River Ridge Rehab & Care Center

If your loved one cannot not talk or do anything for themselves, I do not recommend this facility! There is no medical care there wheresoever - even though there are nurses on staff. Trust me when I tell you they will not monitor your loved one's health. If you can't monitor your loved one's health yourself and recommend that they get checked by a physician, your loved one is in trouble! For the care my loved one received, she could have been sick at home for free! I absolutely do not recommend this Nursing Home. Put your loved one there at your own risk. You will be highly disappointed, I assure you.

My 74 year old mother was admitted to River Ridge for rehabilitation after hip replacement surgery. She was at River Ridge for about a month & a half. While there she told me that she hated living there, stating that her roommate played the TV too loud and all night long every night which kept her awake. The staff ignored her repeated complaints about her noisy roommate. She also told me that at least one of her caregivers was abusive to her (both physically and mentally). I live several states away and had planned to relocate her to my home after being discharged. While visiting her a few weeks before her release date, her physical therapist told me that my mom would walk out of River Ridge under her own power, without the need for a wheelchair or even a walker. From her current condition, I was skeptical but hopeful. When her release day came she wasn't even able to stand up on her own. She couldn't walk, even with a walker. In hindsight I should have gone to management and insist she remain until she was able to stand up and walk (at least with a walker). But because she hated living there so much, I couldn't bring myself to make her to stay there one more day. We traveled for days to get her to my home and she seemed okay all during the long drive. We arrived at my home just before noon on the last day of travel. She was so weak that we had to carry her into the house. Later that same day, she was sitting in her wheelchair. I left the room for just a moment and when I returned she was slumped over in her wheelchair. Her eyes were open but she was completely unresponsive. I was terrified and thought she had died. But then she started to convulse and puked all over herself. I called 911 immediately. During the call she regained consciousness but was very disoriented. The ambulance came and rushed her to the hospital. The EMTs thought she may have had had a minor stroke because when asked she couldn't say what month or year it was. After several tests at the hospital (including chest x-rays and a CT scan) she was diagnosed with Aspiration pneumonia and Vascular dementia. She spent days in the hospital recovering from pneumonia before returning to another rehab facility. She was back to square one. Medicare paid 80% of the cost of the second rehab but my mom was left with a huge bill in excess of $4,200. If River Ridge had done their job correctly and responsibly, she would have never developed pneumonia and would have avoided over a month of pain and suffering, plus the cost of repeating rehab. How is it possible that a Medical Care facility didn't suspect something was wrong with her memory after 1-1/2 months? Someone should have noticed something was wrong with her thinking and memory. We plan to sue River Ridge for multiple infractions of neglect and abuse.

How this place is still open, only God knows. It always smells of urine and poop. The nurses are afraid to leave the desk and the aids just sit in the hall on their phones or sleeping.