Belmont Village

We did not have a good experience with Belmont Village Sabre Springs. They got us in and promise great care. That was not the case at all, no one ever came to her room to help her get out of bed at all, to go to the bathroom, to the dining room, etc. We had to end up moving my mom out after 5 weeks because they did not take good care of her, the director got upset with me when she found out. We were very disappointed with them and would not recommend. It is not for somebody who cannot get up and walk on their own.

There are too many residents and not enough staff. My mother in law got lost several times, the staff didn't know where she was and our family and the staff had to go searching for her. They didn't follow the guidelines for her care plan including food needing to be cut small and she choked several times because it was not. We found her soiled several times when we visited and all of has clothes were dirty. She was there for three weeks and we had to move her out. I would not recommend this community to other families.

The Belmont in Thousand Oaks is poorly managed. My mother in law is a resident, regrettably. The turn over rate for employees is very high, particularly the pals, (care givers). The pals are very caring and hard working, but they’re not appreciated. Usually, there is a shortage of pals. Recently they’re we’re only 3 pals on duty. The food at Belmont is inedible, since theres a high turn over of chefs. Residents regularly meet with director, Bradlee, to express their concerns and make suggestions. Bradlee tells the residents that she will “look into it,” Clearly she doesn’t do anything cause nothing ever changes. The shortage of pals continues and the food is always terrible. If Belmont cared they would replace the current manager with someone who is more caring and competent.

Don't be fooled by appearances. Yes, Belmont Village is nicely appointed and lovely to look at. However, in my opinion and from first-hand experience, the care is substandard. At one point, the rooms were not being thoroughly cleaned. Found out later that many of the cleaning staff had quit as had management personnel. Not worth the money.

They are so under staffed, not enough nurses

They give you a hard sell to sign you up and then make promises they don't keep. Service is horrible and inconsistent. They don't check on their residents as they promise. Food is not fit for seniors -- google "greasy food stroke risk seniors." They promise to fix what's not working and never do. Staff and management don't really care about the residents and there is a high staff and management turnover. Residents are very unhappy and think there has been a major change for the worse over the last year.

My mom lived here and for a while it was good. Their Circle of Friends program is great but forget it once your loved one's disease progresses. My mom walked out of the facility and was missing for several hours and another time, they could not find her in the building as if that was her fault. Then, they gave me 4 hours to move her to Memory Care. I was called in the morning and better get there by noon. I did not have time to look for another home so I did what I was told. Most unprofessional place I've encountered plus they wanted to put her on medication our Neurologist did not want and then they wouldn't speak to or reply to Drs calls/faxed letter. Then, they insisted she have 24 hour caregivers in Memory Care. There, she was dressed in someone else's clothes more than once. Imagine that, considering she had 24 hour caregivers. Our fees for that month were 24K. Triple what we were originally paying. I moved her shortly thereafter. I hate this place, do not recommend it unless you are God and know for sure your loved one's disease will not progress. Everyone has a different experience but it was a nightmare for us.

Specifically asked for places with day care and/ or respite care. No Day Care, Minimum Respite Care too long - 30 days!

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.