Elmwood Care Center

Reviews and listings

What families and listing sites say.

Reviews

• Google1/5

  Thanks Elmwood for sending my Uncle to the ER because of his behavioral problems caused by his head injury and then not bothering to disclose the incident or true issue with his health problem so the hospital just rehydrated him and gave him a bus pass . Now I don’t even know where he is. He had COGNITIVE ISSUES why wouldn’t you tell the hospital!? CRIMINAL

  Read full review

  Sep 21, 2026

• Google2/5

  Patients here can’t get the help they always need. They list shower days but they don’t happen, medicine is missed and/or forgotten. Some staff are extremely helpful and nice and others acts as if they don’t want to be there but they chose that job the patients didn’t. Doctors are non-existent most of time and trying to get a straight answer from anyone is difficult. They are however very concerned with their liability and that seems to be the extent of it. If you don’t have send someone here find a better place if you can, however most operate just as they do. Sad business unfortunately.

  Read full review

  Aug 18, 2026

• Google5/5

  I'll bet there are plenty of people that find themselves in my predicament. I'm middle aged plus, a couch potato, & too casual about activity & health. In October a condition rendered me bed ridden for 2 weeks. To my surprise I had muscle atrophy & found myself unable to stand. I called the Berkeley Fire Department who took me to Alta Bates. After a few days of steroids etc the doctor advised me to get help from a skilled nursing facility & gave me a long list of places. After consulting hospital staff, friends, & and attorney friend I decided on Elmwood Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Berkeley. That afternoon I was medically transported to Elmwood & placed in a room. I spent the night wondering "what has happened to me? why am I unable to stand up?" I was assessed within 12 hours by 2 very knowledgeable & positive staff members. The next day I met the full staff: Shanni, Charlie, Regina, Melanie & Jyoti AKA "The Fab Five Of Physical Therapy". I immediately began a daily routine of upper & lower body exercises, strength training, stretching, sit to stand, & walking. Under the staffs care my condition, confidence & outlook have greatly improved. I'm also impressed with their no guilt attitude, their team approach & their willingness to give opinions based on their own experiences. Also despite their heavy caseload, they find time to give extra attention to persons like myself that are nearing the end of their therapy sessions. In conclusion, I came to Elmwood Rehabilitation on a stretcher unable to stand or walk & l'm leaving on my own 2 feet.

  Read full review

  Dec 10, 2025

• Google1/5

  Place smells like lingering raw sewage 24/7. After 20 days of being there, your PT is automatically revoked no matter how bad your condition requires it and the PT is lackluster aslt best. When a bed is changed from a big bed to a small and uncomfortable bed, they will lie and tell you it's the same bed you were in. Visiting hours end after 6:30. Getting a day pass takes a long time. Food is horrible. Patients go crying for 15min to a half hour at a time. Outside agencies won't hold the facility accountable. I'm working on finding a new facility tomorrow and wasn't expecting to hear about people dying from UTIs. It wouldn't surprise me if the place got shut down. Even the fire department medics told me the place was horrible and to not send her back when she gets out. I'm on my way looking for a new nursing home with the best reviews in the bay area. Elmwood is absolutely disgusting. 🤢🤢🤢🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮

  Read full review

  Mar 3, 2025

• Google1/5

  They killed my mother. They didn't tell me she was vomiting and not drinking. I realized she was vomiting when I lift her up by her lower back. I called the nurse, she didn't come for about 15mins. I had yell at them to come now. I had her sent to the hospital. All her veins had collapsed from severe dehydration. Alta bates called me that night and told me she passed.

  Read full review

  Dec 3, 2024

• Google1/5

  This place is dangerous. The staff are very nice but there must be a top down lack of organization and continuity of care issue because they nearly killed my mom by not giving her the blood pressure medicine she has been on for years and needs to prevent stroke and a-fib. They transferred her to the ER because her pulse and blood pressure were dangerously high. I’m so glad she is out of there and we will never go back. The care at Kaiser hospitals is excellent, and somehow when it gets transferred to offsite skilled nursing it all falls apart. Kaiser, this is a major oversight, and creates an extreme lack of confidence in your care.

  Read full review

  Jul 16, 2024

• Google1/5

  Still have nightmares about this place. I was 12 years old visiting my dying grandmother/ best friend who was being "cared for" at this "nursing home" my grandmother was the most giving sweetheart until the day she passed.. never wanted to feel like a burden on anyone. Every single time I would come to Elmwood to visit her after school she would be in tears saying how the nurses in this facility treated her horribly.. money would go missing from her purse.. they would spray her down in the showers like she was a dog.. no care or softness was shown to her here. I remember feeling so helpless because I was so young and there was nothing I could do. I was finally able to beg someone in our family to take her in to their home so she wouldn't have to endure the abuse at this place any longer. If you love your family member please never leave them here. The nurses do not care about your loved ones.

  Read full review

  Feb 26, 2024

• Caring.com1/5

  I was a resident for 5 weeks, from Nov 19- Dec 16 2023. I came after spending one week at Alta Bates Hospital. The facilities are in very poor shape. The ceiling is falling in multiple areas. Large holes with black moldy material can be found in patient rooms and several opened up in the hallway outside of my room. It wasn't raining. Buckets and towels were in use. There was interment hammering going on at all hours. I'm not sure if this was due to the roof issues. Most of the staff were not regular employees, and many, but not all, were lacking skills, initiative, concern, and familiarity with Elmwood. A shout out goes to Tiensin and Dickie, two employees were the absolute best and tried very hard to do their job, keep their cool when disrespected by patients, and keep the casual labor in check. They made me feel cared for, safe, and were professional with little help even when it was bedlam outside my room. Patients screaming obscenities, others wandering, lost, and the roof was caving in. Several patients acress the hall were loud, rude, demanding, and shouting the entire time I was there. They are seriously understaffed which leaves call buttons unresponded to in a timely manner. The breakfast and dinner meals were lacking in taste and quantity. Very small portions and barely palatable. Lunch, on the other hand, was the high point of my day. The menu was inspired, varied, and portions were generous. Presentation and taste showed care and respect for patients. Two weeks into my stay, I tested positive for Covid, a first for me. Within a matter of days, well over 30 patients nearby were positive, some staff and housekeepers were also incapacitated. They tried to limit exposure by moving beds around which was a hot mess. I was near a window but had two different roommates moved in that were unhappy and at times hostile. There was no need to move anyone because the entire wing was quarantined and on lockdown. I was lucky during my stay because I could use the bathroom and didn't need assistance. All three of my roommates required diapers and changing. The care they received was inconsistent, unhurried, and often disrespectful. The rotating staffing from outside, the bottom of the barrel, were doing patient changing. In the end, I was not consulted about discharge strategies. Social Services showed up at 11:00 and told me that I was to leave that day and when could I go. I had no ride arranged and no one to help me get into my second story apartment. They arranged for an Uber after lunch. My meds were to go to the independent pharmacy I had on record. Twice I was told that pharmacy was closed for good, a lie, and they sent my orders to CVS, a nightmare.

  Read full review

  Resident

  Jan 13, 2024

• Google1/5

  This facility is dirty, noisy and unsafe. No patient should ever be placed here for care. The top edges of the walkers are crudy and have not been cleaned. The beds have little cushioning on the mattress; the side rails are only 1/5 th the way down the length of the mattress. So it’s easier to slip off the bed. The staff yells down the hallway at one another and the residents are conversing in 4 letter invectives. I was so physically scared for my life, I called friends to come and get me and I checked myself out. I was safer unattended in my own home.

  Read full review

  Jan 8, 2024

• Caring.com1/5

  My advice is do not send a family member here. Service is terrible. When my family became ill and returned to the hospital and later had return to the “FEAR” of returning was unbearable . They were so afraid to return. This must tell you something. We were fortunate enough to find another place that he is happy with. Try to retrieve his belongs was as nightmares ! After 2 months of consent calling and stopping by we were told over and over again they to look for his belongs. They continued to get angry with us and treated us with disrespect. Finally we received as small box with a few things but none of the newly purchased items of clothes, blankets and razor were missing. This place is terrible and needs to investigated.

  Read full review

  Family member

  Aug 8, 2021

• Caring.com1/5

  DO NOT send your loved ones here for ANY type of care. Many of the staff have a bad attitude and will make you feel as if you are intruding on them if you request something as simple as assistance with cutting your food if you have a broken arm. The rooms are sparse and the medical equipment used for blood pressure monitoring or weigh ins are not professional medical quality. The blood pressure monitor is the same brand that can be purchased at Walgreens, Target, Costco or the Kaiser pharmacy. The nursing staff makes attempts at providing care, but the quality is far from care that will help you recover. Yes, many SNFs have staff that is overworked or they are short handed, but when you have to wait an hour or more for a nurse to respond to a buzzer to request pain medication? The food is subpar - served cold and food unrecognizable as food. Breakfast was brought and strange looking flat waffle(?) was on the plate with a pale grey undercooked sausage and grits. The flat waffle could not be cut due to the broken arm. When assistance was requested to cut the flat waffle the person bringing the food (?) replied “ Yeh, I know about your arm.” The waffle was then picked up with her bare hands and was torn into pieces and thrown back on the plate. No one deserves to be treated that way. When a transfer request was made, staff members would come into the room and say that the concerns are true, but no matter where you go, you will have the same experience. Whatever you do, do not go to Elmwood for any type of rehabilitation or nursing. You are revenue, a dollar amount. They will attempt to manipulate you to stay with false promises of speaking to the staff to initiate changes that never occur. I am not one that writes reviews, however I feel I’m this case people need to be warned.

  Read full review

  Family member

  May 15, 2020

• Caring.com2/5

  I was there for 4 weeks following major surgery. Very noisy, day and night. At night staff would walk in to take care of my roommate and speak in loud voices. I never had a decent night's sleep. Food is totally DISGUSTING. I rarely ate a meal a full meal. Breakfast was the best meal. Ex: scrambled eggs on a raw English muffin. I'm on a salt free diet. Everything was over salted. Not even cottage cheese instead of a meal. Many nights, I went to bed hungry. I lost 20 lbs. in 4 weeks. I wouldn't recommend this place.

  Read full review

  Resident

  Oct 20, 2018

• Caring.com1/5

  My mother is treated at Elmwood. I can say which I have never said this is an old Rinky Dink Dump. The staff had NO IDEA she my mom was there first off. I cAme from out of town where I live to find out what was going on with my mom and they knew nothing. My mother can't talk or stay awake long enough to tell me. They didn't give her any meds until a day and a half after she got there. Anytime we needed something there was NO ONE to help and when someone did come they looked like they didn't want to help. I was there from 3-9 and no one came in to ask her if she needed anything and she cannot tell you if she's hurt or needs anything because she is out of it I cannot wait to take her out of here. And let me just say this. I never leave reviews and am not really a complainer so go figure ????

  Read full review

  Family member

  Jan 15, 2017

• Caring.com2/5

  My mom went to Elmwood Care Center for about 10 days. There were pluses and minuses to it. I really liked the friendly staff and felt like they really cared about the patients, but I had some issues with the place because it seemed they were rather unorganized. When my mom was being transferred over there, I was given a bag of medication from Kaiser and told as soon as I got in there that I needed to find the nursing staff because they were the only ones allowed to give her the medication. I went around trying to find a nursing staff member, and when I talked to somebody, they looked blankly at me like they didn’t know what I was talking about. The other thing was they told me if anything happened to my mom, they will notify me immediately but anytime there was a change, they didn’t notify me. When they transferred her from the facility back to the hospital, they didn’t notify me. The only reason why I knew about it was that my mother called me and said she thought they were going to transfer her back to Kaiser. The room was really nice, but it was very noisy in there. My mom actually started to decline not because she wasn’t getting good care there but because she wasn’t getting enough sleep and it was real hard on her.

  Read full review

  Family member

  Aug 22, 2016

• Caring.com3/5

  Elmwood Care Center ignored my mom and tried to tell her she was drinking too much water and she couldn’t have more food. She felt really neglected over there. They never even offered to give her a bath. The cleanliness was good. The food, she said, was horrible. I didn’t get to see the food, but I know she lost weight in there. It looked really overcrowded, and it was hard to get through the hallways, as there were lots of people in the hallways in wheelchairs.

  Read full review

  Family member

  Oct 31, 2015