Mercy Health Care & Rehab Ctr in Homewood, IL

Pros

• Nurse Michelle works diligently, anticipates patients' needs, and has an excellent bedside manner.
• Nurse Kierra is described as excellent with the patient and consistently communicates with gentleness.
• CNA Dee is described as a doll who was loved by the patient and consistently cared for her.
• CNA Albany is described as a doll and was assigned to the patient, helping keep her room and care in order.
• Nurse Carruthers showed kindness and love toward the patient.
• The memory ward staff are praised as a blessing, providing attentive and compassionate care.
• The staff delivered exceptional customer service and personal attention to families.

Cons

• The facility needs a complete overhaul from the environment to the medical and administrative staff.
• It is almost impossible to contact the nurses or social workers.
• Ryze is dingy, musty, old, and very outdated.
• Some patients are left with full ostomy bags that stink up the rooms and cause lingering odors in the hallways.
• Management is very unorganized, unprofessional, and rude; they do not talk to patients’ families.
• The building is chronically understaffed, with management sometimes sending CNAs home and leaving too many residents per caregiver.
• The place is filthy, with gnats, residents left wet, floors in poor condition, and meals not tailored to dietary needs; staff are on their phones and belongings of residents go missing.
• A resident fell and died because staff failed to obtain medical evaluation after the fall.
• Residents have reported flies in rooms, water shut off, and stacked food trays, indicating inconsistent care.

Review

Mercy Health Care & Rehab Ctr in Homewood is best suited for families that can tolerate a facility with genuine pockets of compassionate care, but that also require vigilant advocacy and a willingness to navigate a fragile operational system. The memory-care cohort has shown that certain staff members genuinely connect with residents, delivering kindness, patience, and reliable bedside attention. In particular, several caregivers on the memory unit, notably Kierra, Dee, Albany, and Tanya, demonstrated steadiness, warmth, and daily consistency that can make a real difference in a resident’s mood and appetite. When these front-line moments align, the care feel can be markedly better than the building’s overall reputation would suggest. Still, this positive drift is highly contingent on who is working any given shift, and it sits atop an environment that often undermines quality of life.

Those who should seriously consider alternatives are families seeking predictable cleanliness, consistently professional administration, and rigorous safety practices. The most troubling threads in the record are environmental and organizational: dingy, outdated spaces with persistent odors; rooms not kept in order; unattended meals or delays getting residents fed; and care teams that seem overwhelmed or unresponsive. For families with loved ones who require steady, 24/7 skilled nursing, the inconsistency across units and the pervasiveness of understaffing elevate risk. If a resident’s well-being hinges on reliable housekeeping, rapid response to alarms, and a staff culture that is consistently respectful to families, this facility often falls short.

The upside of Mercy hinges on the standout memory-unit care and the dedication of a handful of nurses and aides. The most compelling positives come from Nurse Michelle and a cadre of memory-unit staff who regularly go the extra mile, anticipating needs, communicating clearly, and preserving a respectful, dignified atmosphere for residents. These scenes of competent, compassionate care illustrate what the facility can deliver when staffing aligns and leadership supports consistent practice. However, these bright spots do not erase the broader pattern of inconsistent care quality elsewhere in the building, nor do they compensate for systemic issues that undermine safety and daily functioning. For decision-making, the meaningful care moments must be weighed against the frequent, widely reported operational breakdowns.

Facility conditions and safety concerns consistently tilt the scale toward caution. Descriptions of a musty, outdated environment, pervasive odors from medical conditions, and rooms that smell or appear unkempt paint a picture of surroundings that do not reinforce comfort or dignity. The issues go beyond cosmetics: reports of residents left wet, delayed showers, and belongings going missing reflect gaps in basic monitoring and accountability. There are accounts of more serious risks, including a fatal fall linked to perceived delays in medical evaluation, and episodes where medications or patient needs were not handled with the expected rigor. The danger signals are clear: even when staff members are well-meaning, the physical and procedural setting undermines safe, respectful care.

Staffing and management dynamics drive much of the experience here. Several reviews praise individual caregivers, especially on the memory ward, but stress that management is frequently unresponsive, disorganized, or disengaged. Understaffing appears chronic, with accounts of 19–20 residents per caregiver in some shifts and persistent reports that administrative leadership lacks proactive oversight. Family members describe managers with hostile or dismissive attitudes and frequent turnover, which compounds inconsistency in policies, accountability, and family communication. A few isolated, highly critical anecdotes about unprofessional conduct (including drug-use concerns observed on the floor) punctuate a broader pattern: good caregiving can happen, but it remains uneven, dependent on shifts, and vulnerable to leadership gaps.

Bottom line: Mercy Health Care & Rehab Ctr is a facility to consider only with specific precautions and clear expectations. If choosing this community, focus on the memory unit as the anchor of quality, insist on a direct agreement about staffing levels, and demand transparent, consistent communication from administration. Proactively request a dedicated family liaison, ensure routine checks for cleanliness and safety, and build in regular, documented reviews of care plans and incident reports. For families that prize steady housekeeping, predictability in staffing, and rigorous adherence to safety standards, alternatives, whether nearby services with stronger governance or facilities with longer track records of consistent performance, will likely offer a more reliable trajectory. In short, Mercy can provide meaningful, compassionate care in the right moments, but the broader environment and leadership challenges demand a cautious, action-focused approach rather than passive reliance on reputation.

Located in Homewood, Illinois, this area offers a variety of amenities that cater to the needs of senior living. With several pharmacies including Walgreens and CVS nearby, access to medication and healthcare services is convenient. Additionally, cafes like Starbucks and Panera Bread provide cozy spots for socializing or enjoying a cup of coffee. A range of dining options such as Portillo's Hot Dogs, Chick-Fil-A, and Cilantro Cocina Mexicana offer delicious meals. For medical care, there are reputable physicians and hospitals like Advocate South Suburban Hospital and Franciscan Health Chicago Heights within a short distance. Places of worship such as Christ Community Church are easily accessible for those seeking spiritual engagement. Furthermore, the presence of parks like Maicach Park and Riverside Park offer opportunities for outdoor recreation and relaxation. Overall, this part of Homewood provides a well-rounded environment for seniors looking to settle in a welcoming community with access to essential services.

Pharmacies

• Walgreens (0.1 miles)
• Walgreens (2.4 miles)
• Walgreens (2.8 miles)
• CVS Pharmacy (3.2 miles)
• Walgreens (3.3 miles)
• CVS Pharmacy (3.6 miles)
• Walgreens (3.7 miles)

Cafes

• Starbucks (0.5 miles)
• Panera Bread (1 miles)
• Starbucks (1.7 miles)
• Starbucks (4.3 miles)
• Starbucks (6.1 miles)
• Starbucks (6.1 miles)
• Panera Bread (6.2 miles)

Restaurants

• Portillo's Hot Dogs (0.9 miles)
• Chick-Fil-A (1 miles)
• Cilantro Cocina Mexicana (1.6 miles)
• Taco Bell (2.1 miles)
• Arby's (2.2 miles)
• Flossmoor Station Restaurant & Brewery (2.4 miles)
• Brown's Chicken & Pasta (2.6 miles)

Transportation

• Metra/Amtrak (1.7 miles)
• Metra (2 miles)
• Metra (8.2 miles)

Physicians

• Dr Uppuluri, Dr Patel, Dr Chavin Urology (2.3 miles)
• Advocate South Suburban Hospital: Smith Sharon C MD (3.2 miles)
• United Pain Services (3.2 miles)
• Family Christian Health Center (3.6 miles)
• Aunt Martha's Health Care (3.8 miles)
• St James Medical Center Olympia Fields (4.5 miles)
• Medina Health Care (5.8 miles)

Places of Worship

• Christ Community Church (3.1 miles)
• St. Paul's Lutheran School (6.3 miles)
• Woodmar United Methodist Church (7.9 miles)

Hospitals

• South Suburban Hospital (3.2 miles)
• Ingalls Memorial (3.6 miles)
• Franciscan Health Chicago Heights (3.7 miles)
• Franciscan Health (3.7 miles)
• Ingalls Family Care Center (4.4 miles)
• Franciscan St James Health (4.6 miles)
• Elisabeth Ludeman Center (5 miles)

Parks

• Maicach Park (3.3 miles)
• Riverside Park (6.9 miles)
• Beech Park (7.4 miles)
• Briar Creek Park (7.5 miles)
• The Park (8.2 miles)