of being connected to the wall so you have to wedge it against stuff when you don't need it. I have areas where my internal IV is that I was supposed to keep dry, but I found that impossible in this shower. And no attempt was made by staff to cover those areas prior to showering. I was allowed to shower without covering affected areas.
-The socks they provide here are those hospital socks with the grip treads on them, but with one small catch; in the hospital they'll give you a pair that's new, sealed in plastic. Here, however, they "recycle" those socks. They're not sealed, clearly have been washed, and they have a knot at the top like they've been pulled out of a sock drawer. I personally have passed on wearing them. I don't know if they've previously been on gout ridden feet or removed from a deceased former resident.
-The staff are a mixed bag. After hitting the "nurse call button" in my room the longest I've had to wait for a response thus far was 20 minutes. I typically use that button 4-5 times a day and most times they respond much sooner. I've been admonished for leaving my room and going to the nurses station twice, because again, you're not allowed to leave your room on this floor. I did the 2nd trip to the nurses station on purpose, because the first time I did it they could have been more respectful going about explaining the policy, and I wanted to see if they'd be even worse the 2nd time around. Some staff are very friendly and helpful, others are clearly waiting for their shift to end.
-There's absolutely nothing to do during the Quarantine period and I can't see things being much better once I leave this floor. If it wasn't for my phone I'd be pulling my hair out of my head. They drop off cross word puzzles and word searches in everyone's room every afternoon, books are available too, and there's a TV in your room with about 40 "ok" channels. But that's where it ends. I think I read somewhere they'll come to your room and play card games with you for a little while too, but I have yet to see that. So basically the activity options are very similar to what you'd see in a prison setting. You can have friends or family drop off laptops or radios, etc, for you though, but at present time, no visitors are permitted.
Impatiently counting down the days until I get out of here. A well earned 2-stars is appropriate. read more