The Rehabilitation Institute of St. Louis

I was a patient there for a couple of weeks there in July of 2014, I was on the fourth floor after having a liver transplant at Barnes Jewish and the nurses and the techs were wonderful at their jobs, but most of all were my physical, and occupational therapist were outstanding! Less than a year later I’m completely healed.

I wasn’t all that impressed with this facility. They let my mom get dehydrated and she had to go back to the ICU at Barnes. I really don’t think that they are that attentive. either

We were rushed out of the hospital with little notice due to an uncaring Barnes doctor who literally gave us less than a days notice to find a rehab for my grandmother, who suffered from both a stroke and a heart attack. This place was closest to Barnes and also her cardiologist. We figured it’d be the best because of its proximity to a renowned hospital and the fact that most (if not all) of its physicians would be board certified graduates of a top ranked medical school. So we took a deep breath and went with it. I wish we had more time to decide. There’s no other reviews on this place on Unilocal so I hope this review helps somebody.
We were notified that she’d be medically released to a rehab center at last notice, so we drive about 2 minutes to quickly tour the facility. We were met with super friendly staff downstairs. The security guard was friendly and the woman at the front desk was very helpful. We finally met the chief/​head nurse and she was accommodating, sympathetic, and informative. I felt comfortable with her and left feeling like my grandma would be in good hands. I still have respect for that woman! No complaints there.
Fast forward to night. That’s when the other staff comes. My uncle calls them the «unfriendlies». They look like they hate their job, never smile, gossip at the front desk, and take an unprecedented long time to answer room requests. There were a couple people at night that were always helpful and approachable. Then there are the others… one in particular came into the room with a look of disgust on her face when she saw how many family members were there. Didn’t say hi. Rolled her eyes and did her business. Only time I saw her smile was on her smoke break gossiping with coworkers. Another thing: my expectations are reasonable. However, if you work in a healthcare setting you should look professional. People are entrusting you with the care of loved ones and you should look the part. I won’t even go there…
We had an excellent speech therapist. She was engaging and patient. At one point she even tried to get grandma to cook, something she’d always love to do. It didn’t work, but the fact that she paid attention to details and cared enough to go that far spoke volumes! The other therapists were unimpressive. The physical therapist was so disrespectful to my grandmother. She would start off ok, but then would talk over her and treat her like a child when she got impatient with grandmas refusal. Grandma may have had a stroke, but she was by no means childlike and could understand more than we knew. My grandma completely lost respect for her and never complied with instructions. And the therapist couldn’t understand why… hmmm.
One day my grandma started throwing up. If you are familiar with stroke then you may also know that nausea and vomiting can be huge red flags. We called the front desk for help and were told they’d get someone there ASAP. We waited. And waited. And waited again. Medication came, no doctor, no nurse. We reminded the medicine person of the situation. We waited. Breakfast came, still no doc or nurse. We went to the front desk to see what was up. They said the doctor would be there soon. So we waited some more – mind you, grandma has thrown up again. An unknown doctor came in to take vitals. He had no clue about the nausea so I informed him what was going on. He had the serious look on his face and said he would confer to the other doctor and be back soon. So we waited and waited. Late afternoon, she finally got some medication and a check up. Grandma threw up THREE times before getting proper help. I’m so thankful that nothing too serious was going on!
So much bad. Soooo much bad. And a few good. We had some good nurses here and there. The security guards downstairs are awesome. The front desk people are awesome. The head nurse is awesome. But then you have those bad apples that spoil the bunch. The doctor was absent. Some of the therapists were impatient. Just a lot of grey areas in this rehab. You wouldn’t expect it, but that’s our experience. We pulled her out early and went with outpatient therapy because she refused to eat the food (it’s reaaaalllyyy bad lol) and became deeply depressed. She is now doing SO much better and almost how I remember her before the stroke. This is reflective to her removal from the rehab. I think that alone speaks volumes.
Now that you’ve dedicated 30 mins of your life reading this (sorry!) I hope I’ve helped with your decision. Maybe they are better in other areas, but we can only judge the stroke dept. and I can’t confidently recommend this place. But every patient is different and every case is different. Grandma took the stroke hard and they couldn’t handle it well as medical professionals. This is the truth.
Also, keep in mind that this rehab is usually filled to capacity. Your doc and nurse (s) won’t be readily available as a result.
Just…choose wisely please. Really.