Heartland Health Care Center - Bedford

My husband went to Bedford Wellness and Rehabilitation from the hospital, and they seemed to do a very nice job. I'm very pleased with them. I wasn't able to visit there, but my daughter was able to visit, they masked her up, they're very cautious about COVID over there, so I'm not sure how when he got his 14-day test he came up positive for COVID. The staff has been really good, and he said the food was really good.

I stayed at this facility from 08/21/17-09/08/17 trying to get rehab after having back surgery. At first, the staff tried to make it a comfortable place to stay. But the true colors of this facility stated to shine. They would not let my primary care doctor or spine doctor come in to see me, I had to use the doctor that had been assigned to me. When they give you a menu for you to choose what you want do not check that you want iced tea for breakfast as I was yelled at by the Mgr. over nutrition that they do not make iced tea before 10:00. The used a sharpie to mark that selection off my menus but no one elses in the facility. Made a complaint to the Director of the facility and she told me she was going to write up a formal complaint for me to sign. That NEVER happened. They failed to work in getting my insurance my progress notes that they requested 4 times. That NEVER happened. Then the Business Mgr. came into my room on 09/01/17 and asked me how was I going to pay for my stay? I told her I have insurance. She told me at this point I was considered as "self-pay". From the week of 09/04/17-09/08/17 all I did was sit in my room and done nothing. The only people that came in was family and the nurse on duty in the morning & night to give medications and to check my blood sugars. A patient that was staying there said the social worker came in on 09/02/17 to give her information that she was about to be discharged. I was told by the morning nurse I was to be discharged on Labor Day. On 09/08/17 the Business Mgr. came in my room asked me when I was planning on leaving. On 09/13/17 the Business Mgr. had told another rehab facility that I was on cash pay and owed them money and that I had terrible insurance. She also informed the other facility that I met the skilled nursing facility requirements. I thought this would be a trustworthy place to stay as I also am a Bedford resident, BOY was I mistaken. This place is a joke and if you care about your loved one please look else where for care. If your loved one like to get up out of bed BEWARE they put them in a wheelchair and place them at the nearest nurses station to be watched. I feel sorry for the people that have to live there with no other options.

The good - the place was clean, staff was friendly, and there seemed to be relatively little staff turnover - that's why two stars and not one. The bad - staff rarely answer their phones, even less frequently return messages, and some don't know how to dial long distance on a land line - seriously. My mother had to go to the ER one day and no one informed the family. Found out the next day when ER called (they knew how to dial long distance) to see how she was doing. They also have trouble accepting payments. Wrote them a check, handed it to them, they tried to deposit it electronically and couldn't for some reason, nothing wrong with the check or on the bank's end. The ugly - At one point staff seemed completely unaware of my mother's main health problems. They also refused to bill costs for medical equipment rentals to insurance and charged VERY high daily rates for the rentals to the point that after a few days, it was cheaper to buy the equipment. They provide a bed and that's it. Oxygen, wound vacs, or anything else is rented at extremely high rates. Insurance company said they would pay for it but Heartland refused to bill to them or even provide us info to do it ourselves. Extremely frustrating to deal with since they don't answer phones or return calls.

The Hartland community was not a good fit. The service provided by this place was poor. The staff did not encourage my loved one to eat, they would put the food they would bring to her room out of her reach. The staff did not get her up out of bed and would let her sleep all day. Her health was declining quickly during her stay at this community. I would definitely not recommend them to anyone.

I stayed in this facility for approximately 1 month after having cancer surgery. I was very unhappy with this place. The first night I stayed there I had a strange man come in my room in the middle of the night. He started yelling at me and acting strange. I called the nurse. She finally came after the man left my room because he knew I had called the nurse. I was told that he was a patient in the center that was mentally ill and wondered around. I also went a couple of nights that someone was coming in the bathroom in my room and tearing up my personal belongings and throwing them around the bathroom. I had to move my belongings into the room so that I could see them.. It was easy for someone to walk in the entrance to my room and duck into the bathroom . The doctor that was in charge of me not only did not know how to care for my surgery wound but was suggesting care that was completely against what my surgeons and wound care nurses from the hospital had ordered. I remember a couple of weeks after I was there the head nurse that I had had since I got there coming in my room and asking if she could see my wound. Evidently she had not even read my chart because she had no idea what part of my body the wound existed. None of the medical staff seemed to know what they were doing and helped me very little. After begging to go home after at least 3 weeks I went home and ended up back in the major hospital for another month. It was because I got absolutely no physical care in this place. My good doctors from the other hospital were not allowed to see me or advise my care while I was in Heartland Healthcare. Everything was up to the Heartland doctor in charge. My private doctors had wanted me to get up moving around as much as I could. The Heartland medical personel refused to let me get up to even walk with my walker to the bathroom. They wanted me to stay in bed all the time. I knew it was hurting me. I even had to beg to be able to take a shower. I hated this place and will never stay in it again and advise everyone to either not go there but if you have to, have a family member with you at all times. I have never complained about any hospital or healthcare facility that I have stayed in before but this place was a nightmare. I was so upset about it because I had seen the place for many years living in Bedford. I chose it because I thought something right there in Bedford would be a trustworthy place. I feel sorry for the people that have to live there and have no other options or family to help them.