Leahi Hospital

My mother-in-law, who is in her 90's and has severe dementia, has been a resident at Leahi for nearly two years. I am beyond impressed with the care she receives. Before Leahi she was in a family care home where she fell and broke her hip. The family caregiver was not capable of caring for her, so we transferred her to Leahi. I frankly expected her to die soon after her fall, but 21 months later she is alive and doing as well as someone her age and with her diagnosis can do. I credit this to the excellent nursing care she receives. Yes, as pointed out in other reviews, the building is older, but it is sparkling clean, and honestly, I think that the age of the facility may actually add to the comfort level of my 92-year-old mom-in-law more than a sleek modern room would do. She had lost weight at the family care home, and at Leahi she has put it back on with the tasty, well-balanced meals, and the assistance of the nursing staff to eat. In the past she used to pace aimlessly all day, but she is now engaged with others and capable of sitting and joining in group activities, again with the assistance of the staff. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Leahi nursing staff!

I did not want to hurt this place's reviews because I'm sure it's great for its clientele, but the name is very misleading to visitors--I took my daughter here to treat dehydration thinking it was the nearest hospital based on the name, not an adult rehabilitation center.

We refer to Leahi Hospital Nursing Home as the "Fair Weather Friend" because when patients stay in a vegetated state they seem to be cordial. But if a patient is more than zombie-like and they have to work a little harder then they turn against you. Their answer is to get rid of the patient, send him to ER, and make the patient someone else's problem. I once wrote a glowing review of Leahi Hospital Nursing Home, just last year, when my dad was admitted. Yes, they have a number of very good staff members such as Star the Activities Manager, CNA Armeda, CNA Essen, Nurse Jennifer, CNA Suzie, Social Worker Carla and Linda in Admissions. These individuals are great at what they do and are caring professionals. These people are what made my dad's year-stay. LHNH is considered and registered as Dementia/ Alzheimer facility yet except for some few individuals they seems to know NOTHING about even the basics of Dementia. That is, just google search the different stages of Dementia and symptoms are clearly listed yet Leahi seem to be ignorant. You would think the head nurses would know and be able to manage staff of what patients with Dementia goes through yet it was disappointing to say the least. They way the head nurses dealt with my dad was to try to send him to ER to get rid of him when they didn't like what they saw. My dad, the last months before his death, was given the wrong meds and I made it clear that it is making his dementia worst and yet I was ignored. My siblings and I were super involved, we visited every day for 4-15 hrs. 5-6 hrs physically by my two siblings and up to 10 hrs via FACETIME by me since I live on the mainland. I research Dementia and spoke with DR. Lu (who is excellent) about medicine that I have research but the head nurse and the primary doctor (for multiple nursing homes who barely spends 5 seconds per patient) would not listen to me. They cleary ignored what Dr. Lu and I were agreeing on for my dad. The Pimary doctor's order trumps everyone I was told. My dad last week at Leahi was pure hell for him and us......the meds they put him on made him psychotic as he sadly begged to be helped. Finally, he was sent to ER because we knew LHNH was not equipped to help and they are the ones who made him this way. My dad's was a kind man and through his dementia he was more and more like a 5 year old child. He would have occasional temper tantrums, NEVER VIOLENT, as all Dementia patients do but once on FACTEIME or a 15 minute drive over to see him he would calm down. It should be noted the tantrums came from the fact that no one spoke Korean at Leahi and he could not get what he wanted understood by Leahi. I should note they have one or two people employed who spoke Korean but it was rare to see them assigned on his floor. My dad spoke fluent English but when dementia hit, we were told by a doctor at Queens Hospital (which is an excellent hospital) usually patients revert to their first language which was Korean for dad. Anyway, I can go on and on of our many disappointments with Leahi Hospital Nursing Home but what is the use at this point. But it should also be noted that once he was sent to ER at Queens Hospital they took him off all the crap meds Leahi put him on and he was fine doing well until COVID, which was traced back to Leahi, had him at Queens Hospital for over 10 days. In the end, my dad went through so much that he passed away at Queens Hospital but overall it was for the best because Queens took care of him and gave him peace! I write this not to just make others aware but to make sure Leahi understands their shortcomings and maybe make changes via training, more qualified head nurses, and better policies.