Gettysburg Center

This is the second time I've been a POA for a resident in a local Adams County nursing home....and I hope the last! I am familiar with these facilities. Currently, I am a POA for a friend residing at Genesis and have served in that capacity for the last 7 years. I believe I am qualified to provide this evaluation. Please excuse the length. In today's environment please be aware of the following overarching facts, as I see them: - Good, dependable and local health care employees are very hard to find. There exists in the job market a plethora of temporary contract/agency workers serving in ALL nursing home systems in Adams County. Genesis has its share. Some are great and others not so. - For-profit facilities, like Genesis, are operated differently than not-for-profits. Not worse, just different. That can show in subtle ways such as timing of the purchasing of non-medical supplies due to corporate policy impacting availability of items, juggling work schedules, etc. Sometimes these operational subtilities are evident but most of the time they are not. This is not a quality issue but a harder look at the "bottom line" than you will find in not-for-profit facilities. - Food quality and variety is always an issue of discussion....everywhere. It's not home cooking.....but it's nutritious. Enough said. Here are my observations and grades after 7 years of visiting at Genesis on the average of twice a week: Nurses & Aides - I've found that the quality of these employees depends on the shift. At Genesis the Morning/afternoon shift is A+. This team is experienced, knowledgeable, caring, pleasant, hard working, upbeat and focused on the patient. They are stars. The afternoon/evening shift is a C. In my opinion the weakest shift. A few very good employees but overall could use better customer service. The evening/overnight shift is a solid B. They seem to react to problems well. Physical Therapy - A+. This unit is excellent. The therapists are caring, very knowledgeable and good communicators. I've observed that PT patients make good progress under their care. Administration - A. I've noticed that when a problem gets to the administrative level, it is addressed immediately and a solution or "a work-around" is found. This unit is led by excellent and insightful problem solvers with lots of experience. Food Service - Overall quality is a solid B. Good and nutritious food is served but occasionally the variety could be better. This unit endeavors to meet both the patient's meal preferences and their medical/dietary needs...not an easy task. They are good communicators and seek feedback from the patient. Front Desk - A+ The team that works here wears many hats. They are friendly, very helpful, excellent communicators as they shuttle messages, questions and requests to the other units at Genesis. They often go out of their way to see that inquiries from family members are answered either by phone or in person. Good problem solvers. Housekeeping & Maintenance - B+. Genesis is clean. No foul lingering odors. Some of the hallway carpeting needs to be replaced. The maintenance staff is usually responsive to requests generated by the patient. Housekeeping always seems to be busy cleaning the facility. Improvement Recommendation The call-light response time throughout the facility needs to be improved. I do not know what the standard average response time might be for the nursing home industry......but from my observation there is room for improvement at Genesis. I suspect it's a staffing issue. Again, my apologies for the length of this review. I hope some will find it helpful.

DO NOT LET YOUR LOVED ONE STAY HERE!!! I implore you to not to use this facility. This place is absolutely horrible! My parent DIED due to their neglectfulness! I was there almost daily and saw firsthand how understaffed they were and basically abandoned their patients for hours on end. You press the call button and no one would come. A patient needs changed or needs to go to the restroom and they end up soiling themselves because the nurses wouldn't come until at least a few hours later. This happened to my parent and also her roommate who was in the same room. You go up to the nurse's station to ask for help and you would get the same response that someone will be there soon, although it would not be until a few hours later. Many underhanded, dishonorable, and shady situations occurred, some of which caused the death of my parent. I sued, due to the death of their neglectful hands and all the evidence I had. What happens? They just file for bankruptcy and change their name so they can continue like they always had with the same exact care and staff. The nursing care to patient ratio is alarming. It is ALL about money. They keep accepting patients but do not have the staff to provide adequare care. It is absolutely disgusting how they can get away with such despicable and unprofessional actions. I could continue with all the careless and shady acts this place has committed but I would be writing a book. This place need not respond to me with their generic reply to please contact them to resolve the matter. It is too late for that now.