Brookdale

This place is "assisted light." Do not send your loved ones here if they need anything more than the basic services. The medical team - nurses and aides -- are understaffed. They have too much to do to take care of any person without the most basic needs. My Uncle was only there 2 weeks but I had to be there to advocate for him. They are very disorganized. The first day there I pushed the button to call for someone - the one they gave my Uncle - after 10 minutes no one had come. I went to the nurse's office and was told that someone would come as soon as they finished with whoever they were with. No one came for 20 minutes!! It was a test. I said, "what if he is having a heart attack?" and they looked at me like I had two heads. For two days he hadn't had a shower. It turned out he wasn't on the schedule. The last time I visited, his bathroom was a mess. It smelled. There were no sheets on the bed. The next day he was rushed to the hospital - he had a urinary tract infection and a viral infection in his lungs. I hazard a guess that he got the urinary tract infection because they didn't change his catheter enough. One time I arrived and the heat was turned on so high. He was slumped in his chair. I never saw them wash his hands once. After the coronovirus hit, they placed a roll of paper towel and soap in his room by the sink - for someone in a wheelchair that was impossible to access. The last time I heard - late last week - they were still allowing family members in even though the guidelines from the government with the virus was to keep people out. Finally, when he was rushed to the hospital they didn't call my cousin to let him know - the hospital called him. I was shocked that the two options for meals often were two red meat options. There are some good people working here but overall I can't say much good about this place. The good: receptionist very friendly; the servers in the dining room are wonderful - though I'm not sure the place provides benefits as one woman told me she was on Medicaid; the physical therapist is lovely; there are some nice activities yet there doesn't seem to be a lot of options for people to meet each other; my uncle spend most of the time alone in his room. The place cost $9000 a month. I'm not sure where all that money goes but it doesn't go to the residents that need the most help.

I was very disappointed with our experience at BD Monroe. The sales rep assured me as well as the Wellness Director that they could take care of my husband, who is a high functioning, very active resident. He had been there 2 weeks only when the Admin Dir (who I have never spoken to before this encounter) and the Wellness Director notified me that my husband was "not a good fit" for their community then proceeded to tell me that I would either need to come and get my husband or hire a 24 hour sitter to watch him. They didn't have the staff or time to manage him. This facility is supposed to be trained in redirecting and helping engage and make connections with Alz residents. Long story short, I never saw this happen. I had to hire a sitter to "manage" my husband until we could find another place for him. PLEASE be aware that this facility is NOT equipped to redirect and engage with high functioning Alzheimer's patients.

Real difficulties in paying for my parent's stay here - I don't like auto-pay, but that seems to be the method that this company wants, and since I am paying more that five thousand dollars per month, I want to control the checkbook. I figured out that calls to this company don't go to this company, but to an unrelated call center who can't help, and can't even send me an email to confirm receipt of my call.

Horrible services and dirty facility. The majority of the staff are subpar, miserable and unfriendly to residents. We are pulling our relative out after only 4 months Of living at this facility. We were charged for services we were not receiving , constant problems with the medical staff and a revolving door of staff including director of the facility. The building had a constant stench of urine and feces soaked diapers that residents sat in while they milled about in the common areas . Bags of dirty adult diapers sat in the residents hallway and the smell permeated the hallway and the resident’s rooms. Staff made excuses that they were too busy to deliver the services promised and paid for . We hate to move our loved one, but their entire demeanor deteriorated during their residence here, they were depressed and distant . This is our second facility in the last 7 years and we hate changing our loved ones residence but this place should lose their license to operate due to the level of service that is provided to the residents. Last director left after less than 3 months and shared with us the low level of employees she was working with and all of her resident’s room inspections failed due to the negligent level of care the RAs were providing to the residents and the example she shared were the residents were laying in their excrement for hours, and neglect of maintaining the cleanliness of the room. We have been more than patient with the facility and had hopes it would improve but it has not and doesn’t seem like there is hope for improvements. Employees shared with me that Brookdale pays so low for hourly rates that staff leave often and turnover rates at this location are high. Remaining staff is overwhelmed picking up the slack.

Some of the staff were quite good and caring, especially the folks at the front desk, people running activities, etc. However, there were serious problems with with management, which came out in different was during the 18 months my father lived there. Hygine My father's room always stank of urine, to the point where it was difficult to enter the room. We paid to have the carpet removed and replaced with vinyl flooring, yet the problem persisted. We raised it repeatedly with staff. Some of this, I know, can't be helped, but it was extreme. Communication Brookdale never once notified me when my father went in to the hospital. He was hospitalized about every 2 to 3 months during his time there, and I only found out from friends and family, never from Brookdale. I raised this repeatedly at meetings with Brookdale, received reassurance that it wouldn't be a problem in the future, and then it would happen again. I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to my father because I didn't make it to the hospital in time before he died. This might have been different if Brookdale had better communication. I raised this issue with management, who said they would look in to it, and never got back to me. In fact, the manager of the facility didn't even offer condolences when we came to clear out my father's room; she just walked by us as if she didn't see us, on several occasions. Billing Brookdale never sent me copies of my father's monthly bills, even though I had power of attorney, was managing his finances, and requested the bills in writing on several occasions. Brookdale has not refunded me for the rent paid in advance that they owe me after my father's death, even though he died 3 months ago. I have asked about this repeatedly, received reassurances, but no refund. I find this behaviour on the part of management to be negligent.

While the surroundings are beautiful and the staff is outwardly caring and attentive, the reality is that the residents are being taken advantage of when it comes to the fees. My mother has been living there for several months now and every single little thing is charged and comes at a PREMIUM cost. A 2 mile drive to the doctor? $80.... an Uber ride would have been less than $10. From day one we have been told "we will do this and we will take care of that" but when it comes down to it these things are NOT being done and the staff does not seem to communicate with each other at all so you end up chasing down one person after another to get the right information. Initially my mother needed full care but we were told she would be re-evaluated and the fees would come down a month after she moved in. FALSE. My mother gets dressed on her own, gets in and out of bed on her own, walks everywhere on her own yet she is being charged over $500 a month in services that she is NOT receiving. There is no recourse to get this changed and we get the runaround when we try to get answers. Nobody wants to take ownership. DO YOUR RESEARCH before setting foot in this facility. Make them put EVERYTHING in writing because in the end they will say, "oh that is not accurate, you were misinformed." This is a racket. How truly sad for elderly residents to be completely scammed out of their life savings.

Many of the reviews here are by new residents or family members who don't live here and have superficial experience with the realities of the facility. My 97 year old mother has lived here eight years, seven years in the active section and one year in the assisted living section. We have seen the good the bad and the ugly. Brookdale is a FOR PROFIT corporation and the business model is predicated on PROFIT. At every turn they charge residents in order to squeeze every penny out of them. Food used to be good but is now pretty dismal and portions are small. If your loved one isn't good at advocating for themselves they will be pretty well ignored in the assisted living unit. It's like pulling teeth to get maintenance to fix or replace anything, air-conditioners, plumbing, broken decks, etc. Administration is nice when you are signing their contract (watch out for the arbitration clause) but once you are moved in and paying the exorbitant prices, they have no interest in meeting with you about concerns. Rent is raised 4-7% yearly. Imagine, if you pay $5000 a month, your rent may be raised up to $1800-$4000 EVERY YEAR! Could you sustain that on a fixed income? To be fair, there are many caring employees here, receptionists and the nurses and personal care staff are for the most part commendable. But the turnover here is huge because the wages for the real workers is poor. Moral seems poor among housekeepers and food servers. Fallout is on the elderly, especially the very old. I wonder how some are treated that don't have family to intercede for them. If you are thinking about placing your loved one here I recommend going the Brookdale corporate website and reading the reviews. They are almost universally disturbing. I wish we had done that. Now that my mother is so old we don't feel we can move her. But if she lives much longer she will be priced out into the cold. If that happens believe me, Brookdale admin staff, trained by corporate, will not blink an eye. So sad.

Brookdale Torbett is a safe place. There needs to be interior updating. Caregivers need more training in actual hands on care. Most caregivers are polite and helpful. Have been using their services for 3 months and was told on move in there would be an activities director in 2 weeks. One just started 1 week ago. Not the best place, not the worst. Location convenient for frequent visiting to my mother or would choose somewhere else. Not a good value for the cost.

Always short of competent nurses and techs. Too many medicine mix-ups. Very poor food quality and very slow dining room service. Always wasting money on outside landscaping: they plant flowers; fail to water; plants die, so they plant more...over and over again! This money could be spent on improving the quality of their residents' living conditions. Find a better choice for your loved one...wish we had!!

This turned out to be a really inappropriate placement. Important details about medication policies were not disclosed until after being admitted and the head nurse begged me to write a letter of praise to her boss 3 days after admitting my mom. There was a profound lack of knowledge.

My grandmother was a resident of this facility for eight years. Our sweet lady passed away in January. What was so disappointing is that after she passed, an employee or employees stole multiple items (including jewelry and electronics) from her room before we had the ability to finish cleaning her apartment. There was zero accountability in this action from management. My family is still reeling from the shock and feeling of violation that this event caused.

This facility has drastically fallen in level of care, cleanliness, and value. Moved our parents out recently to a newer facility with the correct number of caregivers and staff. The food at Brookdale was mostly canned or frozen. The new facility provides food that is a 5 star in comparison. Cooked to order, not sitting in steam tables. Get this, the new place cost less. That is the difference between corporate owned and family owned. The family owned just cares more for the residents.

The food is good and the staff is nice. The room is terrible because it is shared and basically mom is Couchsurfing in someone else's room for an exorbitant price. She has no privacy. They've told me they like to medicate patients so they can adjust better. This seems beyond the pale to me. It's far too expensive for average people.

My mother lived at Brookdale Augusta for only 10 weeks. The staff over promised and under delivered. Prior to her moving in, I explained in detail her condition and requirements for her care. However, they were not able to properly care for her medical needs. I could only recommend this facility for a patient who only needs help with meals, housekeeping, laundry and social interaction. This is NOT a facility able to handle patients with dementia, or who need careful monitoring of medications or those who require help with using the bathroom. The staff is very friendly but friendliness does not protect the patient.

This isn't the worst place in the world, but there is vast room for improvement which doesn't even need to cost much. Cleanliness: The rooms are kept reasonably clean, but my mother has been given dirty utensils at meals and she witnessed a worker touching her food with her bare fingers. Gross! Friendliness: If you pass a worker in the hallway or outside, most of them will make sure to ignore you. Even the receptionist will find a reason not to look up and say Hello. Value: Way too expensive for what she is getting. Care services: Response time to pressing the button is sometimes hours, never the two minutes they tell you before you sign the lease. We are going to get her another button and pay for it separately in case she really needs help and can't wait two hours. Activities: They don't look too stimulating or interesting based on the schedule I see posted. My mom does not participate. Food: This wasn't a category, but it should be. The food is horrible. Fatty, greasy, fried, salty, not nutritious, not aoppealing. Sometimes the meat is so dry it can't even be swallowed safely.

Mom is no longer at brook dale phillipi creek. There was limited activities during the week and none on the weekend. She had nothing to do. She is a puzzler and no one ever put out puzzels

The Carriage club was ok until the new manager, [Name removed], came in. He immediately began cutting the quality and quantity of amenities so that he would look good to the owners. The place is no longer one I and most of my fellow residents can recommend. WE have observed the chefs at lunch down from three to one (for 100 or so of us), so that we residents will sit for 40 minutes just waiting to be served. Moreover, the meals have diminished in quality so that they are no longer worth the money we are paying. Many of us are looking for another home.

Do not let your loved one live here. The director has no control over her staff. Residents are unkempt and unclean. The shower room where they bath residents is disgusting. Food is terrible.

The difficulty with Brookdale is that the staff is shackled by poor administrators, who are only interested in the “bottom line”. As this became clear to existing staff, who most often were caring individuals, there was a mass exodus of the quality caregivers. As a result, inexperienced, under trained staff were hired which left the residents at risk and with subpar care. Activities exist on paper only. The highest organized activity is a movie in the DVD player. The so called “renovation” on the memory unit took at least 6 months and left the residents often at risk with the necessary accommodations. Lastly, the nightly staffing level is often so compromised that it presents a dangerous situation for the residents. Policy dictates that administrators are to compensate by filling in during a staffing shortage, but this NEVER happened in the year that my mother lived there. My best advice is to research a different option where your loved one will be more safe and well cared for.

Before you move here spend some time in the halls. Usually just one aid which is not enough for assisted living. Pay a lot of money for the help you are suppose to get. Ask family members of the residents. You’ll be surprised. Upper staff tells you one thing but what really goes on is something else. Looking to move after 3 years . Home is not how is was or looks.