Brookdale

We wanted to tour this community but instead of a virtual tour, we just got a video from their website. There was not real conversation and the experience was really not inviting

The marketing lady that we dealt with in the beginning was so lovely, just an overall lovely woman. She was so helpful, so kind and really went out of her way to help out our family. However, we had an opposite experience with the director, we were not a big fan. It was almost borderline deceitful, kind of like a bait and switch and no communication and would never return our calls. The director also always seemed very secretive.

The community was going through a lot of changes and they have gone through a lot of turnover in management. The staff was sometimes impersonal, and we had an issue with theft. The nursing staff was good, but for the money, you are not getting what you pay for. I would not recommend this community unless there have been changes.

We were able to do an in person tour and it went horrible. The community seemed like they just talked down to the residents the entire time.

I would never recommend Brookdale in Altamonte Springs to anyone. Maybe if not for Covid, it could have been different. There were a lot of CDC restrictions, no problem there. But my loved one ended up in hospice. The director talked me out of taking my loved one home. He said they would take great care of her, don't worry about it. And you can come any time because you're vaccinated. The head nurse also said that we could have up to 6 family members to visit at any one time, for as long as we wanted to stay. When my loved one was put on crisis care, the front desk gave us problems on multiple days each time we came to visit. They said we were not allowed to visit, and tried to prevent us from coming in. One woman referred to me as "heavy set," pointed her finger in my wife's face and said "You need to get heavy set out of there." I don't understand how they could be so rude, with no compassion, while my loved one was dying. The director was apologetic when we addressed it, but I just don't understand why the front desk wasn't notified of hospice visiting protocol. We talked to the regional director because we were so disappointed in the impression from the front desk staff. The place itself is beautiful. My loved one had a full apartment with a kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom. The nurses were great, they were always nice and sweet. But the front desk staff is absolutely terrible. and always gave us problems. They made an already difficult time even more difficult. There is big problem with lack of communication here.

The sales staff is wonderful. They helped accommodate a quick move in after a hospital stay. But once we moved in, it was not at all pleasant. Since it was in the middle of the pandemic, they required a 14-day isolation / quarantine, but with a 24-hour one-on-one aide that I had to pay for. I was not allowed to see my loved one, at all, not even through a window, at any point in time. The treatment that they allowed was totally unacceptable. I was getting reports from the one-on-one aide of some of his behaviors, and being a memory care unit, they should have known how to deal with. He ended up in the hospital twice for injuries during a one month time. And each time he returned from the hospital, they started his 14-day quarantine again. Some of the aides were good, and some of them allowed problematic dementia behavior such as crawling around on the floor (to the point of having open sores on his hands and knees) , and I feel it was condoned by Brookdale management. When I found out about it, I had to get the home health care nurse involved. They finally started trying to divert him to safer behaviors (into his chair or bed or using his walker). It was my impression that the director expected the one-on-one aide to take care of everything, and there were things his staff should have been taking care of, like bathing, etc. The aid should have been there to make sure he wasn't inuring himself. I moved my loved one to a new facility which we are much happier with, and it costs less.

The staff members were very friendly, and they did the best that they could when it came to caring for her. However, we told them right off the bat that it was only temporary and they pretty much held our loved one hostage. We had to go through a lot of financial things to get our loved one out.

We are not happy with the care services, and since we cannot get into the community we do not know if they have activities and the meals are nothing special. It all needs improvement from the management, to the nursing staff, to the cleanliness of the place as well as the communication with families.

The staff members were very friendly, and wonderful to us we have no bad things to say about the community. As far as we could tell it was the perfect setting for her, we could see the outdoors over face time, and the activities they would have prior to the pandemic. However our loved did say the food was bad, and the were going through a change in management so things here and there were a little confusing and disorganized like the billing and medication distribution.

The community did not maintain my loved one medication correctly and did not offer the correct dietary need that my loved one needed. The communication about covid was fine I did have an issue with the billing staff and their communication. I would not recommend this community to others.

[name removed] was very nice but he spoke very loudly and this could be due to the people he usually works with We did not really like this facility as it does not appear to be as well kept up as Lake Orienta; it seems much smaller although not sure it is; the people congregated downstairs more and that makes it feel more like a nursing home; there were several people with either masks not really on properly or pulled down Alex had arranged food sample for mom to take home We found out about the initial community fee and that the Apts are now at special price from [name removed] Unfortunately, we did not like this facility

Level of care is minimal, employees write rave reviews but unfortunately the entire experience has gone downhill since my mom came here. There are a handful of caregivers that are excellent, overworked and probably horribly underpaid. Since Covid the rules imposed on our families are over and above what is even laid out by the state. There is an “us and them” environment and essential caregivers tolerated. Billing is rarely correct, working with doctors a nightmare.

We moved Mom to Brookdale Palm Beach Gardens in October. We are moving her out this month. There were a couple of standout individuals there and on the surface all is pleasant. Food is good. Apartment is very nice. The issue is the overall operation of the facility and very poor communication with the administrators. Mom was unhappy and after we hired an advocate to be our eyes and ears there for a few weeks, we understood why. We started with such high hopes and are leaving very disappointed.

They were great starting out when they were trying to get us in here, but then after he moved in it went downhill. They accepted my husband and then they were not able to handle him. They then charged me and I never got my money back. The communication is not good here.

I would say not to go there to this community. A prior loved one was in this community a few years ago. I now have another loved one is the community. The food isn't nutritious for the residents. We moved our loved one out of the community.

Before the pandemic everything was perfect and our loved one was having a good time. Now they have all new employees and they make promises that they cannot follow through with. Over Christmas we dropped things off for our loved one like a Christmas Tree, we asked if they could send us pictures of him so we knew he received our gifts. After three weeks of calling we only got one pictures. Also the nursing staff has been made aware that anytime something happens to our loved one regarding their health, they are to call us first. However, last week we got a call from the doctors office saying the nursing staff called and made an appointment for our loved one. When we call the community and spoke to the head nurse she had no idea what we were talk about.

My loved ones were living at this community. A few hours prior to my loved one dying, the night nurse was very mean to my loved one. I've heard that night nurse is rude to all the residents. The food was horrible at the community for my loved ones.

The community talks a good game but they do not follow through with their promises. The care my loved one received was not up to the standards I expected. I would not recommend this community to others.

I would say not to use this community. My loved one was there for less than a year, and there was always something going on and not for the betterment of the resident. I feel like I was doing all the work instead of the staff. There were several staff that wanted to quit while we were there. The community stated they were a locked down community for memory care residents. The truth is the site wasn't and residents were able to walk out the door. The community wouldn't keep the rooms or carpet clean. There is a community fee to get into the community.

I would tell others that the emergency cords in the rooms do not work, she buzzes for people to help her and it takes an hour and a half for people to come. She needs help to get to the toilet and it takes that long for them to come and go back to bed. Since covid, meals are being delivered and they forget to give her parts of her meal and silverware. Sometimes they even forget to bring her meal altogether, when she calls they say the kitchen is closed and so we are having to send boxes of food to her. We are having to micro-manage everything from Texas. They seem to have very bad communication issues between management and staff. Overall, it has not been a good experience, she is not happy here.