I'm a resident and I feel if I have to be in a facility I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. The staff treat you like family. They have activities every day. We also have church services every every Sunday.

I regretfully had to place my father in Nhc due to him not being able to stay home alone anymore. He has Parkinson's disease and Parkinson's related dementia. He entered walking with a walker, but left in a wheelchair. During his 9 week stay, he incurred over 30 falls, broken ribs, a brain bleed, and numerous contusions. On 4 different occasions I personally witnessed the nurses not giving him his correct dose of medication. When questioned, there was no apology, only excuses. He lost 35lbs. I fed him his dinner every night. There is a separate room for those who can't feed themselves, I helplessly watched as several residents dropped their food on themselves and the floor. There was only 1 CNA tasked with ensuring that 7 others were properly fed. On 5 separate occasions I found him lying in his urine, and other times the urine had already dried. I don't feel that the CNAs are trained on Parkinson's disease. They assumed my father was being difficult, when in fact he was Sundowning. He was having a hard time adjusting, but instead of empathy and patience, he was being chemically restrained and yelled at. When I tried to voice my concerns with the doctor, I was labeled as being difficult and trying to interfere with treatment. I know my father, he was having a bad reaction to the sedating medications. I was then told that I needed to pay extra money (on top of the $7k I already paid) to have someone babysit him during the evenings when he was Sundowning. When I said that wasn't possible, the administrator threatened to kick him out unless he stayed sedated. He became a liability due to the numerous emergency room visits. Not all of the CNAs and nurses were neglectful. There were a few that really cared and would assist me where they could and actually wanted to help my father. There were patient care meetings held to discuss positive outcomes, but the lead nurse sat there and rolled her eyes at my concerns. Then she and the administrator laughed about it. Literally sat there mocking me as if we were in high school. The most unprofessional meeting I have ever attended. I left there in tears. If you absolutely have to place your loved ones in NHC, please monitor them closely. Get involved, be their voice if needed. Once my dad was home, I weaned him off all the sedating medications and he got better. Now he attends an adult daycare and enjoys it. I wish I knew about that option beforehand.

My mom has been in National Healthcare Center in Sumter for 1½ weeks because she just got out of the hospital. It has been excellent. She had been in the hospital for two weeks with a broken leg, totally immobile, wouldn’t eat, couldn’t talk, and now she is eating, you can understand her when she talks, and is having physical therapy sessions. She is doing well. It is a community-type place. Right now, she is getting assessments every week. I have a planning session scheduled for next week with her plan care for what they are going for the next two weeks. Everybody has been really friendly, and every time I go there, the whole place recognizes me and fills me in on how she is doing. Their staffing-to-resident ratio is very good. Their skilled nursing facility is one of the higher rated facilities within 100 miles. They have two sunrooms, two internal courtyards, and an activity room, so there are plenty of amenities.

This facility is always very clean and they work hard to make it feel like a home setting rather than nursing home. The nurses are all dressed in white to be easily identified and professional. There is plenty of staff available, and frequent activities for the residents. They also have therapy in house for PT, ST, and OT. This facility has new furniture, nicely decorated rooms, and a homely feeling. They have birdcages inside for residents to view. Each room has a window to view outside the facility and the grounds are fairly well kept. They encourage residents to get out and be active with the events and facility. Like I said, the staff are well dressed. They are all accredited professionals that have training and continued training. The nurses all dispense the medications on time and keep them safely in a locked cart with each resident having their own drawer. They also are very on top of wound care and skin breakdown prevention. Some rooms also have bed alarms to let staff know if a resident is off of their bed and potentially in danger Overall, this is one of the best places in this area for nursing homes. I feel that they do a good job with their residents and would recommend this facility.