American House

Since the new owner has taken over and the trickle down has hit, I've been very disappointed. Staff is running out the door so fast the remaining staff is working double shifts and giving notice. Our family has been happy with the staff who work directly with mom. They no longer have an activity director. Staff is expected to care and provide activities for the senior residents. Promises made when mom was admitted are now being revoked. We were told staff could handle her and the various issues she had. Now we're told this is not a skilled facility. Staff is not trained in behavior issues many seniors suffer, communication is poor, and the administration lies about the services they can provide.

My parents have been there quite a while but we are looking to move them out. One elevator breaks down about once a month and the last time it took 3 weeks to fix it - which meant the residents had to walk a lot further. They do not have a back-up generator, and they lose power about 4-5 times a year, sometimes for a couple of days - this is scary when residents live on the second or third floor and have no elevator. The staff try hard, but cannot overcome these difficulties. The doctor only comes once a month and the Physician's Assistant is not equal to a doctor. Supposedly a Podiatrist or Chiropodist comes regularly, but every time we asked, we were unable to get an answer as to when, so we finally just went elsewhere for foot care. The place looks decent, but there is also a lot of traffic noise.

Our family member has been for about 2 years. We have mixed reviews about this facility. The grounds and public areas are very nice. In the Winter the heat does not work that well and the older building is is great need of repairs. Most of the staff is very friendly although I have herd many complaints of some medical staff being very pushy and stern with the residents. The food is O.K. The activities are good even though a new activities director is new and still learning. In general they seemed understaffed. We never see the head of facility or medical staff and when you do, there is never a smile on their face making you feel very uncomfortable. They are not very open to suggestions always stating "it's a corporate policy". Overall, this is a good value for the money as long as your loved one is somewhat independent. Good luck.

We had some very bad experiences when we first moved my mom into American House. We spent a lot of time in the beginning there making sure things went right and she felt comfortable there. I highly suggest family does that to see what actually does go on in any facility they place a loved one. She adjusted quite well because we were there to make sure she got the best care and met other residents to get her adjusted to being there. Our main complaint is with the daily activities they say they provide. She's only been there a little over a year now and there's been at least 3 times when the activities director has been sick or on long term sick leave for weeks or months at a time. These residents thrive on having some activity to do to get them out of their rooms and we've been very disappointed with that and have complained many a time and feel we always get the verbal assurances. They are paying for those services. There has also been issues with the quality of the medical services provided. I know it's a thankless job to take care of our older generation and there is a high turnover of personnel there which is hard on the residents. We constantly have family members there, probably 5 - 6 times a week checking up on things. Overall my mom is happy there and that is the main concern, but overall our family was not expecting this quality of care for the price she's paying.

That was like a nursing home. I knew my mother wouldn't be comfortable with that. I didn't even bring up taking her to see that because a place that felt like a nursing home was the picture she already had in her head of what we were trying to do. I wanted a place that would be homey.

The biggest issues were her room could not me temperature regulated. It was either hot or cold. The biggest issue was the food. It was never as advertised on the menu, and for dinner every night was a sandwich and chips. The staff was very friendly. Mom says she would not go back there.

Here's the good, the bad and the ugly. Good- very well kept facility - good maintenance person Bad- there was an incident where my wife's room started leaking water from the ceiling. We had to change her room. I helped move her furniture from one room to another. It seemed dangerous because it was near the electrical overhead light. I asked for a refund because of the inconvenience and they said they couldn't do that. Funny how they can take over $7k for "administrative fees" which are non refundable but they couldn't refund two to three days of inconvenience to myself and my wife. Ugly- after only being there about a month my daughter and I received a call from the head nurse saying that my wife had been Baker Acted because she may have taken off her clothes. They never did provide a written reason why they made that decision, even though I asked several times and they couldn't give me the reason. They are supposed to be the "experts" in working with people with Alzheimer's and they couldn't remedy a one time incident. To make matters, I was told that she would go to a local facility after her stay in the hospital and she ended up going to a hospital in Ft Myers, 3 hours away!! I made seven trips down there to see her and to take family members to visit her. I would not recommend the Beach House to any family member deciding on which memory care facility to house their loved ones. It seems they were only interested on residents that did not conform to their standards. People with Alzheimer's are known to act differently.

The water pressure still horrible and therefore cool to cold. During cold weather, the dining room gets too cold to host meals. 50 degrees during the morning recently.

The staff are welcoming and know their residents which is a plus . However, the facility is closed n need of updates and there is an awful odor throughout the facility. I would not recommend this facility to anyone.

Some of the staff is very friendly but the facility seems under staffed. Dad wasn't in the Advanced Care building, but the title is deceiving. The staff struggled to keep up with the needs of the residents. Certain staff members were seen sitting with cell phone in hand while others did the best they could. I would not recommend them to others.

What the community could improve on would be providing the assisted living care patients need (and pay for).

The nurse that performed the assessment to see if my mother in law was appropriate for the facility, was inaccurate with the assessment. We were given a lot of empty promises that they did not fulfill. Which in the end resulted in my mother in law being asked to leave because they couldn't provide the level of care that she needed.

Very high pressure to get me to sign my sister up. They came to ER w/contract & I felt pressured to sign or she wouldn't have a place to stay. They offered no move in fee & 3 free months. I signed in the ER entrance. Then after my sister's PT at a facility she didn't want to go. So, I told them & they said she would be charged a pro-rated fee even though she never moved in. I haven't seen a bill nor has any money been removed from my sister's account. I'm not happy about all of this.

The initial feeling on entering is one of safety and security quickly followed by warmth, friendliness and caring. The staff is eager to help solve any problem and will go out of their way to solve it.

So far things are not as they were described during the tour and first meeting when signing papers. It appears most staff is new (even management) and still in training or getting adjusted to their roles. While we understand it is new, the misinformation and delay in things has caused high stress and anxiety for my elderly parents in this big change for them. I will say the cleanliness of the facility is top notch as is the friendliness of the staff. We are hopeful that the next few weeks will bring more consistency to their roles leading to more streamlined and less stressful days.

Clinical care non existent. If resident falls they will not assist them up they call 911. I personally lifted my mother up and they would not assist. Only use this facility if the resident is totally capable of all ADLs. In other words they are residential, not assisted living. Food is fair. Activities were not quality and not close to what [name removed] provided.

I would give them a two overall only because there was so little to do there was no communication between patients. They just needed more activity for the patients that's all. Pretty much. They also had several activities planned for the patients, but mostly they were all canceled with no notice. The food was OK, but not on the best side.

There are better facilities for the money. Maybe even tire commend the other American House facilities in Riverview or Taylor. The Medical Team at Southgate needs better management and probably over haul. Plenty of misses with the care. Food is honestly basic at best. The facility needs a face lift. Carpets are dirty/stained in the common areas

We constantly have a problem with them keeping a good supply of toilet paper on hand. The service in the dining room is awful! Sometimes the patients have to wait on food for 20-30 minutes after specified serving times. Often, the food is not good. If a patient calls for help with the necklace buzzer around their neck, it just goes on and on and on with no quick response. There is not a nurse onsite 24 hours.

I was not happy at all. The nursing staff was incompetent and did not give meds as ordered. Mostly, they just did not live up to the promises they made about the extent of care when we interviewed. They may be better now. I understand they were closed down for a period just after we left because of an out break of bed bugs. I heard they were under new management now.