my friend told me i was in th best rehab in the country. it must have changed since she was there. my friends sent me flowers. they were beautiful but not one had a name on it when it was delivered.i had no idea who they were from.iasked and asked for help finding who had sent the flowere but no one cared to help me.it still bothers me. the aides were cranky. they seemed over worked and under paid. actually the aides that were men seemed less tired and they were not cranky at all read more

Wonderful experience here Had right knee replaced Everyone here was great Spotless facility read more

When a big corporation proves that it is a learning organization with a heart, one's faith in humanity is restored in these uncertain times.

This is posted regarding NewBridge on the Charles which is a Hebrew Life facility. I stayed for rehab post-surgery. I was there for physical therapy. NONE was administered. Medical assistants were surly and one nurse who occasionally came in knew what she was doing. I received double the dose of high blood pressure medication thanks to the staff who do not wear badges and do not identify themselves in terms of certification (Medical Assistant, RN, LPN, etc.). A medical director as she termed herself named Donovan came in and pushed a certain drug which I knew I was allergic. This was incredibly inappropriate and grounds for malpractice. Someone on staff told my health care proxy/executor that I went on a rant about poor nursing care. I never did so. He was upset, I was upset. Now, there's a very slim chance I would have done so since I was on a lot of pain med. If I had known I generally spoke about nurses in the way accused, I would have apologized. But this was surreptitiously done and with incredible meanness and vengeance toward me. However, it is true that I received poor care, poor food, and most importantly at the time poor physical therapy. I cannot imagine spending a $500k to $1 million for continuing care at this dump. I feel sorry for people who get suckered in. All I wanted was good rehab. Up and walking, PT etc. I walked 20 feet with an OT therapist. That was it. STAY AWAY. read more

My mother requested to go here after her hospital stay because she knew others who had been here. The grounds are really lovely. It is peaceful her to drive in and to walk around. The care has been quite good, most of the time. I have arrived a few times to visit and found her in need of pain medication. She tells me she asked and no one brought it yet. Being in the medical field I understand more than most about being busy and not getting to things right away. It's just hard when it's my own mom to have perspective. She will leave Thursday after a three week stay and I can honestly say if she needs to go back into a rehab facility, I would chose this one again. read more

I wish I could be writing a more positive review but alas, my stay at Newbridge has left me with an injury that is causing me much pain and cost due to a rigid policy that would have easily solved my post-op problem if the management had been more solicitous of my post-op injury and less concerned about their legal exposure. Simply put, I asked that my personal massage therapist be allowed to come to Newbridge and work on an injury that I had had in the past and was easily fixed. But Newbridge agreed and then balked and the injury (a hematoma) quickly became hard and could not be aspirated. So now I face surgery at a time when I cannot have more surgery. Newbridge screwed up, gave me a bogus explanation with no apology, and is unwilling to examine their policy of disallowing personal treatment providers to give service. Because of this I cannot give a recommendation. In addition the actual service was nothing extraordinary despite the semi-fancy single rooms. The food was typically unappealing. The help included many people who could not think for themselves and were "just following orders". Can you imagine being awakened after surgery at 6:00AM to get your weight checked - to be ordered out of the bed to stand on a scale? Please!! read more

I have only the best things to say about my experience post back surgery at NewBridge on the Charles . During my 9 day stay I didn't find a flaw in the care I received from the doctors, nurses OT's, PT's, caregivers and staff. they traded and treated me with the upmost respect answer any questions I had were kind and thoughtful. I never had to ask for anything, because they were always there before I even had to ask. read more

My mom is has been at New Bridge for around 20 months, and I can honestly say that I am very impressed with the amount of caring she receives. They go beyond my expectations to make my mom feel comfortable and important. When my mom fell and had to go to the hospital and then to their rehab floor for a few weeks, their whole staff- all her resident assistants, nurses, activity director and activity councilor, SW, and more, each individually came to visit her at the rehab. It was amazing how many staff cared enough about her that they took personal time to visit her- and all at different times. Rabbi Karen even visited her in the hospital. I could write an epic on her love, compassion and caring she has shown my mom and all the residents. When she returned to her own room, the staff was amazing. Someone came every hour to check on her and made sure she was comfortable and her every need was met. Her PT and OT have been helping her get back on her feet, We couldn't ask for a better team of caring professionals. Unfortunately now she has become very weak due to congestive heart failure, and just when I thought that the staff couldn't get any better, they are proving themselves to us once again. They are extremely responsive and they make sure someone sits with her everyday for a while. All I can say is their staff is wonderful and compassionate. They have their own in-house doctors and NP's and my mom's doctor and NP have been very caring and have been great keeping us informed on her condition. I would definitely recommend NBOC to anyone looking for a long term care facility for their loved ones. Did I mention everyone has their own room? read more

I can not imagine that any senior care facility could be better than Newbridge. My mother has been there since they opened, and is now on the memory support unit. The care she receives is extraordinary. The staff are caring and loving - dedicated entirely to their residents. Knowing that my mom is in such great care gives me great comfort, and it just wouldn't be this way without Newbridge. The facility is incredible... new, clean, beautiful. Lots and lots of activities for the residents. An incredible place. read more

My parent has been a resident in their nursing home in the memory support area for @18 months. The front line aides up to medical staff are proud, to the point of arrogance, of the beautiful facility, mostly private rooms, excellent medical care and quality of food and attention to specific dietary needs of residents. They also believe their activities program, called "Life Enhancement" is superb. They pride themselves on 'providing excellent care', however, their standards for excellence are a tad lower than mine. My parent, after many months of having no problems with 'diaper rash', has now developed a redness of skin in the genital/perineum area every month for three months that requires administration of prescription medications. The Nurse Practitioner associated with her primary care doctor agrees with me that this is too much - the staff are supposed to check and toilet/change incontinent residents every 2-4 hours. (Every resident in memory support at the advanced stage needs incontinence care - a major reason that one places a family member in a facility because families are not trained and can become injured if required to consistently move a family member from wheelchair to toilet and bed, etc. - they have mechanical lifts to safely do this at Newbridge to save the staff from injury - lifts that cost many thousands of dollars). Cleaning and drying the genital area promptly and properly, and placing the right barrier creams, and wearing the right size and absorbency briefs all contribute to the maintenance of intact, healthy skin. 1. There are too few lifts, so residents have to wait, sometimes until the rest of the total of 14 people per unit have been toileted. Someone who has soiled them-self can sit for quite a while in soiled adult protective underwear and this can cause skin breakdown. If you want your loved one to have time to sit on the toilet to make a bowel movement, too bad - they only give an individual 5 minuts to make a BM before they clean them up and put them back in their seat because they have to move onto the next resident. Who among us hasn't needed a while to get things moving....especially if we are not longer walking and are seated or lying down 100% of the time!? 2. Over night, they only check and change, if wet, twice a night. So if someone is checked at 10 pm and is dry, then again at 12 AM and is dry, and again at 1 am and is changed, the next check may not occur until the AM shifts starts at 7 AM and the resident may wait for other residents to be washed up and dressed until 9 AM. That is 8 hours in potentially soiled undergarments or bedding - would they do that to their own baby? I think not. 3. In addition to inadequate attention to the resident's comfort and hygiene, I have found that the nurse has to be reminded to have front line workers properly clean residents' hands and face after a meal. Otherwise people are sitting with lunch (red sauce, bits of food, whatever), sometimes on their face or even dripping from their mouth, and messy hands, from lunch until dinner time. Again, would they let their own child remain dirty like that for hours after a meal? I think not. And cutting fingnails! Basic and often neglected. 4. For "activities" residents spend too many hours sitting around a TV. Sometimes TV shows what the STAFF want to watch, rather than appropriate programming for older adult population. Best practices suggest playing music a resident might have enjoyed when they were age 15-25 - we all love the music we discovered in adolescence and young adulthood. So listening to contemporary music or watching tv shows that are fast-cut and fast-talking from today is NOT ideal. DVDs of musicals like The Music Man, Singing in the Rain, The Sound of Music, State Fair etc. are available to play in the household - these have lovely associations and lots of nice music for older folks, but staff don't realize the value of familiar musical selections. 5. The fact that they don't screw up the medications, and mostly get the nutrition right (puréed food for folks who can't chew, feed them by spoonful if they can't feed themselves, and monitor to avoid allergies such as wheat, lactose, etc.) and claim to provide compassionate in-house, end-of-life palliative/hospice care does not make up for day-to-day boredom and neglect of basic care such as checking and changing when residents are sitting in their own soil. 6. There is a pretty, enclosed garden attached to Memory Care nursing household, just a few steps from the household where residents spend their every day and night. Shameful how infrequently the staff take residents outside in good weather to enjoy some sun and breeze, flowers and birds/chipmunks/squirrels. This is so easy & FREE, but the intiative is not there - easier to plunk them in front of TV until the next meal time. That's it, eat and watch TV. 7. Be aware the claims of 'excellent end of life care.' No hospice care available. read more

My Mom lives at NewBridge Independent Living and we just had our first interaction with Rehab. While each individual person did a great job, I have to say the communication between them was very poor. We would consult with a nurse one day and talk medication. Changes would be made. Yet when we came back the next, the new nurse had no knowledge of any changes. in the two weeks my Mom was there, I never saw a Dr. She said she saw one once. Discharge was also less than stellar. We had a very rushed, hectic meeting with the entire staff where everyone gave an update. My Mom signed some papers. When I came the next day to move her, no one was around to tell us what to do. A nurse finally came in and just read through the medications she was supposed to take.. a list that was incorrect. To top it off, since she lives at NewBridge, she also sees a Dr. there. That Dr. never once visited my Mom in rehab and when we went for a check-in after she was released, the Dr. read the various notes from the hospital and rehab while we were sitting there. She had never read any of it before and seemed surprised by some of it. She couldn't recall which meds she had prescribed prior to my Mom's event, and which the hospital had prescribed. She took the words on the paper as the holy grail and did not really want to understand some of the communication and nuances behind them. I do have to say follow-up has been good. Hebrew Senior Life has their own staff for aids, nurses, and PT once you are discharged. This piece has run smoothly and without a hitch. I would highly recommend them. The good part is that rehab is connected to NewBridge where my Mom lives so she likes. She feels cared for and never needs to go outside and walk on ice and snow. She likes having it all there. So I am grateful that she is comfortable with it. However, for all the talk and hype and money, I would expect better communication and better patient care all around. read more

I agree with everything written by Joanna and mr, read their reviews carefully. I experienced all that they did with my parent. We had over two years experience with our parent in the 24-hour senior care facility in Dedham. While there were some positive aspects, if I could do it again, I'd look harder. Unfortunately, I was a lay person with no background in any of this. Every time I visited, something upset me. Whether my parent was stuck in front of the TV (did NOT have dementia and loved to read and go to activities), was sitting in a diaper leak with wet pants, crumbs on the face, filthy and long finger nails, etc. etc., there was always something to make me upset about the level of care. At one point, the hearing aides had been damaged and the nurse and care staff all insisted my parent couldn't hear because of neurological decline until we the family finally got to the bottom of the issue, the hearing aides needed replacing as somehow they'd gotten wet. The staff could care less that my parent was deaf and unable to communicate with fellow residents and staff on and off for months until this was discovered. Another upsetting example, my parent leaning over so far that his head was literally on the dinner table because he was losing posture control and he had eaten and was just waiting to be moved. He was awake. Can you imagine? The staff was there, just didn't care. Broke my heart to see his forehead on the table. Not all staff was like that but about 50 percent, so that had a huge impact on quality of life daily. What does it matter if you hear there is a good ratio of staff on your tour, if some are not motivated. If it was a nice day, the only patients enjoying the outdoors were those who could get themselves out independently, or who had family come and wheel them out. It wasn't just the basic care, the management level care was also lacking. For example, at the point when my parent clearly needed the PT and on-site medical staff to notice his declining ability to sit straight in his chair, which required wheelchair/ equipment changes, no one was on it until I advocated for him. Additionally, because some of the aides and one of the main nurses had terrible attitudes towards family members, I found myself not wanting to go there and visit, which is unacceptable. What was most misleading from our tour, was the access patients actually have to exercise and work on their fitness. It's very, very limited. Good equipment and staff, but unfortunately residents are each only given three times a week to use this room, and no makeups are given....so if they have to go to the toilet for example, or have an appointment they can't change, well the patients will just miss their session as the program is overbooked ....so now they are down to only twice that week. Or perhaps they enjoy certain programs that get scheduled at the same time and they make the poor choice of going to the other program so they lose their workout session. Or maybe it's a three day weekend and your parent has a session on Monday, oh well, the staff are off that day so the workout clinic is closed. I saw my parent decline from not getting proper fitness, especially over the holidays. Probably not something you will pick up on during your tour. So while there are some dedicated staff, the facility is nice and all the residents themselves are sweet, the essential, day-to-day care has some real issues. A fellow elderly resident living there with a nursing background who I got to know, said it best one day when I was visiting my parent: "It's fine if you don't need much care." But, of course, most 24-hour care patients do need care, so, make sure you look hard and think carefully about all your options before you decide. read more

Had i written this review a week ago I would of given it 2 stars... at best....A week later it is a 5 star facility. My MIL was in an accident, had surgery and needed a rehab. I am familiar with avery manor, briarwood and the many others in the surrounding area. She arrived on a Sunday, That was part of the problem... weekend nurses and staff. I did not find the aids very friendly and I was concerned that the handling of her was a little rough. However, I spent the entire day there Monday and I met her Dr. PT, OT, Social worker and the other various support team. I found them all to be kind, knowledgable and caring. The nurses and aides (in particular Charles) are wonderful. Her social worker (gina) is always accessible to family. Since we are there every day for most of the day we have been happy with the care she is given. the place is incredibly clean,lots of social activities and many seating areas that family members can enjoy. Highly Recommended!!!!! read more

My aunt is at Newbridge Nursing Facility, and given the great reviews, I have been stunned at the inadequacy of care. She has problems getting someone to help her to the bathroom and often has to wait longer than 20 minutes. This is often too late. When staff and patients are together (for example,,at meals),the staf serve the patients food without communicating with them. I often see extremely weak patients attempting comminication, only to be ignored. They'll put on a great show during visiting hours, though. There's a lot of glitz, and it's a lovely facility, but that can only take a person so far when basic, human needs aren't getting met. I need to give it a one. read more

My mother in law was at Newbridge on the Charles for rehab. Then they transferred her to long term care and it has been nothing but trouble. They tell us things are going to get done and they don't. For the price we are paying the care is horrible! read more