Cross Creek Health Care Ctr

Pros

• The staff work together as a true team, remaining professional, caring, and welcoming.
• Leadership is strong and approachable, dedicated to making residents feel at home.
• The staff's pride, care, and compassion shine through in every interaction with residents and families.
• New staff and administrators deliver quality care and keep families informed about care plans.
• The facility is clean and welcoming, but it's the people inside who make the biggest difference.
• The DON is extremely caring and supportive, and the Activities department fully engages residents with varied events.
• Unit Managers stay active on their units and go above and beyond to ensure excellent resident care; the therapy team works diligently.
• Front office staff provide a warm welcome and handle admissions with kindness.
• Nurses and techs are helpful, attentive, and genuinely care about the patients.
• The staff are consistently cheerful, courteous, and go out of their way to keep residents' spirits up.

Cons

• A family member died after being sent to the hospital from this location, and the reviewer warns others not to send loved ones there, calling it a death sentence.
• It is noted as sad to have only two stars while positive reviews come from employees, implying overall poor quality.
• One reviewer alleges the facility is diabolical and could be used to harm an elderly family member as payback.
• There are claims that staff are playing with people's money.
• A reviewer cites pages of citations and lawsuits against the facility and questions why it has not been shut down.
• The reviewer alleges retaliation by leadership, including trespassing, being denied access, and claims that staff attacked their husband and themselves.
• A reviewer reports losing the majority of a loved one's belongings and questions accountability after the situation.
• There is a complaint about missing basic supplies, such as no brown paper towels in the bathroom.

Review

Aspire at University Hills comes across in many accounts as a facility energized by new leadership and a refreshed sense of teamwork. Several reviewers highlight the arrival of a new administrator and a director of nursing as a turning point, noting a wave of positive energy that ripples through the building. The sense of professionalism, compassion, and welcome from staff is repeatedly praised, with families and residents alike expressing that the care feels personal and that the leadership is approachable and genuinely devoted to making the place feel "like home." In these voices, the facility is described as a place where teamwork and compassionate care are not just buzzwords but lived values.

Across multiple narratives, the staff are framed as a cohesive, dedicated team. Reviewers repeatedly talk about the way nurses, aides, therapists, and front-office staff collaborate across shifts and units to deliver consistent, attentive care. The activities department is singled out as especially engaging, offering a variety of events and opportunities for social interaction and meaningful participation. The therapy team is noted for diligence and goal-oriented work, with staff on the units seen as proactively going beyond the basics to ensure residents are progressing and well-supported. Families report feeling informed about care plans and appreciate the warmth with which admissions, business office, and HR staff welcome new arrivals and their loved ones.

The physical environment is described as clean and inviting, with the people inside making the biggest difference. While one reviewer notes the building may be dated, the emphasis remains on the people who provide care and the culture they create - one of safety, support, and dignity for residents. There is a recurring sentiment that long-term-care should embody the level of care and teamwork observed here, and many reflections celebrate the sense of pride and community that staff convey in their day-to-day work. A few specific comforts surface in these comments - responsive staff who keep residents smiling, a cheerful atmosphere, and attentiveness to the emotional well-being of residents and families - contributing to an overall impression of a warm, uplifting community.

People also describe smaller, practical positives: staff who listen with lending ears, a welcoming and helpful front desk, and a general sense of appreciation for the way teams communicate with families. Reviewers mention the importance of the staff's consistent availability and approachability, which helps families feel included in care decisions. There is, however, a note about room for improvement on amenities like the PT equipment room and some aspects of the food service, suggesting that while the core care culture is strong, there are spaces where upgrades could further elevate the resident experience. A line about needing a bench on the patio hints at a desire for simple comforts that could enhance outdoor leisure for residents.

Amid the many positive experiences, there are critical voices that remind readers this is a complex setting with real challenges. A reviewer identifies problems with phone accessibility, feeling that calls to the facility or related departments sometimes go unanswered or feel unobtainable. While this is a relatively brief complaint in the mosaic of praise, it stands out as a concrete area where communication could improve to support families who rely on timely information about care and procedures. There are also short endorsements of service quality, but the presence of mixed feedback makes the overall impression more nuanced than a single mood or narrative would suggest.

More troubling and emotionally charged accounts appear in a separate thread of reviews. One family shares a deeply distressing experience involving a loved one who was hospitalized after leaving Aspire and who subsequently died, stating a strong warning against sending others to the facility and calling for investigation and closure. This account is stark and provocative, contrasting sharply with the overwhelmingly positive portrayals elsewhere. In addition, several reviewers raise concerns about corporate practices, governance, and accountability. They describe numerous citations, lawsuits, and a pattern of responses they consider insufficient or untrustworthy, including references to abuse hotlines, ombudspersons, and disputes with leadership. Some critics allege retaliation or mistreatment, including claims about staff behavior and management decisions that have had lasting negative consequences for residents and families.

Taken together, the collection of reviews paints a facility with a powerful core of compassionate care, strong leadership, and a professional, engaged staff that many families feel genuinely grateful for. At the same time, it includes serious, pointed criticisms about safety, accountability, communication, and corporate conduct. The contrast between the positive experiences - where residents feel valued, well cared for, and part of a supportive community - and the severe allegations voiced by others suggests a complex picture: a place that has made meaningful improvements and earned praise from many, while facing persistent, substantial concerns raised by others who have faced difficulties, perceived risks, or perceived inadequacies in governance and oversight. For families considering Aspire at University Hills, the picture that emerges is one of a facility with a strong, commendable care culture and leadership that many residents and families appreciate, tempered by notable reports that call for careful scrutiny, due diligence, and ongoing attention to accountability, safety, and transparent communication.

Physicians

• Emerald Coast Center for Neurological Disorders (0.4 miles)
• Jeff Atwood, MD (0.5 miles)
• Juliet Marie De Campos (0.5 miles)
• Gulf Coast Primary Care (0.7 miles)
• Pensacola Pediatrics (0.7 miles)
• Sacred Heart Health System-Family Practice (1.1 miles)
• West Florida Primary Care (1.5 miles)

Hospitals

• Baptist Medical Group (0.5 miles)
• West Florida Regional Medical Center (1.7 miles)
• Fairvue Family Wellness (1.7 miles)
• Sacred Heart (3 miles)
• Davita Kidney Care (3.1 miles)
• Labor& delivery (4.4 miles)
• Sacred Heart Hospital (4.5 miles)

Restaurants

• Burger King (0.7 miles)
• Chick-Fil-A (0.8 miles)
• Foosackly's (0.8 miles)
• Sonic Drive-In (0.8 miles)
• Firehouse Subs (0.9 miles)
• Goat Lips Chew & Brewhouse (1.1 miles)
• McDonald's (2.3 miles)

Cafes

• Panera Bread (0.8 miles)
• Starbucks (1.1 miles)
• Maynard's Donut Co. (1.9 miles)
• Coffee Guy Cafe (3.2 miles)

Pharmacies

• Pegasus Laboratories (1.4 miles)
• Walgreens (1.8 miles)
• CVS Pharmacy (2.1 miles)
• Walgreens (2.2 miles)
• Winn-Dixie (2.6 miles)
• Pensacola Apothecary (3.3 miles)
• Ensley Pharmacy (3.3 miles)

Places of Worship

• Olive Baptist Church (2 miles)
• Pensacola Mosque (2.1 miles)
• Gulf Coast Christian Church (3.2 miles)