I'm in Salem Transitional Care for rehab. My favorite is they have PT and OT services. I go to them every day. I get three meals a day. It's a pretty place to be. It really uplifts you. It's the perfect place for me. No problems at all. Because of Covid, they're kind of skinny on their activities for people that are staying here during the day. You can get out and go walk over to a pond that has goldfish in it and take short hikes around here. I'm in a motor wheelchair, so I get out pretty much every day to just go cruise around. They're very clean. They clean my room a couple of times a week. They're on top of cleaning. The meals so far are OK. I'm a diabetic. They kind of give you a general meal that's not diabetic friendly, so that's my only complaint about the food. I have to pick out of the mesals, the most diabetically approved food out there. There's nothing to keep the patients busy during the day. I have an advantage because of the workout ability of the OT/PT, so I'm a little bit above the norm. They could have some more activities come along.

Mom has been at Salem Transitional Care twice for rehab. The facility itself was recently built and is located just off Hwy 5 at Cordon Rd - making access very easy. Each room is large, with an attached bathroom, with walk-in shower; rooms have separate temperature controls and an outside window. Therapy gym is very large with a wide variety of machines and apparatus including a kitchen/laundry area for occupational therapy. Besides the dining room, there is a separate room for TV viewing and conversation - fireplace & furniture reminds me of a living room - just much larger! There is also an area devoted to games/ jigsaw puzzles and a beautiful aquarium. Staff, to a person, are very friendly, attentive and encouraging. Clearly the focus of this facility is on short-term stays & rehabilitation. Mom typically had both occupational and physical therapy twice a day from knowledgeable and experienced therapists. Most importantly, Mom has been very pleased with the meals served. She found them to be ample portions, lots of variety, seasoned well with delicious deserts!

I wasn't impressed with SalemTransitional Care - Avamere. It just didn't look like a place where my parents would be happy. I've been in there before and visited some people who were there. The rooms are large. It's kind of a sterile atmosphere. It has vinyl floors, and it's not a very homey looking place at all. It's a much older facility. It's been there a long time. It has kind of a cold, austere atmosphere to it. It wasn't as clean as other facilities, it's smelly, and it's just not the kind of place that you could personally be drawn to. I think most of the people in there are people who probably didn't have long-term care insurance or little to no assets and that's where they were placed. It's just a job for the staff; I don't think their hearts are really in it for the most part. They have some limited facilities, they have exercising and they have a physical therapy area.

Mom stayed at Salem Transitional Care. It's new, clean, and everything was up-to-date. They had lots of equipment for rehab in good condition. She was there for rehab of a broken pelvis. From my mother's point of view, the food was terrible. She said some of the nurses were really good and some of the CNAs could be pretty slow in responding to her needs, but she said that it was kind of spotty depending on the person. Some staff members were good and some were not. They had activities available, but it's her choice not to take part in those.

Salem was a new facility, and we knew the woman that was managing there. That was one of the reason we chose them for my father. She is the perfect person to have to run these facilities as she demands excellence. They have a physical therapy room and great physical therapists. It’s larger and holds several people, and they have different machines. My husband refused to eat in the dining room because the acoustics gave him headaches due to his hearing aids, and that’s the only thing we complained about. But they were happy to bring him and what he actually did is they have a sitting area across the nurse’s station so he and a few of the others went there to have meals so he still got to talk to people and could eat in peace. The room was great and furnished with everything you needed. They locked the door from 8PM to 8 in the morning, but when we called and told the caregiver that we will visit, she said sure come on over and that was about 8:30. They’re just overwhelming with good care and kindness to the family. I really thought of them as my grandchildren.