Brookdale

In the beginning, things seemed good. Brookdale tried to make my loved one comfortable since she was having a difficult time settling in. But after three or four weeks, I noticed a dip in the level of care she was receiving. Off and on my loved one had some falls. Sometimes Brookdale would call, sometimes not. If they took her to the hospital, they'd call me. Other times they'd say she had a little tumble or something. Even the hospital was starting to question the amount of times she was there for falls. Our loved one used a walker, and Brookdale would tell me she was up and out walking, which was good. When I would pick her up for appointments, I was really disappointed in how she looked. I told Brookdale I expected clean clothes, hair washed and combed, etc. They did it a couple of times but got slack with it over time, and my loved one started looking a little rough. One Saturday I tried calling my loved one, and her phone was continuously busy. I called all day and this was the case. Sunday they said she was resting, sleeping, didn't feel well, was lying down. I asked if I could see her and they said no. I called and a med tech took the phone to her. She wasn't making a lot of sense. So I asked the med tech what's going on. The med tech said it could be the morphine. I asked what does she need morphine for? The reply was I don't know, I'm just a med tech. But we can give them morphine. So I asked if she was eating anything. They said no, no fluids or food. The next day I went up there unannounced, and said I wanted to see her immediately. They would not let me see her, even through the window. I said if she's that sick, then she needs to go to the hospital. At the hospital, she was really, really bad off. Honestly I thought she was going to die. She had very labored breathing, and wasn't getting any water. The nurse there asked me why was she taken off her meds, from what they could tell about three days ago. I had no idea and asked who ordered that. The nurse told me that hospice had ordered it. So at Brookdale, they told me that hospice could come in from 4 to midnight to assist in general and help with medication management. The director, nurses, and hospice all explained it to me this way - they called it palliative care. When I questioned them at the hospital, Brookdale told me Hospice ordered a comfort package (where they check in on patient more often and make them comfortable in their final days). Brookdale thought Hospice had told me, and Hospice thought Brookdale had told me. I never heard anything about my loved one being taken off her meds, and she had a chronic illness where even a few days off medication is extremely harmful. I was beside myself. As she came off the morphine, she came to and said she was hungry. Of course she was, she hadn't eaten anything for three days. She had lost considerable weight. The hospital nurse says she tested positive for Covid. Brookdale told EMS she complained of lower abdomen pain. Brookdale thought it was due to one of the recent falls. But in the hospital we quickly determined her abdominal pain was due to constipation from morphine I wasn't even aware she was on in the first place. I'm just so disappointed with Brookdale 1) for not paying enough attention to know what was going on with my loved one to see that something was seriously wrong, and 2) for not notifying me of what was going on. I don't think they were honest with me, they didn't put everything out on the table. They charged me more for her last month there, without notifying me this would be the case. They said it was because they had to go by her room twice as often. In the end nobody at Brookdale wanted to talk to me. And I feel if I hadn't taken my loved one to the hospital that day, then she wouldn't be with us today.

After a short stay my loved one no longer wanted to be here. I pulled them out of the community per my loved one's request.

When we moved our loved one from assisted living to memory care they assured us she was going to get that one on one attention, and get more engaged. and that was not the care. They really do lack activities. However the rooms at the community would be a 4.5 out of 5.

The residents are given alarm pendants to call when assistance is needed. My parents would often wait 45 minutes or more before a response. My mom was not walking and needed help getting to the bathroom so this was unacceptable. There were many days by 11:30, they had not been given any coffee, juice, or anything to eat. Often the meals were cold when they did arrive. We were told they are short staffed. We paid for "full staff" service. It is difficult to see about 8000.00 dollars a month going out and knowing that your loved ones are not being fed or cared for in a timely manner.

Brookdale was not the right place for my loved one. Disappointed but found much better fit somewhere else.

I would want families to know when looking at Brookdale that it is overpriced. In the memory care unit, the color of the wall and the furniture made the atmosphere bland and dreary. It made me sad and depressed. There were not a lot of activities provided and the space was limited in the memory care unit. I do like that they had memory boxes outside of each persons room. They had pictures in it and different things about that person. Overall, I would not recommend this facility.

My review is from our experience a year ago. I would want people to know when looking intro Brookdale Potomoc that my overall score was low because of the management. They were lacking and definitely could improve. There were a lot of lapses in their communication and effectiveness. They do not have a lot of activities provided at this community. My sister was young and it seemed that the population was a bit difficult to have different activities for people who do not have memory issues.

We weren't very happy with this community, at first they did not inform us at all of what to expect. They put my husband in as assisted living, then they had to put him into memory care due to his Alzheimer's. The place is pretty dirty, we would have to clean it ourselves. We had to visit him everyday to make sure he was doing okay. There was mold growing in the shower and bathtub, where it wasn't getting cleaned. You never knew what time the food was going to be served, or what they were serving. The food was terrible. Most of the time the staff was okay, they did the bare minimum. The care services were not good, we had to bring several things to the staffs attention. The communication could of been better. It was to expensive, they would charge me extra things. He was always missing things, like his personal items. We moved him to a new community as soon as possible.

I think the communication is really lacking. I think they have had a lot of staff turnover. They have been though about two or three director in this last year. The communication had been pretty poor, but since then we have had email communication and meeting . For example, my mom would have a lot of falls and we not notified until we noticed bruises on her in facetime visits ourselves. She was put in a wheelchair and we were also never notified about this as well until we noticed it. I would not recommend this community at this time.

This community is pretty clean, the staff is pretty friendly as well. My dad moved in at the beginning of March, then COVID hit. First time i saw him was last week, and unfortunately the only communication i had between that time with them was the bills they were sending me. The communication was lacking between the staff, the residents, and their families. Brookdale Kenmore is a pretty expensive place, they have a lot of add on's that were doubling our pay. Since COVID hit, it has take a hit on the community, the care services have been slacking. They do have a dining hall, where the residents eat three times a day. We did like the sales director, the facility was picked mostly based on location. Very close to home.

When we first went there to visit, they presented an array of food, as well as presented a large variety of different food options.. But when she moved didn't see any of that. At first the place appeared beauty, but figured out once we moved it that it wasn't. We would call numerous times with multiple concerns, and never received any phone calls back.

The staff tried to get her more involved. They did have some nice activities such as music. My mom was a place right before this one and it was very, v ery good. The nurse practitioner is very good. The staff are not well trained on dealing with dementia patients. The one major criticism I had had was the loud music during dinner and cutting pills right outside the dining room. The patients with advanced dementia sat by a window in a wheelchair and hardly moved all day long.

Some of the employees there are absolutely fabulous, there are others that are not so good. That was detrimental to my mom's experience. They did not follow the dietary and other care plans for my mom. It is a great fit for some people it was just not a great fit for my mother. The community is geared for someone a little more independent and can advocate for themselves.

A very nice place, however we didn't feel there was nearly enough attention payed to my loved one or his care. We also had hospice come in to give him a bath a couple times a week, and Brookdale wanted to charge us for the bath, even though they were not involved at all in the process. They wouldn't even wake him up to go to breakfast. We moved him from Brookdale because of this. We moved him before the 30 days were up on his lease and we were told we would get the entire sum of his community fee back, however we never received it.

My aging parents lived here for over 8 months. They moved out because the prices were not worth the services they were getting. The food is awful. Even though they complained a couple of times, dinner did not improve. I ate there twice in the dining room and it was inedible. I suggest anyone who is thinking of Brookdale to stop in and try dinner a couple of times before making a decision. Many times my father would not eat dinner because it was so unappetizing and flavorless and they spent too much money on eating out or having it delivered.

Nice facility, but in my mom, who is wheelchair bound, has had to wait over 1 hour to be transferred from chair to toilet, bed to chair, etc. We have phoned corporate and been told they are working on it. On weekends, they think it's fine to have only 2 aid/attendant staff for a three floor, 75 resident building. There has been a complete turnover of administration since [date removed]. They knew since [date removed] they needed a new director, and now it's mid [date removed] and they only have a temp director. Even the head nurse has left. This is corporate senior health care. Make no mistake. Once you move your mom or dad into a nice looking facility, it's really hard to move them out, even if the care is bad.

We addressed the same issues numerous times with the director. It took 4 months for them to get her compression stockings. They let her legs hang on floor instead of putting on the legs of the wheelchair. After I found my mom’s legs and feet swollen, blue and freezing cold then they put the legs on wheelchair. I visited mom in her room and found soiled diapers stuffed under her bed. She is wheelchair bound and she has to have assistance to put her diapers and clothes on. One of the nursing assistants declared that my mom was cussing the staff which was not true. I called her hand and told her I wanted names of the employees who heard my mom cussing well she started taking back water and saying she wasn’t there and didn’t know!!! These are just a few things we had issues with. It was ridiculously pricey. It cost over $50,000.00 for 6 months and move in fees which is too much with all the issues we had.

I placed my Dad here & he ended up leaving after 3 weeks. The room was big enough for he needed. Most of the staff was nice but not aware of everything going on. I lived in another state at the time & got a call at 730pm from them that he was not there. How do you miss alot of stuff being moved out including a recliner & boxes. The lady that hands out the meds is not very good & when she finally got to my Dad he was in bed sleeping. woke him up to give meds. He fell & when asked for help she said that she can't help, that they are only there to assist. I finally [language removed] & said than come [language removed] assist me. They assign the seats at meals. Only a few of the residents are outgoing enough to say hi. If you can't get the meds to them each month than you have to use their services; which is expensive. Had to fight with them about for months over billing issues & finally ended up with a refund, which was a surprise. Unless you are in the area to keep checking on loved ones don't put them here.

Very clean. Food - No complaints on breakfast, other then shorthanded and cold food sometimes. More complaints then raves for lunch & dinner. Entertainment very good. Daily activities are sparse. Most staff is dedicated. Staffing issues in all areas appear to be a ongoing problem. In speaking with other relatives in other communities, these issues appear to be symptomatic in this field. I think all you can do is check on your loved one as often as you can, especially if they are unable to communicate well on their own. Working with management to address other issues. I feel they are working towards a solution. I think it's important to feel your concerns are heard and addressed.

Pros: This assisted living facility is always clean, most of the staff is friendly and helpful. They offer two meal choices for every meal. It is a small facility with a beautiful garden area and it is pet friendly (smaller pets). Cons: Expensive in comparison to other facilities. Extra up charges for everything are costly (and I mean everything). They charge over $400.00/mo to distribute medication even though often my father-in-law walks down to get his meds. $300.00/mo for bathing. They also charge for walker rental/assistance, etc., etc. They raise rates dramatically. Nurse on staff pushes treatments so that they can charge a fee -- testing for bladder infections (when no complaint from patient) ear infections, etc., etc. We were charged for over 400 tablets of Tylenol for the month!!! They adjusted it, but still, you really need to watch what they are charging you for. Though they charge for everything they still have not fixed their transportation van and therefore residents haven't been taken on outings in quite awhile.