American House

The Village at Bloomfield American House has been a huge disappointment. My parents in their early 80s were excited to move here to be closer to family. They made a lateral move "independent living to independent living" and were the first residents to move into this brand new facility [date removed]. After many, many empty promises, poor management, terrible communication, and lies, they moved out on [date removed]. In the six months there, there was ONE "field trip" to T.J. Maxx, the food was repetitive, there were times when there were no clean cups or silverware, housekeeping was shoddy and random, ReadyCare (the a la carte assistance) was inconsistent, ineffective, and billed for services not given -- their solution was to delete our parents from the system. HomeMD, the medical program used by the facility had all kinds of billing issues, too which bordered on fraudulent. Seniors without advocates would likely just pay the bills. Look elsewhere.

American House was where they had the population's mixed and it was very depressing. People who were obviously not in their right minds were wandering around the common areas with staff following them.

Our family had an in person tour with American House and this was the American House in Ypsilanti on Carpenter Road. Very old building. The residents were more mentally and physically challenged. Not the right place for my Dad who is still fairly active mentally and physically.

Our overall experience has been a bit aggravating. Cleanliness has been average. Directors are not helpful. There seems to be no communication. They promise the moon but then do not follow through. Unprofessional. Quality of care in memory care has been great. Meals are ok. I have heard from older residents that the quality has gone down since new ownership. Activities could be a lot better. They sit too much. word search, dominos, chair exercises, movie, bingo. They need entertainment and other exciting activities. Value could be better. I was told today families have to buy insure for memory care. We supply everything. I suggest getting an itemized bill. Been months and we still have issues

Truth be told, IT'S ALL THE ABOVE. Ticket prices star over $[removed] just to test these waters. Mr. VP of Operations, your plea for a phone call to address your situations is so heartwarming. Did YOU make any phone calls or in person visits to right your sinking ship? When we voice our concerns here locally, all we ever get is "corporate wants it this way". Well, seems to me that remark alone verifies corporate already knows. The food and service here is only marginal, it's very sketchy. Protein foods hardly exist, and servings are skimpy. Very delicious looking pictures adorn your marketing materials. Large grilled shrimp and marinated skirt steak sounds wonderful. However, in reality it never appears. There are sixteen bottles of wine on the wall at the entrance of the dining hall. That alone gives the impression that a taste just might be offered inward. However, nothing resembling the contents of these dummy bottles can be had inside. So. Sir, do we just go down with the ship?

The business office can't get my mum's bill accurate. Mum moved in the [date removed] and her rent increased in January. They have misplaced a check I paid the rent in January but I have proof the check was paid by mum's bank. They have credited her account but check still missing. Mum says the food is awful. She does try to eat it but says it has no real flavor. Huge turnover in staff.

The facility was clean and meals were prompt. Dining staff was lovely and helpful. Communication on all levels and in all departments is atrociously inefficient and inadequate. Phone system had been worked on in September per their report, but voicemails still weren't working correctly. All communication required a family member call and ask a question. Was double billed for entrance activity fee [amount removed]. Six or seven phone calls in and verbal promises of a refund, but probably won't see it for another 30 days (which I'm sure will take another 6 or 7 phone calls)

I can't speak to all of these because I don't know what my sister's experience of them was, but I can say that her stay, which ended up being brief, was less than satisfactory. I know my experience of the staff was that they were very friendly, and the place appeared to be quite clean. Unfortunately, a couple of things that were asked for and never happened, for example a television that was delivered was never set up, though we were told it would be. Also, a few days before Christmas my sister was found unresponsive and sent to the hospital, but nobody informed her family about it and we didn't realize it until I went to visit her on Christmas Day and was told she was not there. I do know that she was not happy there and told us she did not want to go back. Fortunately she has been able to go home and have at home care. As far as value for cash, she ended up paying for about three months, even though she was actually only there for about a week and a half. So value for cash was pretty low.

During our loved ones time at American House we really did like the staff, they were very friendly and we wish we could of worked something out. However we do think they could improve on their response times for the residents who fall and call for assistance.

This was an okay community. I didn't feel it was the right fit for my loved one. The community wasn't as clean as I had wanted, and I didn't see a lot of activities.

We thought American House Lakeshore was great until we saw the memory care ward. Everyone was just sitting in wheelchairs in the main room, doing nothing or sleeping. That really turned us off. I think for assisted living, it looked great and had a lot going on.

The facility and rooms are very dated but they keep it clean enough. The AdvisaCare (medical option) is I believe a scam and should be reevaluated as a service. If you can bring in outside help do it - do not use the AdvisaCare services.

I would suggest you find a different community. The community has weak leadership. the memory care unit. The director is rarely there, doesn't seem to be an effective manager, staff is indifferent and disengaged and seems to have high turnover. My loved one's room is usually messy, little indication of help in there. My loved one's (labeled) clothing disappears regularly. They stopped having activities. Rarely record word of updates on my loved one's conditions or recommendations for care. Whole place smells like urine all the time.

American House has been dealing with bed bugs for over 6 months now.All they do is spray.They wont fumigate the place because they don't want to spend the money.Meanwhile residents are getting bitten by these bugs.Do.not move your relatives into American House.I think a call to Ottawa County health department is in order

We have not had experience with the meals or dining service but when we talk to our loved one he says the meals are good and they he is being fed well and we also think he is getting good care. However they could make some improvements with communication and just all around response time. They could also be consistent and follow the date in the contract that states when the monthly payments will be pulled.

Our family had a lot of issues we were very disappointed, what was promised was never followed through with. The meals and dining was terrible, they never received healthy meals and it was never enough food. The activities were good we did love the activity leader she was very sweet. We heard such good things about American House hopefully they can make improvements and it can be a better experience.

Food service and activities

It was not worth the money. With the medical team, it felt like all they were concerned about was the money, and they did not show concern for my loved one as an individual.

Our family had an in person tour and the sales team was just way to push, it was not the nest experience

When my loved one moved in, the community was originally Elmcroft, with a different director, sales rep, and head nurse. About two weeks before my loved one passed away, American House had taken ownership. The original Elmcroft staff were very kind and courteous, and their daily care staff remained under American House during the time we were there. Elmcroft was always clean, and the residents would always be up and about watching TV and socializing, with a couple of staff members sitting with them and assisting them. I do have misgivings about the American House transition. Under American House, I noticed an unpleasant smell when I came in and had never experienced that before. I experienced that unpleasant smell again on a separate occasion, and this time I could smell it even before I entered the facility. I have a more distant relative who moved in under American House's ownership, and they have already moved out. One thing of note is that American House wanted a substantial buy-in fee, which was not the case under Elmcroft's ownership.