Brookdale

I am sad to say my experience was not overall pleasant. We were in need of short term stay for about a month to give me some rest and placing her there did the exact opposite. I was up there just about every day checking on her and when either myself or her full-time care giver that I had to hire was there she would cry and beg us not to go she seemed afraid all the time. I was very disappointed in the staff as far as them engaging the residents to participate in activities at least in the memory care section and I was very disturbed to be told that mom wouldn't be able to do anything unless someone accompanied her for safety reasons. I had to constantly remind them of the list of things mom could and could not eat. they were putting salt on her food which because she was not active was making her ankles swell up and they weren't doing anything about that. When I had asked if I could bring in a stool so she could put her feet up I was denied again because of safety features. The staff overall was nice but needs better training in the memory care wing as to handle the residents.

I had recently taken a tour of this community for my loved one and I have to say thing went okay. When the staff where taking us around the building they took us in a room and wanted to show us how fast the staff respond when the buzzer is hit for help. We waited over twenty minutes and no one came, that was very concerning to me. I could also tell that they where overall short staff in many different areas.

I toured this community for my mother, and her needs. For the most part everything went well, and my tour was a pretty good one. This is a nice community, but unfortunately they did not have any availability for my mother at the time. It was a good experience overall.

Mom is doing ok she is generally not happy being there. From the 3 weeks that I spent there along with my sister the staffing seems to be a problem there isn't enough of it. Trying to track someone down to answer a question was a challange which makes me worry a little what if my mom needs someone will they be around to help. She hates the food because they got a new cook and they prepare all the food with no taste. Overall the property seems well maintained and clean. At this current time unless things improve I would not recommend them to anyone.

It is still a work in progress for my friend with her move to this community. However I do feel for the time being this is the best facility for her, and her needs. In some ways I'm comfortable with her move to this community. She does have some complaints, but in some ways this has been a good move for her. I do feel they are understaffed, but the staff I have met have been kind. She is learning some people names around the community, and that is nice too see. At this moment I'm not sure if I would recommend this community.

I had problems trying to set up an appointment to tour the facility. When I finally was able to take the tour it seemed more like a nursing home. There was no separation from the Alzheimer's residents and the assisted living residents. They had very narrow hallways, not as spacious as what I was looking for.

My husband and I have recently made the move into this community and has been difficult for us to get adjusted. The staff seem to be okay but there has not been very much interaction between us since we moved in. The meals are something that really need improvement on. They are not the best quality and could use a lot more variety in there selection. I am hoping to see some changes in the future with the overall place.

Very nice and clean facility. A couple items - there is just 1 standard room size and no kitchen facility and second the bathrooms are small and dated with no storage space.

They don't do 2 week respite care. Only 1 month which for me was too long.

My relative required a higher level of physical care than this facility was able to provide. There were times when staff did not respond in a timely manner due to the limited number of caregivers onsite at any given time. The management staff was very helpful and attentive but this couldn't overcome the response tardiness that had been experienced at different times. In our opinion, the food variety and quality did not meet the expectations given what we had been told.

We toured this community. The staff that we were supposed to meet were not available. We were not happy with the atmosphere. The public restroom was not clean. The community dark. We did not see a menu on the meals that are offered. We are not sure if they have activities for my parents to participate. We would recommend that families tour this community for the care of a loved one. Families might consider looking at the options that are available.

My mom is a new resident and so far the experience has been wonderful.

This is not the place for my mom. Everyone was great. Just not for us.

My mother ended up not making the move into this community because she was not eligible for the assistance that she needed to live there. The property was nicely maintained and had a lot of great amenities available to all of the residents. I would recommend it to anyone.

This facility would not be a good fit for my mother at this time. It is primarily dementia and Alhiemers care. My mom needs more of a "home" setting to start her out.

All is well for my loved one and she's doing okay. They are trying really hard to make her happy. The move in was nice. The meals are not very good, it could be better. More options and cooking it better. They do not allow salt or pepper and they need more flavor. She does not have salt limitations and that could help with the meals.

I was not impressed with this community. The staff there did not seem very friendly. They talked about how great their grilled cheese and hotdogs are. This did look like a nice community. I felt like I was in an institution and this would not work for my loved one.

Well, it's not all that we were led to believe. The "fantastic food" prepared by a "world-famous chef"...well, I could cook it better and have it more edible! It's mostly chicken, much of it too hard for the residents to chew well and not provided with gravy even to make it palatable. No condiments are given...butter, ketchup, mustard, etc. If you ask for butter for the rolls, all they have is melted butter in a dish. Who does that??? They never serve milk unless you specifically ask for it. We asked for it to be served every meal, but no, you have to ask every single time for it, and if someone is living there who doesn't communicate well and no family is there to ask, then they are out of luck. The regular bathroom schedule we were led to believe exists doesn't exist either. Often they are left to just be wet until it soaks through to their wheelchairs and leaves them smelling bad. The activities that are done are good, but more are needed especially on Saturday and Sunday when the residents are bored. The nurses are good about doing medications and working with you on pharmacies and such and the transportation is good to appointments. This may be the best memory care in Lubbock, but there are definite improvements that could and should be made -- or else quit advertising all the stuff that isn't happening!

Our mother was a resident at Brookdale at Monroe for 17 months. We had high hopes that this move from independent living would continue to foster our mother’s sense of dignity and self-worth. Unfortunately, our experience didn’t match our expectations. The facility was clean, pleasant, and the activities and food were without complaint. Our biggest and most consistent issue was how our mother was treated by the staff and the lack of appropriate action taken by administration to address these concerns. Our issue was solely with the administration and how they handled the complaints we made on behalf of our mother and her treatment by the aides. A slight stroke left out mother with limited mobility which necessitated a move to assisted living. Being confined to a wheelchair meant that our mother was completely reliant on the aides to for every physical move; ie in and out of her recliner, wheelchair, toilet, commode etc. The only thing our mother could do was brush her teeth and feed herself. Dressing, toileting and even just reaching for her water, tv remote, and blankets was impossible. Therefore her reliance on the aides was all encompassing. While some of the aides treated out mother with patience and respect, there was a consistent lack of understanding, a sense that out mother should be doing more to assist the aides and a conveyed feeling that our mother was a burden and inconvenience. Over the course of 17 months, we reported specific instances of inappropriate, rude and hurtful comments, such as; “ you are too heavy for us to move”, “you don’t help us at all”, “stop drinking so we don’t have to toilet you so much”, “my back hurts from lifting you”) however, the response from the administration was always in favor of the aides. We were always told that the aides reported a different version of the incident with our mother being described as uncooperative and needy. And we were required to pay for additional help which our mother rarely received. We never felt as though our mother was cared for or respected in the way we were told she would be during our tour and inspection of Brookdale. The last 2 –3 weeks of our mother’s stay at Brookdale caused great concern by family members. She was attended to last for meals resulting in her eating a cold breakfast alone in the dining room; oftentimes being the only resident at her table for lunches and dinners. Our mother was a dynamic, vibrant and accomplished independent woman who experienced many unfortunate physical illnesses which slowly limited her mobility. She remained sharp and had limited cognitive impairment which made her treatment at Brookdale all the more demeaning and unacceptable. She always stated that she felt she was treated as less than a human being which made her situation all the more difficult and sad for her and our family. We have since moved her to another facility where she receives respectful and decent treatment as she should. In our first week, an incident arose in which an aide made an inappropriate comment. When we reported it to the administration, it was handled in a quick and professional manner with the aide apologizing to our mother and family members. This is all we ask and expect; for our mother to be treated with respect, dignity and kindness. Unfortunately we rarely experienced that at Brookdale.

My tour of this community was decent. The community appeared to be well-kept. The experience was an okay one, but overall this was not the community for us.