Brookdale

Everything went well, until I discovered a red mark on my Father in laws leg . When we inquired about it nobody knew anything and the head nurse didn't seem to have much empathy. We never did discover what caused the mark, and of course my Father -in-law has no idea either...It has since healed ...it was not that serious, but as his full time care person, I am aware of every and any new mark/ wound as I would expect a care facility to also be.

For quality of care, we have to micro manage the staff to get anything done. We need to find a cheaper/smaller place where she will get better care.

My mother's care was ok. Except when they messed up her eye med which made her have to stay longer. Staff was ok food operations were very good. She made couple new friends. Hopefully she won't have to go to assist living again.

We chose this facility because of the location and the fact they accepted pets and my dad had looked at it before and was pleased. Maybe if they don't have a cook , or cleaning,helper (staff)for the weekend or whenever, they get a small discount for the month. They need more staff.

I wish I could have given a "0" for some of those!! Lack of training!!!Especially in memory care! NO engaging activities for memory care residents as was promised (just put in front of TV most of the time). This has been going on for one year now! And this has been brought to management's attention several times. Lack of bathing/hygiene for my loved one. Also brought to management's attention. Management needs to be more involved and hold their employees accountable. Too many aides just sit around on their phones! Also brought to management's attention. Up until a couple months ago when a new health & wellness coordinator was hired, communication and care was terrible. It has improved since the new coordinator came onboard.

Everyone was very friendly, except the manager. I found her rude and inaccessible. They were understaffed. Quality of care: the response time was very long from the point of requesting help to having someone stop by. The medication staff had difficulty giving meds at required times. They had very limited activities and the driver/transportation was not accommodating. There are much better options available. For Value for cost: Brookdale charged a premium for board and care but the facilities are not very nice and the care required a lot of direction and constant reminders by family members to get adequate care. The management was aloof and unavailable. I felt like I was inconveniencing them whenever I shared a concern. Ultimately I moved my family out of Brookdale.

We are actually gonna see about moving her 1st of the year they are consistently changing her cost without notification. Up and down she should not be as high as it is now. She does love it there but the cost is ridiculous. Just be mindful whatever they say is the price you will be paying more than that for people on budgets.

Honestly I do not know how other places are run. My mom who was 84yrs old. Was there 4 months, and passed away. She was constantly in and out of ER almost every week. With UTIs and prolasped bowel. But MOSTLY UTIs. They also billed for her care improperly on several occasions. My mom passed away [date removed] and I'm still waiting on a check from not properly billing her. They had some very good people. But most not so much.

Most complaints were about cost. They need to work on their laundry process. A lot of my mom's things were lost. I always talked with the residents while I was there with my mom. That was daily. Continually heard residents complain .Aides are great, admin staff is sneaky, misrepresented their qualifications. Not sure they have the residents best interest forefront. Run by corporate so beware

Two rate increases in the last year and a half. I am very unhappy about this.

Lack of communication and corrective actions from the administrative staff.

Base price is too high. Add-ons add up fast. The building fee(or whatever it is)to get in was outrageous and with the monthly cost being high there is no reason for that fee.

My experience with Brookdale was not what I expected. My mother passed away there and every time I went to visit her especially during hospice no one from the facility checked on her. Staff was supposed to check on her every 15 minutes but no one showed up in her room while I was there. Her room on several visits required cleaning. The food was terrible, often times cold. My mother was very upset being there. If I had to do it again I would hire in home care for her.

brookdale southside is in a beautiful setting off busy, noisy roads. when we visited we had a good lunch but my sister reports that meals are poor, although there an excellent newcomers meal. on arrival she had no microwave in her apartment and some of the shelves in the refrigerator door were missing. her dishwasher leaked and there have been bugs. it took quite awhile to get help for things like getting a new microwave. the facility is attractive inside and outside with good places to walk dogs. most other brookdale facilities are built new, this one is older and was bought from a previous senior living facility. there is a calendar for on site activities and trips off site to local groceries and shopping with transportation provided. it took some time and a direct call to get her first bills correct. personnel are friendly and helpful. assistance is available for some things for a fee. some very nice benefits are getting vaccinations and signing up for voting on site.

My mother-in-law only lived there for 6 weeks. It wasn't a good fit for her. We moved her into a private care home. She was there for a little over a year and passed away in [date removed]. If I were to recommend some improvements, I would say they could improve on the timeliness of medication distribution, especially for those whose meds need to be taken at very specific times, not 2-3 hrs beyond the doctor-ordered times. Also, the timeliness of the prescription refills could be managed much better. Their residents paying extra for medication management shouldn't be running out of vital medications, sending the family into a scramble to get the needed meds because the staff didn't manage the refills as promised (and being paid to manage properly.

Honestly they could improve on everything. She only stayed there for about 9 months, she hated it....when I visited I saw the food they prepared and was really saddened and felt what they advertised was 100% false There were a lot of issues, mostly small but they add up. .I would recommend for a person if they have family close by that can provide most of the attention and nutrition needed...but for an isolated person without a really good support system I would not recommend. Yes it is a very nice place, but they aren't currently capable of doing what they advertise....mom has been out of there for almost a year now, so I don't know if there have been improvements or not

We are happy with medical care through Bloom Health, and the overall experience. However, I am concerned about the food programs, reduction in activities, and the fact we have had two major rate increases in two years. Short staffing, major personnel changes in senior staff, and increased costs are given as the reasons this is happening. Store trips have been shortened in frequency per month as well as time given for shopping. Our mother has trouble getting what she needs in a short time and still catch her ride home. Her mobility will only get worse in time.

Biggest complaint my mom had was that usually took an hour for staff to respond after request for assistance. My observation was billed themselves as Assisted Living but not staffed for it.

I'm not impressed at all. Numerous complaints go unanswered or placated. My dad is in memory care .... and it's not good to change their environment. That is the only reason he is still there.

Upper management and the head nurse should have daily huddles with their employees and get feedback from the employees in regards to the elderly residence. I wasn't there on a daily basis, but from what I did see and experience, I think upper management and the head nurse could communicate with the care workers and the nurses that reported to them and get feedback on the residence and what's going on, etc. like I said, you have to inspect what you expect from your employees and if you don't do that, you're not holding anybody accountable and when I say that it's a trickle down effect from upper management to each employee. The heating and the air conditioning in the summertime in my mother and mother-in-law's room of which they shared was freezing in the winter and I had brought that to management attention at least a dozen times or more and I got lots of excuses and then in the summer, it was very hot. I got all kinds of excuses that it was an old air-conditioning system, it just made me wonder if I was the only one complaining about everything in regards to the heat and air. But I was informed that there were others complaining as well. The bath system that we were informed worked the walk-in tub, did not work never work the whole time they were there. I could go on and on. There were lots of employees that were sweet and attentive with both of our mothers and then there were others who were just there to get a paycheck and did as little interacting with the elderly as they had to. I know there is no perfect place to put a parent and I know that not all employees are caring and loving as family, but one would hope they are