Brookside Rehabilitation Center in Lincoln, NE

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Pros

• The CNAs at the facility bring positivity to the environment.
• The place is awesome and the staff, especially Seth, are the best.
• Emerald at Brookside is highly recommended; the hospital liaison is easy to work with; the staff are friendly and the community is clean.
• The therapists Zach, Rikki, and Jennifer are skilled and help patients become stronger.
• The nursing staff at Emerald Brookside is excellent, and management addressed concerns promptly.
• The facility is clean and the decor is elegant, with a well-equipped therapy gym.
• The aides are very good as well, especially Joyce.
• Administrator Paige has put together a really good team.
• The staff are nice and friendly.
• Brookside Rehabilitation is recognized for both short- and long-term care; the entire team provides high-quality care.
• The rehabilitation team helps residents reach their highest level with personalized care; staff are friendly and caring.
• Brookside has brought leadership and stability back into the healthcare field and is moving in the right direction.

Cons

• The care provided to residents has been described as horrible, with staff often rude and unresponsive.
• The facility is dirty and outdated, with stains on carpet and odors of urine.
• Meals were frequently served cold and in styrofoam containers, not on plates.
• Residents are left in chairs in the hallways and not consistently bathed or cared for.
• Communication between staff and families is poor, with many calls going unanswered.
• There are reports of mistreatment and neglect, including leaving a patient on a bedpan for over an hour.
• Hygiene and sanitation are inadequate, with bedbugs in the memory unit and mold on ceilings.
• Outbreaks like COVID were not disclosed to families, indicating a lack of transparency.

Review

Brookside Rehabilitation Center in Lincoln is best suited for families pursuing short-term post-acute rehabilitation where a capable therapy team can drive real improvement, and where the family can stay actively involved to monitor daily care. The facility’s strongest selling points are the rehabilitation focus, a clean and well-appointed environment, and a cadre of therapists and nurses who display genuine dedication when conditions align. This is not a fit for households seeking minimal oversight or a facility with a flawless safety record. Those who need highly predictable, consistently attentive care across all shifts should prepare to explore alternatives. In short, Brookside can deliver meaningful rehab gains for the right resident, but only with vigilant family engagement and a clear-eyed view of potential risks.

The most compelling positives center on the therapy team and the atmosphere when things run smoothly. Reviewers repeatedly highlight skilled physical and occupational therapists, with individual aides and nursing staff praised for competence, warmth, and reliability. The facility’s cleanliness and fresh, tasteful decor also stand out, creating a more welcoming rehab experience than many peers. Administrators who listen and respond, such as Paige, are acknowledged for assembling a capable team and making process improvements. When the environment works as intended, residents can enjoy a solid rehab gym, responsive nursing, and a culture of compassion that helps residents regain strength and confidence. These elements can translate to real, measurable progress during a short stay.

However, Brookside’s Achilles’ heel shows up in a substantial portion of the experiences shared: serious concerns about safety, hygiene, and day-to-day responsiveness. Numerous reviews describe delayed or inadequate attention to basic needs, meals served cold or unreliably, and inconsistent communication between staff and families. There are repeated, gut-wrenching reports of residents left wet and soiled, bedsides left without attention, call lights ignored, and medications mismanaged or delayed. Allegations of mistreatment, unprofessional behavior, and a culture that fails to address problems promptly recur with troubling frequency. The most troubling accounts involve safety failures and perceived neglect, including very ill-fated episodes in which patients deteriorated or died, sometimes after family members were told things were being handled when they clearly were not. Those patterns are not trivial for families to overlook.

These pro and con forces create a tough balance. The strong rehab core and generally compassionate nursing staff can offset some concerns when families monitor actively, insist on transparent communication, and press for timely therapy and daily hygiene routines. Yet the weight of negative experiences, especially around basic care, food quality, and responsiveness, often overwhelms the positive impressions, particularly for long-term or memory-care residents where consistent supervision matters most. In practical terms, this means Brookside may deliver excellent short-term rehabilitation if operations stay steady and staff remain engaged, but the risk of lapses in safety and basic care is nontrivial enough to require ongoing vigilance and a readiness to escalate concerns.

For families weighing alternatives, the loudest guidance is clear: consider other options if reliability, consistent hygiene, and transparent communication are paramount. Those dealing with memory care or hospice-like needs, or families who cannot commit to daily problem-solving with administrators and front-line staff, should prioritize facilities with stronger track records in consistent daily care and incident reporting. If choosing Brookside, enter with a plan: tour thoroughly, ask pointed questions about staff ratios, meal service timelines, and medication management, and request direct contact with the charge nurse or unit manager for daily updates. Verify that the therapy schedule is concrete and that progress notes reach family members promptly. Check how belongings are handled and how police or family escalation is addressed when concerns arise. These precautions can help, but they do not erase the fundamental need for reliable, compassionate 24/7 care.

Ultimately, Brookside’s role in a family’s decision hinges on expectations and risk tolerance. For some, it offers a credible rehabilitation pathway with a capable clinical team and a clean setting that can support meaningful recovery when paired with active family oversight. For others, especially those prioritizing consistent safety, predictable meals, timely response to call lights, and a proven record of unwavering care, alternatives may be a safer bet. The facility’s narrative, polished improvements under new ownership, coupled with voices warning of systemic neglect, calls for careful, up-front scrutiny. If proceeding, approach Brookside as a project: set performance milestones, insist on open channels of communication, and prepare to pivot quickly if care gaps reappear. The right move rests on a clear, disciplined evaluation of whether the rehab gains are worth the ongoing vigilance.

Pharmacies

• Nebraska Ltc Pharmacy (0.4 miles)
• Walgreens (1.3 miles)
• Walgreens (1.3 miles)
• Walgreens (1.4 miles)
• Walgreens (1.8 miles)
• Pharmacy Specialty Services (1.8 miles)
• CVS Pharmacy (2 miles)

Physicians

• Edgewood Family Physicians (0.4 miles)
• Elizabeth Park South Radiology (1.1 miles)
• Women's Health Care Center of Williamsburg (1.3 miles)
• Cheney Ridge Family Medical Clinic (1.3 miles)
• Doctors Of Children (1.3 miles)
• Linc Care (1.4 miles)
• Primary Care Partners (1.5 miles)

Restaurants

• Don & Millie's (0.4 miles)
• Valentino's (0.4 miles)
• Stauffer’s Cafe & Pie Shoppe (0.6 miles)
• Sonic Drive-In (0.7 miles)
• Lazlo's Brewery & Grill (0.8 miles)
• McDonald's (0.8 miles)
• Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers (0.9 miles)

Parks

• Colonial Hills Park (0.8 miles)
• Holmes Lake Dog Park (1.5 miles)
• Holmes Lake Park (1.5 miles)
• Williamsburg Village Park (1.6 miles)
• Bishop Heights Park (1.7 miles)
• Irvingdale Park (2.8 miles)
• Antelope Park (3 miles)

Places of Worship

• Sheridan Lutheran Church (1.4 miles)
• Lincoln Berean Church (1.8 miles)
• Congregation Tifereth Israel (1.8 miles)

Hospitals

• Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital (1.7 miles)
• Faulkner Medical Plaza (2.1 miles)
• Speciality Clinic (2.2 miles)
• Bryanlgh Medical Center (2.2 miles)
• 2South ICU (3.1 miles)
• 6South Neuro - PCU (3.1 miles)

Cafes

• Scooters Coffee House (1.8 miles)