The Grove of Evanston Living and Rehab Center

Pros

• The staff are kind, professional, and consistently helpful.
• Gloria, Veronica, Olayinka, Chris, Guillen, and Mercy are praised for their pleasant and professional manner.
• The therapy team is knowledgeable, patient, and encouraging.
• The admissions team (Danial Parker) and CNA staff are friendly, supportive, and highly skilled.
• The social services team is responsive, compassionate, and advocates for residents.
• The nursing staff do a top-notch job and the facility is clean and well maintained.
• The food is good to excellent.
• The Grove of Evanston is highly recommended for loved ones due to professional, caring staff.
• The therapy and wound care teams provide excellent, attentive care.

Cons

• The reviewer states that every inch of their room was covered in fecal matter and they had to bleach it themselves.
• They claim the medical staff almost killed them by making critical mistakes with their medication.
• They observed nurses were selective about whom they checked for bed sores.
• They report a neighboring tenant broke into their room at night and was not punished.
• They say 17 patient rights were violated, including having their mail opened and being prevented from voting.
• They describe the facility as rundown and dirty, with false luxury advertising and improper transfer handling.
• They say rooms are not consistently cleaned, with trash left too long and spills ignored.
• They report CNAs who are disengaged or lazy, often ignoring requests or checking their phones instead of caring for residents.
• They recount an incident of an unprofessional activity aide who spoke rudely to a resident, with no HR intervention.
• They state the overall care is so poor that the place should be shut down.

Review

The Grove of Evanston is best suited for seniors who need short-term inpatient rehab or recovery-focused care and who prize hands-on therapy, responsive nursing, and a team-driven approach to progress. Reviewers consistently praise the therapy department for its focus and accountability, the nursing staff for attentiveness, and the social-work team for advocacy and logistics. For families prioritizing concrete rehabilitation goals, daily progress checks, and a community where therapists and nurses collaborate to push recovery forward, this campus can be a workable, even effective, choice. The flip side is that the same voices also flag serious concerns about cleanliness, maintenance, and administrative reliability. In practical terms, the Grove functions best as a rehab-centric environment when staffing is robust and conditions are well-maintained; it struggles when those foundations wobble, which can undermine trust during a vulnerable healing window.

Anyone facing a choice between alternatives should note that this community may not be the right fit for those who insist on uniformly pristine surroundings, unwavering cleanliness, and transparent, consistently responsive administration. Several reviewers describe rooms and common areas that feel worn, with inconsistent housekeeping and odors that suggest ongoing maintenance gaps. Complaints about miscommunication, delays in answering call lights, and incomplete paperwork during transfers also surface with enough frequency to warrant serious attention. In short, if reliable, predictable operations and a consistently clean, well-kept environment are non-negotiable, it is prudent to compare other facilities where the daily experience is less contingent on particular shifts or individual staff members.

On the positive side, therapy and nursing care emerge as consistently strong anchors. The rehab program is often cited as focused, thorough, and capable of delivering noticeable gains in mobility and balance, with dedicated therapists and wound-care teams that residents and families appreciate. Nursing staff is frequently described as compassionate, patient, and reliable, particularly in acute rehab or post-surgical recovery. The social-work cadre and admissions staff also receive praise for guiding families through transitions, explaining care plans, and coordinating with outside providers. When expectations center on personal attention, prompt call-backs, and a team approach to rehabilitation, these strengths can offset many routine irritants and create a credible path to a safer, more independent post-hospital life.

However, the predominant cautions must not be minimized. A recurring thread centers on the environment: persistent cleanliness issues, occasional equipment and facility wear, and instances where basic comforts, such as timely assistance with daily needs or prompt medication handling, fall short. Several reviews recount distressing episodes of neglect, mismanagement in transfers or paperwork, and even allegations of residents’ rights violations. The breadth of concerns extends to administration, with some families reporting a lack of accountability or inconsistent communication from leadership. For any family evaluating long-term residence or highly dependent care, these red flags are serious enough to demand direct, unfiltered conversations with facility leaders, real-time demonstrations of housekeeping and upkeep, and explicit assurances about safety, dignity, and transparent governance.

The practical takeaway is that the Grove can deliver meaningful rehabilitation and endearingly kind staff, but it requires a careful, informed buyer’s eye. Pros offset cons most reliably when the resident’s primary objective is rehab progress and meaningful therapeutic engagement, and when the care team can be relied upon to translate that progress into daily routines that respect dignity and safety. Families should demand to see current cleanliness logs, ask for a live tour during peak activity times, and request concrete examples of how medications are managed and how call lights are tracked and answered. It is also wise to press for clear, written care plans with measurable goals, and to insist on direct contact with administrators who can explain transfer processes, incident follow-up, and quality-improvement efforts. If gaps appear, escalation should be immediate.

Ultimately, decision-makers should frame The Grove of Evanston as a facility with notable rehab strengths and a warmth of staff that can drive recovery, tempered by real concerns about environment, consistency, and governance. For seniors whose families can tolerate, indeed demand, high-quality daily care amid occasional operational turbulence, this community can be a strong bridge back to independence. For those who cannot accept inconsistent housekeeping, uncertain responsiveness, or opaque administrative accountability, alternatives are strongly advised. Prospective residents should visit multiple times, request unedited access to floor staff and nurses, and seek out current residents or family councils for firsthand accounts. With due diligence, a clear picture emerges: The Grove is a workable, even commendable choice for rehab-focused care, so long as expectations are aligned with the reality of its environmental and management variability.

This part of Evanston, Illinois, offers a variety of amenities and services that cater to a comfortable and convenient lifestyle for seniors. Within close proximity, there are several cafes such as Little Beans Cafe and multiple pharmacies including CVS and Walgreens. In case of any medical needs, Saint Francis Hospital is nearby, along with Swedish Covenant Hospital Cancer Care and Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center within a short driving distance. Transportation options such as CTA buses are easily accessible for getting around the area. There are also several parks for recreational activities and theaters like AMC Village Crossing Theatre for entertainment. Overall, this neighborhood provides a convenient location with essential services and leisure options for seniors considering senior living in the area.

Cafes

• Little Beans Cafe (0.1 miles)
• Starbucks (1.1 miles)
• Starbucks (1.6 miles)
• Starbucks (3.6 miles)
• Starbucks (3.8 miles)
• Starbucks (3.8 miles)
• Starbucks (4.6 miles)

Hospitals

• Saint Francis Hospital (0.4 miles)
• Swedish Covenant Hospital Cancer Care (3.6 miles)
• Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center (6.6 miles)

Pharmacies

• CVS Pharmacy (0.5 miles)
• Walgreens (0.7 miles)
• Walgreens (0.7 miles)
• Walgreens (1.1 miles)
• Walgreens (2 miles)
• Walgreens (2.1 miles)
• Walgreens (2.3 miles)

Transportation

• Cta (1.1 miles)
• CTA Jarvis (1.4 miles)
• CTA-Linden (3.2 miles)
• Cta (4.5 miles)
• Cta (5.3 miles)
• Jefferson Park Bus Terminal (5.4 miles)
• Cta (5.8 miles)

Parks

• Dubkin Park (1.2 miles)
• Dawes Park (1.6 miles)
• Centennial Park (1.7 miles)
• Warren Park (1.7 miles)
• Leahy Park (2.4 miles)
• Horner Park (4.6 miles)
• Independence Park (5.4 miles)

Restaurants

• R Public House (1.4 miles)
• Little Bad Wolf (3.2 miles)
• SoFo Tap (4 miles)
• Chick-Fil-A (4.2 miles)
• Superdawg Drive-In (5.4 miles)
• Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers (5.5 miles)
• Murphy's Bleachers (5.7 miles)

Physicians

• North Shore Physicians Group (2.9 miles)
• Resurrection Medical Center Professional Building (6.9 miles)

Places of Worship

• Baha'i House of Worship (3.3 miles)

Theaters

• AMC Village Crossing Theatre (4 miles)