St Margaret's in New Orleans, LA

Pros

• St. Margaret's provides excellent care for residents.
• The staff are extremely attentive.
• The nursing staff delivers excellent, compassionate care.
• The food staff go above and beyond to prepare meals with love.
• Ms. Patrice ensures smooth transitions with all necessary DME equipment.
• The therapy team, including Jen, Bryant, Brook, Tim, and the rest of the team, delivers outstanding therapy.
• The facility is clean, well kept, and feels like home.
• Families are kept informed by friendly, caring staff.
• Team Gleason is a blessing to residents and families.

Cons

• The facility is described as not a good place to work or bring a loved one, with rude, disrespectful staff who know nothing about patient care.
• A CNA allegedly verbally assaulted and threatened a reviewer, indicating poor supervision.
• Medications were not filled or administered on time.
• Nurses on the fourth floor could not complete tasks and did not deliver the promised hours of therapy.
• A resident was left in her room almost 24/7 with no one cleaning or meeting her needs.
• There was a lack of communication from administration and families were not kept informed.

Review

St. Margaret's in New Orleans is best suited for families seeking a warm, home-like setting with relentlessly attentive frontline care and a structured path back to independence when possible. The community earns consistent praise for nursing responsiveness, compassionate meal service, and well-run rehabilitation support. The campus frames care in a clean, welcoming, and organized environment, with a strong emphasis on transition planning and family communication. The Gleason House wing and broader campus cultivate genuine connections between residents and staff, and the care teams are frequently cited for their daily engagement. For families prioritizing daily reassurance, meaningful activities, and transparent updates, St. Margaret's often delivers a meaningful, practical balance of comfort and clinical attention.

That said, not every experience aligns with the strongest outcomes. Alternatives deserve serious consideration for families demanding unwavering consistency and comprehensive safety oversight across all shifts. Several accounts describe rude or uncaring behavior, uneven medication administration, or lapses in supervision and communication with administration. A particularly troubling anecdote involves alleged abuse by a caregiver and concerns about leadership responsiveness. Where consistent reliability and an unambiguous safety culture are non-negotiable - especially for residents with high care needs or family members who cannot tolerate gaps in oversight - look beyond St. Margaret's to facilities with more uniform performance and proven governance.

On balance, the strongest positives tend to offset many concerns for residents who thrive on personal attention and a steady, empathic approach to daily care. The ability to coordinate durable medical equipment and facilitate a smooth discharge home stands out as a practical, tangible benefit. The combination of a clean, homelike setting, engaged nursing staff, and a therapy team that can deliver meaningful progress makes a real difference in mood, participation, and recovery for many residents. Yet the offsets are not universal. When communication falters or shifts feel understaffed, the risk of missed tasks or delayed care rises, and those lapses can erode the otherwise compelling advantages for some families.

Families evaluating St. Margaret's should request direct access to the care floor most relevant to their loved one and seek conversations with both the director and the primary nursing leadership. Inquiries should cover daily therapy scheduling, medication administration practices, fall prevention strategies, and the mechanism for rapid escalation of concerns. Request to review sample care plans, incident logs, and the formal family-communication protocol, ensuring timely updates after events. Tours should be repeated at different times, conversations should be held with current residents and family members, and attention paid to the meal service, housekeeping consistency, and the activity calendar. Clarity on emergency transition processes and prior handling of any mistreatment concerns is essential to gauge risk.

The facility's model - bright, homelike interiors, a strong sense of community, and a staff-driven ethos of participation - appeals to many seeking a genuinely warm environment. The overall experience on the ground can feel highly personal, underscoring a sense of belonging that resonates with families who value relationship-driven care. Yet the spectrum of reviews - ranging from heartfelt endorsements to alarming reports of neglect or mistreatment - means potential residents must conduct meticulous due diligence. If reliability and a uniformly high standard of care across all shifts are non-negotiable, some families should confidently widen the search. For others, a measured visit and careful conversations may reveal that St. Margaret's can deliver the everyday care and belonging many seniors want in their later years.

Overall, St. Margaret's stands as a strong option for families prioritizing a warm, staffed, homey setting with robust rehab and transition capabilities. The decisive factor centers on whether consistent, high-quality care across shifts can be demonstrated and sustained. When that consistency can be verified - through proactive administration, transparent communication, and demonstrable staffing stability - the community offers meaningful value: personalized attention, clean surroundings, and a pathway that supports returning home. If such reliability cannot be assured, exploring alternatives with a clearer track record of uniform care and uncompromised safety is prudent. In either case, a deliberate, informed visit - centered on meaningful questions about care plans, staffing, and oversight - will reveal whether St. Margaret's aligns with the family's care priorities and risk tolerance.

This part of New Orleans, Louisiana, offers a variety of medical services with physicians specializing in pediatrics, dermatology, ophthalmology, and orthopedics. There are also nearby pharmacies for easy access to medication. In terms of recreation and leisure activities, there are several cafes and restaurants within a few miles, as well as parks for outdoor enjoyment. Places of worship can be found within a short distance for spiritual needs. For healthcare needs, there are several hospitals in the vicinity including Seaside Hospital and Touro Infirmary. Overall, this area provides convenient access to essential services for seniors looking to settle in a vibrant and diverse community.

Physicians

• O Sullivan, Jennifer Vigour Pediatrics (2 miles)
• Heitmeier,Armani&Langhetee Medical &Surgical Eyecare (2.4 miles)
• Dimitri Dermatology (4.9 miles)
• Bone & Joint Clinic (4.9 miles)
• Smith Demarcus DDS (5.1 miles)
• Martin D. Claiborne (5.1 miles)
• Touro Med Building (5.2 miles)

Pharmacies

• Winn-Dixie (2.1 miles)
• Walgreens (2.2 miles)
• Walgreens (2.9 miles)
• CVS Pharmacy (3 miles)
• Winn-Dixie (3 miles)
• CVS Pharmacy (3.1 miles)
• Walgreens (3.1 miles)

Cafes

• Starbucks (2.3 miles)
• Cafe Envie (2.8 miles)
• Cafe Du Monde (3 miles)
• CC's Community Coffee House (3.1 miles)
• French Truck Coffee (3.3 miles)
• French Truck Coffee (3.7 miles)
• HiVolt Coffee (4 miles)

Places of Worship

• St Andrew the Apostle School (2.4 miles)

Parks

• Crescent Park (2.5 miles)

Restaurants

• Morrow's (2.6 miles)
• The Elysian Bar (2.7 miles)
• Golden Lantern (3 miles)
• Verti Marte (3 miles)
• Port of Call (3.1 miles)
• Jackson Brewery (3.1 miles)
• The Quartermaster Store (3.1 miles)

Hospitals

• Seaside Hospial (3.2 miles)
• LSU Medical - 1400 Poydras (4 miles)
• St Charles Surgical Hospital (4.1 miles)
• SE Louisiana Veterans Hospital (4.5 miles)
• Touro Infirmary (5.2 miles)