Overall sentiment in the reviews for TerraBella Southern Pines is sharply mixed, with many families and residents reporting excellent personal interactions, strong activities and a clean, attractive campus, while a significant subset of reviews describe serious care, safety, communication, and management problems. The overall picture that emerges is one of a well-presented facility with notable programmatic strengths (activities, maintenance, communal spaces) that is experiencing operational and clinical inconsistencies—sometimes producing exceptional experiences and other times producing troubling incidents and neglect.
Care quality and clinical oversight show the widest range of reports. Multiple reviewers praise professional, caring nurses and med techs, thorough initial assessments, and the availability of therapy services like PT and podiatry. At the same time, there are recurring, detailed complaints about inadequate clinical oversight: delayed or absent responses from head nurses, unsafe transfers from wheelchair to bed, repeated falls and hospitalizations, medication delays for days, and reports that hospice referrals were delayed or not allowed. Several reviewers described events severe enough to prompt hospital visits or moving a loved one to hospice. These safety and care-related concerns are significant because they directly contradict other reports of excellent care and suggest inconsistency in training, staffing levels, or supervision across shifts or units.
Staffing, communication, and management are another major theme. Many reviews applaud individual staff members and long-tenured employees—Executive Director Jennifer Angel and a long-serving maintenance director were named as stabilizing presences—and families frequently describe staff as caring, attentive, and engaged in activities. Yet a large number of reviewers report chronic understaffing, frequent turnover (particularly after new ownership), poor internal communication, and management that is unresponsive or defensive. Families described unanswered calls, staff not returning messages, no receptionist at times, difficulty gaining access to the building, and a sense that leadership does not show compassion or adequate follow-through. There are also allegations that some positive reviews are written by staff and that critical reviews may be challenged or removed, which contributes to distrust among some families.
Memory care and behavioral policy issues are consistently flagged as trouble spots. Physically, the memory care unit is described as secure, but multiple reviewers raised concerns about urine odors, rooms needing deep cleaning, and staff shortages that affect supervision and social interaction. Several reviews described isolation during COVID and quarantine policies that appeared to worsen cognitive decline for some residents. Additionally, there are alarming accounts of residents being pressured out or
