Brookdale

Very Big, Lots of protocol.activities is the strong point. Sanitation? competent supervision is a question.

I'm in a very strange place; my dad doesn't have Alzheimer's and my mom does. They're both in the same apartment in the memory care. My dad is also going through chemo and my mom sleeps most of the time. He didn't want to be separated from her so agreed to move in there. The care, when they get my mom is very good. They're very attentive. I watch them with other residents and they are very attentive and very caring. Dad is more competent and they're not really used to dealing with someone like that on that floor. He eats with the Alzheimer's patients so he's only accepting so much of the experience. He is relying on the van to get to chemo which is good (and free). That's really good. I would just like to see a little more effort in pulling him in to the assisted living side for more engagement. I don't know how he would respond to it but at the same time I don't think an effort is being made. In fairness to the place, there was new manager the week we moved in so they were in transition too. It's really good for my mom. Their attempts to get her out and doing things have not been successful but the care is very good.

This was the first community my aunt was in. She fell there and was aggressive when the dementia had it's bad times. They kicked her out because she was too aggressive. Here's this little tiny woman who is usually so sweet and they're telling me she's too aggressive. Every place I've been since has had an issue. The staff, some are really caring and they love their job, you can tell. They do a good job but they just couldn't provide the care she needed.

At emeritus we went in there and I've always been upfront about my aunt's falling and telling them about her nighttime problems. Everything was open. They knew up front and the sales people said we can handle it, this is what we do. He convinced me that they could really do it so I brought her there and shortly there after she fell again. She keeps trying to do things that she can't do and that's always been the problem. She banged her head and had to go to the hospital. After that happened the powers that be got involved. It was not about her care anymore. They wanted to move her to a more inexpensive room and said I had to hire somebody to take care of her 24/7. They never found her the other inexpensive room. She stayed in the memory care unit and it was almost twice as expensive. It didn't make sense to be paying that kind of money. They have a woman there who was terrific. She just had a way with everybody. You just could tell that she brightened up their day every time she spoke to them. She was really nice. It's not the staff, it's the people who run the place. They all knew that falling is something she did. Did any of them ever do anything to keep her in bed? No. They said they can't do alarms or sides on the bed because of the laws.

We thought the facility was very expensive and didn't care for the living quarters. None of the residents interacted with us and although we understood the focus was Alzheimer care, the locked doors seemed confining for Mom's current awareness.

My relative is housed in the Memory Care Unit in a spacious and inviting suite. However. . . Attentiion to the residents is scanty, and requests are acknowledged , but unattended to. Lip service is order of the day. Resident assistants pay more attention to themselves in the "activity" room and conversing endlessly in a foreign language with each other, or privately on their cell phones. I have witnessed on more than a few occasions where no interaction is even attempted to reach the attending residents. The television in the center of the room blares and glares. On more than a few occasions, the reception desk is unattended, and no one seems to ever know answers to random questions or inquiries. Management tries hard . . . .

That's independent living. My mother didn't like the food there. She was there for nearly 6 years. It was okay but they don't have any nursing care. They're taking in more and more people who are disabled, with walkers and health issues and it's getting to be more of an assisted living but they can't hire CNAs to work there because of their license. I had 24 hr care for my mother there that I had to hire from outside and it was costing too much so she had to go some place else.

My sister is going to leave Brookdale Place. She just didn't like the activities as much as the last place she was in so she's going to move back. They activities at Brookdale are just not what she's interest in. It was clean and the staff seemed nice enough. I thought the nursing staff or whatever you call them was actually more on top of things than the last place because it's a smaller environment, the way it set up. It's not a huge building.

They were smaller. In the service offerings for activities, they weren't as expansive - there just wasn't as much going on. Overall, I would would probably put them at about a three. Very small community.

Did not like that residents seemed to be left alone and could isolate themselves.

Affordable, nice, takes medicareb

It was OK, it just didn't feel as good. The available room was on the second floor where the memory residents were, and my mom wasn't part of that. The building wasn't as clean or as well kept. It would have been OK, but I preferred where she is now.

My parents were there for 5 years. I wouldn't really recommend it. We found that place because it was close to my sister and we were in a crisis situation. They just don't have adequate staffing for care, if you need care. I wouldn't say it's super clean either. There were stains on the floor but the people were nice. My dad had to get the highest level of care. The caregivers were very nice it's just that if you need care you're not going to get the care you need. My dad got adequate care because my mom was hounding them. It's half the cost of the place my mom is now. You get what you pay for.

I would say this about any facility that is for profit, but I am talking specifically about the Emeritus chain. This facility is in my home town, and I have thirty years in the industry as a physician. It is a beautiful facility with great decor. However, their motto is minimal staff, minimal service, maximum profit. Behind the scenes with patient care and communication is questionable. Initially was so impressed by them after talking with their marketing person, who did a great job. When doing that, though, you don't get an opportunity to see it behind the scenes and inside. I would be sure to carefully study them before choosing.

It seemed like they were more progressive type of care. They're more community related, more institutionalized type of settings with employed staff. Brick and mortar type of setting. It didn't feel like sleeping over with someone there to help you because you knew them. More like 24 hour type of care. I was looking more at the memory care unit. It seemed like it was a very controlled atmosphere and I didn't want to take away too much control from my mother at that point.

My mom shouldn't have stayed there as long as she did. At one point, they called me and asked me if I knew where my mother was. They literally lost her. She liked the ladies that she lived near, but as far as their professionalism and nursing go, no way. They did have a locked memory unit, but my mom was just in assisted living. We paid $6500 for this, and they raise the rate 4-6% every year.

I primarily chose them because it was a ground floor apartment and I knew that elevators wouldn't work for my mother. The apartment was a good size and it looked out over grass. They said they could get manicures and their hair done and things but that hasn't been happening. By manicures they mean anyone from the guys who serves the food will come and paint their nails. It doesn't mean they get their nails clipped or filed. That service is not available. It was misleading. They seem to be in a lot of turmoil. There is a new director and that was part of my unhappiness in moving in. They were redoing the apartment, which was great because it would be brand new for her, but we were on a timeline and we were up front with them about that. They said they could get the apartment ready in time but it was down to the last day and it still wasn't ready. They said the would put the carpet in tomorrow. It was always tomorrow,. It was a fight all the way. Now mom's patio door doesn't lock which I've talked to them about several times. If they don't follow through on locks on doors what else to they not follow through on? The lack of follow through from the get go has been very frustrating.

this place was really clean and we liked it pretty well--they only have studio rooms, but it was the best we have seen-- again we need a lower cost

It had a more closed feeling than the others we looked at and they didn't provide Sunday meals automatically which I thought was strange. The layout of the building was closed off. It was a gated community so you had to get buzzed in and out. They had assisted living located on the same floor as independent living but in a different part of the floor. As you approached that section the overall feel of the facility changed and you started to smell that odor that you typically get in places that are doing more care.

I went there because my best friends mother was living there but I knew it wouldn't work for my mother. I didn't like that they had to go from one building to another for activities.