Belmont Village

This was a big mistake. My mother went to this place in good spirits and health. They sold us on what a great place this is and no additional outside care is needed. My mother lived independently and fell once. Since she is at Belmont, her health has deteriorated for the worse dramatically. On the second day we were asked to add a caregiver for her for 24/7. My mother was more agitated, the food is little to be desired, and the staff even worse. The staff makes me feel that they are incompetent and do not know what they are doing. We saw residents going into other people's rooms while that resident was sleeping and take some of her clothing. We let staff know what happened. My mother falls so much now with it without caregivers. I would not recommend this place at all to anyone. It's been a nightmare. Can't wait to get her out.

Has respite for memory care but I would have to hire a home health nurse to come in and change colostomy skin barrier. Colostomy unpredictable....will not fit our needs.

Beware! Belmont Encino is all smoke and mirrors. It is an unsafe place to put your loved one. My mother lived there and the nursing staff is highly incompetent. They made several medication errors requiring meetings with their staff and an ombudsman. As a result they reduced my mother's monthly bill several times. Worse yet, one of their nurses left my mother alone in her room when she was very sick. I showed up awhile later and she was confused and unsteady and could barely stand up This was not normal for my mother. She was usually clear thinking and able to navigate very well with a walker. I was scared to death and took her straight to the doctor; he called 911 and she was taken by ambulance and admitted to the ICU at Tarzana Hospital. The next day I was told she would die that day unless she was put on a ventilator. She did survive but she never returned to Belmont Encino. I requested a meeting with the staff and an ombudsman regarding the abysmal treatment my mother received from their nurse on that fateful day when she was so very sick. The ombudsman said their nurse "failed to exercise due diligence." Not surprisingly, the staff accepted no responsibility. In my opinion, Belmont Encino is a dangerous place for the elderly. My mother now lives in an assisted care home where she is cared for and watched over. Finally, I can sleep at night.

The bad thing is that the administration is uncaring and the place doesn't operate efficiently. While the nurses are great, the operation has some significant problems. It is not paperless, and most concerning, I am familiar with instances where medication was not given as prescribed due to communication issues. The support staff are mostly very caring and efficient - but there are some who are not, and training seems lax The great thing about this place is the Circle of Friends, which is a structured set of activities for a class. Residents who participate have a group that they hang with and learn with - 7 days a week. Mostly brain activities, but other types of activities. Creates a caring group run by a really good instructor

Overall, the independent side at BV was ok, but they are not truly equipped to handle dementia patients. the MC space behind the locked doors was cold, not a great layout, and my mom hated it and declined rapidly. The administrators (head nurse, head of facility) were cold and deflected blame. She ended up stopping eating, was hospitalized, and passed within a week. One day i found her in a lump, she hadn't eaten in days (nobody called me), she couldn't walk (she was perfectly able to walk), and it went south from there.

Do not let your family member live here. Residents fall out of bed at night all the time because workers are asleep and nurse doesnt write a report because she says it too much work

Very pretty facility, but care is negligent in many ways. Weak leadership, unskilled workers with lack of supervision, definitely a dangerous place for an elder with dementia.

My loved one (father)has been there nearly two years. He is in the memory care/dementia floor and is incontinent. The service has continued to decline. He was left in his wheelchair for 24 hours one day with no reason why other than he said he was not tired. He has a disease. We pay Belmont to card got him and just let him sit in his own urine for 24 hours. When we asked the management staff to call us to discuss this issue, the request was ignored. Just in the past few days, the camera footage in his room caught a PAL holding his weighted blanket (used to help his anxiety) over his face. His forehead was only visible. The same PAL was also seen laying her body on top of him while holding the blanket over his nose and mouth. We have PAID the expense for a PAL, which s an Extra fed there, to check on and toilet my loved one every couple of hours. He goes most days never being changed or taken to the bathroom.

I have been hesitant to write this review for some time. probably out of respect for some of the more dedicated and compassionate staff that work at Belmont. I have lived in Oak Park for many years and I am shocked by what continues to happen. I had a loved one and still have ones I care deeply for, who live and work at Belmont. I am very disappointed with the care that the residents have been receiving at Belmont village in Oak Park. There are staff who are EMOTIONALLY ABUSIVE towards the residents, and probably physically. This overlooking and negligence goes all the way up to management, primarily an individual who oversees the nursing department who has a very nasty attitude. I have also heard very nasty stories and interactions between management staff and Pals who regularly call residents degrading and nasty names. They poke fun and embarrass the residents in front of their peers. When these instances are brought up staff lie or make it difficult for said individuals. I implore someone to look into the residents mainly those who are on locked units. If someone recorded what was going on there many people would be fired. These individuals can not speak for themselves and can't even defend themselves.

Look elsewhere!! The director [name removed] is extraordinarily unprofessional, emotionally unstable and weak. Unfortunately, the misdirection can be felt throughout the the facility especially for the residents. One of many examples: My 77 year old mother has been there for 6 weeks and the air conditioning has been stuck on the heater mode at 80 degrees the whole time despite repeated maintenance service requests and apparent attempts. We met the lady from the room 4 doors down that has the exact same problem. They are supposed to bathe her but they do not. They don’t get her to brush her teeth although she needs assistance. When I visit, I am so saddened, she has dirty clothes and body. I must make sure she bathes and make sure she brushes her teeth when I visit. It is completely inadequate. They have no trained counselors for emotional support, although my mother desperately needs one to help her through this traumatic transition. Instead there are sweet, however, under trained and underpaid “Pals” that check on them. The director, [name removed] intentionally intimidated and harassed my family while we were visiting my mother by getting directly in the middle of a family matter we were trying to handle privately. He overstepped his professional bounds by forbidding my mother and I to talk privately with the charge nurse. I hope his boss sees this as he should be immediately fired! I wish I could give more than one star because there are very kind staff and the food and location are quite good. However, until the directorship is much, much, much better, the whole facility suffers. The price is quite high and would be worth it if not for the extremely poor management, but I would not send a loved one to this particular location unless you find the management has changed. You will certainly find vacancies here, but there are plenty of other places you can chose from. Be forewarned!

My dad stayed here for 6 weeks before I took him home. In his first few days, he became very ill. Nothing was done to help him. After about a week, the entire facility was under quarantine. My dad lost 20 pounds during his stay. The nursing staff was not helpful and the aides were not allowed to help with issues. I received a call on a Friday that my dad needed depends, so I drove over in rush hour traffic. When I arrived, my dad was in a fetal position and talking out of his head. His blood pressure was extremely low. When I tried to get help, I was told they could not help. I took him home the next week.

There are few experiences in my life that I can say truly “haunt” me. To this day, observing my father — 90 years old with dementia — being abused at Belmont Village — stands out as a defining, horrific memory I will never be able to shake. The staff was woefully untrained in the thoughtful management of individuals with dementia. When simple measures to de-escalate a confused and frightened victim of Alzheimer’s were not employed, the staff opted to engage my father in ways that were nothing short of abusive. The message I received from the director at Belmont Village was as follows (verbatim): “If you don’t come over here now and remove your father from our premises, we will call the police and have them do so.” This is no exaggeration. When I arrived, the police were already there. My father — 90 and terrified — was crying, naked and bruised on the floor in the hallway outside his room. He was crying for his mom. He was broken and alone. There were no apologies from staff. Not a single “I’m sorry” from the administration. Just an insistence to remove him from their premises, as if we hadn’t been paying $4500/month for the past year and a half. I was heartbroken for my father, a frail and frightened shell of the WW2 hero he once was. And I was in disbelief that an institution could relate to a member of their community with dementia with such profound callousness and malice. My father has since passed away. I write this review with continued love and respect for the fine and noble human he always was — even through his journey with Alzheimer’s. And I hope any reader of this review will reconsider ever entrusting the care of their vulnerable parent to Belmont Village.

I am still struggling to recover from the horrific experience of entrusting the care of my father to the staff at Belmont Village. The humiliation and degradation he suffered was beyond anything I could have imagined. My dad suffered with dementia; as he struggled to make sense of a confusing, changing reality around him, the staff ultimately handled him with zero understanding of what individuals with Alzheimer’s require to feel safe. And while I could forgive a degree of ignorance, the absence of compassion from the administration added painful insult to injury. If you have a vulnerable parent, do not entrust their care to Belmont Village.

The staff is very very rude. I do not recommend them!!!!

Terrible! Nearly two years of complaints with little change. Complaints yield temporary improvements but never resolutions. I truly do not understand why we continue to have the same issues in an assisted living facility with housekeeping, laundry and hygiene. Now a recent incontinence issue has only further complicated things.

Don't believe what you see, because looks are very deceiving. My mother moved into the Belmont on a Sunday afternoon very vibrant and full of life and when I went to see her the next day, less than 24hrs. Later she was unable to walk on her own and was sitting in her own waiste.. So much waiste that her depends could NOT hold it all and it spilled onto the chair she was sitting in. The following day she was even worse.. We had to rush her next door via ambulance. If you care anything about your loved one, Don't take them to Belmont village.

At best mediocre! Senior staff has changed 3 times since Jan 2013 - a sign they can't get it right (regular staff PALS as they are called change ALL the time - no cohesion for a residents (those that rely & pay for them!). If you are looking for a place to "park" a loved one this is it! DO NOT EXPECT STAFF TO MOTIVATE THEM - THEY ARE KEEN ON TREATING THEM AS FURNITURE- move them from place to place. Observe meal times when a resident is finished they get wheeled away & deposited in their room. Activites are sparse - depending on when someone is motivated - few & far between! [removed] The exterior is worse! Lackluster at best! The residents are lined up outside & garden area is locked with alarm doors - translation- where the staff smokes (5 ft from residents windows) where they have staff gatherings but residents can't access unless the door is unlocked - you have to wonder why the garden area can't be accessed by residents -hmmm???!! [removed]

Nothing is what it appears, believe half of what they tell you, you'll never get the same answer twice, experts at telling you what you want to hear and not following through. There's only one nurse for the entire building and tends to no show alot with no backup, the visiting doctor may or not keep the appointment. I shudder to think of my mother's health if it weren't for the outside visiting nurse. So, if pricey parties and good food is your thing, I would think a cruise ship, a more enjoyable value.

After watching Belmont Village Turtle Creek “BVTC”(1) ignore my father and then throw him in a Psych ward for typical dementia related behavior; (2) being given no alternatives for his care except that he could come back to BVTC once he was ‘certified’ and ‘non-aggressive’ (whatever that might mean, a bit subjective…); (3) having had no communication from anyone on the Staff of BVTC, prior to him being thrown into the Psych ward, indicating Dad’s disease may be progressing beyond what they are able to care for at BVTC; (4) all while being charged an ˜ $7,500 “30 Day Notice” fee while he resided in the Psych ward they remanded him to, I am strongly warning you to beware of this place. Please look harder and consider putting your dementia suffering loved one in a facility that can handle dementia patients. We had no idea this could even happen – throwing a dementia patient in the Psych Ward because the place we had trusted him to, that specialized in dementia care we were told, apparently ran out of ideas? I would have thought a place designed to handle dementia patients, which I was lead to believe from the website BVTC was, would understand this and know how to handle the behaviors that a dementia patient might exhibit. But I was wrong. From the BVTC website: “Belmont’s range of signature, award-winning Memory Care programs designed to maintain mental acuity and function”. Well maybe when they feel a Memory Lane resident might be reaching the threshold of BVTC’s ability to assist and care for them, they should TELL YOU, the family, before they toss them into the county Psych ward! Maybe give you a little time to work things out and, at that time, the 30 day notice could start….? My Dad has dementia. If you are reading this, someone you love probably has it too. How much do you know about dementia? Have an expert in your family? Because we do not – and it is my belief BVTC used our lack of knowledge/experience against us, landing my Dad (who has run what would have been a Fortune 500 company in the 1970’s, has patents in his name, later ran a small business and retired at age 47), in the local County Psych Ward. When my family checked out BVTC, it had been open less than 90 days. It was not at capacity, which is perhaps why they allowed us to move Dad in, and sign him up for Circle of Friends (which about two weeks or so into his less than 100 day stay, he had become unable to participate in) at a cost of around ˜ $7500.00 (approximately) per month. Yup. ˜ Seventy Five HUNDRED dollars per month. One time when I visited, we saw an ambulance in the parking lot. When we could not find Dad in his room or elsewhere in the facility, we headed back to where we had seen the ambulance and looked inside – there was Dad. We were not informed by any of the staff that our Dad was in an ambulance, and we did not receive a telephone call or even a text. After Dad returned to his room after the hospital visit, he started screaming and writhing in pain with his lips curled up and eyes clinched shut. I had no idea why. I asked one of the Caregivers to please get a nurse. After waiting about 10 minutes, I asked again. I was told they had two nurses on site, but they were both with other residents. Meanwhile, Dad is having these pains, and due to his dementia, he cannot clearly communicate what is going on. After about 10 more minutes, I left Dad in his room (still in pain) and went out to find a nurse. Yes, I was pretty upset by now (due to this particular service failure, plus a couple other service failures that had happened in the three days I had been there) so I came out of his room and yelled down the hall to get a nurse in here RIGHT NOW. The director, Tara Arancibia, responded by telling me not to yell at her staff. They did not provide any alternate places for Dad to be placed. (Thankfully, the folks at the Psych Ward were able to). They just sent us a bill for the remaining balance. Thanks, Belmont Village! While BVTC is gorgeous to look at and has fabulous food, they FAIL on the paramount needs – staffing, capability to care for anything but early stage dementia patients, communication with family, doctors, and pharmacies, in my humble opinion. We thought a dementia care specific facility might know more than us when it came to dementia and what to expect and how to go forward as it progressed. What this place is not, imho, is a well-equipped, experienced, well managed memory/Dementia Care facility. It may be ok, imho, if your loved one is in the beginning stages of dementia, has mild dementia, like that. But once it gets to where communication is an issue, and/or the behaviors become unmanageable for the staff – look elsewhere. I would compare it to being in the Little League when what we needed was full on Professional league. I love my Dad very much. If I had known then what I know now, we would have never darkened the door of Belmont Village Turtle Creek.

Horrible place. I have my mother here and have nothing but problems. Gets calls in the middle of the night for the smallest issues. End up driving out there in the middle of the night just because she has trouble sleeping. I mean who doesn't have trouble sleeping. Director is rude and she has a temper. I am looking to get her out.