Benchmark Senior Living

Everything at Village at Buckland Court was terrible. They let my mom starve and did not feed her, the administration lied about incidents that happened. We saw other elderly patients not getting the care they should get. Never would put a lived one in this place. We reported them to the state of CT and wrote to corporate head quarters but nothing was done. Very disappointed in the whole process.

My mom was here for 4 months and it was a terrible experience. She ended up rushed to the hospital 3x The main nurse would call me up and yell at me and no one was friendly. They couldn’t even get a scheduled call to occur correctly. For the high price I would look elsewhere.

Great marketing but the Fairfield location has failed us. Aides are not trained and management is condescending. Where do I begin, broken bones under aides care, forced to lay in a solid bed all night, told to urinate in a diaper because staff won't respond to pendant calls for a minimum of 45 minutes, aides unable to transfer resident from bed to wheel chair, on and on. Management is full of excuses and their fallback is "Benchmark policy", which is very, very inconsistent. Don't put your loved on in this facility!

I would say to not go to this community. The business model for this type of care it seems like it is all the same. There is one person taking care of too many people that need care. There is no way that this one person would be able to care for all of the residents at the same time. It just did not seem like things were well organized. The staff that were there they were trying to do the best that they could in the situation that they were in. Any time that we needed something they provided it but when there is one person for so many people it is stressful to the worker also.

We understand the staffing shortage across the industry and the staff there are kind and do their best they are being let down by in house management, all the way to corporate ownership. They recently went up again on rent, while going way down on services and care. Management has not taken a pay cut. The nursing staff has been cut, to where there is no longer 24 hours nurses. Nothing is followed through from one nurse to the next. The food used to be good but now they serve a lot of processed food and carbs. Pasta, frozen pizza, chicken fingers, hot dogs, hamburgers on a HOT DOG roll and they over serve deserts. Aides not properly trained. Not caring if the person needs to use the bathroom or be cleaned up. They will leave them in soiled cloths or undergarments all day. Residents are left isolated. It's not all the aides fault, the fault lies with management/ownership. It's the proverbial profits over people. It has now gone beyond neglect to bordering abuse.

The tour for this community was very rushed with this community and they did not have what my loved one needed. They only had double rooms and I did not want my loved one in a double room. I did not like the tour due to it being rushed and I could not really see due to rushing.

When we were given the tour and had a family meeting, I made the mistake of believing what they said. My LO was a wanderer. I knew he would not be able to distinguish his room from others' rooms. "No problem, they said. Our staff can handle that." Within 2 weeks, they started calling me to complain that he was going into other residents' rooms. Then they started to insist that I hire someone to be with him 24/7. Any communications that I had with the director of Memory care and the director of nursing felt like being attacked by bullies. I finally moved my LO to another MC facility where the care is so much better and I have peace.

If you are looking for a proactive, adaptive, and collaborative partnership with a long-term care community for your loved one who has dementia, Arbors of Bedford is NOT for you.   On the other hand, if you are fond of a reactionary relationship, poor communication, mediocre care, stale enrichment and an infinite helping of glad-handing lip service, look no further, Arbors of Bedford is the community for you!   Bring your checkbook and come on down!

In one month's time, between [date removed], over 30 beloved family members perished while in the care of Arbors of Bedford. Approximately 1/2 of the vulnerable lives entrusted to their care. A year into a global pandemic. How could one community be so ill-prepared to protect those who needed them the most? "A BENCHMARK MIND & MEMORY EXPERIENCE" - I think not. Shameful.

In one month's time, between the 2nd week in [date removed] and the 2nd week in [date removed], over 30 beloved family members perished while in the care of Arbors of Bedford.  Approximately 1/2 of the vulnerable lives entrusted to their care.  A year into a global pandemic.  How could one community be so ill-prepared to protect those who needed them the most?   "A BENCHMARK MIND & MEMORY EXPERIENCE"  - I think not.  Shameful.

Stay away from Benchmark all together! My suggestion is keep looking - Benchmark's "benchmark for care and quality is VERY low! Terrible experience at not 1 but 2 of their communities! The Arbors is owned and operated by Benchmark Corp - their entire focus is on making money NOT providing quality care. No better at Bedford Falls in fact it was actually worse. Poor care - lost count of how many medication errors they made. Safety - my father was able to get out of his bedroom window at The Arbors without any staff knowing....and it's a secure community! We moved him there from Bedford Falls because they also were unable to keep him engaged and safe! No communication between departments and or shifts regarding care, issues or updates. Documentation is almost non existent at these places and they like it that way so it's hard to hold them accountable. No proactive communication with family. We made them host care plan meetings to provide updates to us and even with those we were constantly chasing them for information even when we specifically gave to direction to call us any time of day or night if there was an issue. More than half of my father's belongings were "lost" regardless that everything had to be labeled by us when we moved him in and their response was "oh that happens....". Activities lacked diversity and personalization. Corporate Benchmark has been completely unresponsive to any and all issues we've brought to their attention. If it were not for covid we would have moved my Dad after the first few months even with them promising us repeatedly "it will get better, it will get better". Well, it never did get better and then they blamed him as being " a challenge"! And if all THAT isn't enough to make you run as fast as you can away from Benchmark, sadly my Dad died of covid in their care over a month ago. I have yet to receive any sort of condolences from them and we still have not received much of his personal belongings back! I'll say it again - My recommendation is keep looking - Benchmark's "benchmark" for care and quality is VERY low and your loved one deserves better!

Terrible experience! Keep looking! Benchmark is a corporation with the soul focus of making money - NOT on serving your loved one and their unique needs as it relates to dementia even though they tout themselves as the "Benchmark for care" for that population. It is money over substance on every level! Staffing - Under trained staff and unprofessional. This is supposed to be a place to respectfully care for people with dementia so training should include working with THAT population. Personal items - you are required to label all items you bring in but they lose so much of it any way! More than half of my fathers clothes were "lost", his glasses, his watch and 2 sets of rosery beads - items we were assured they would manage - LOST and their answer was "oh that happens in places like this"......Seriously??? And if you try to reach out to Benchmark Corporate - good luck! No one answers or returns an email or voice message but they sure do know how to send out invoices timely! How do I know this? My Dad was a resident in Benchmark for a little over a year. Pretty place but I'd much rather have quality care over fancy wall paper and nick naks! My father died of covid in their care over a month ago. I have yet to receive a call or a card with their condolences. I assure you, if it weren't for covid we would have moved him after the first few months he was there! Benchmark is about money NOT quality of care! Keep looking!

My LO entered the Atrium in May of 2018 with a diagnosis of FTD (Frontotemporal Degeneration), a form of Dementia that affects a younger population and affects their behavior, understanding, executive thinking and their speech. Upon acceptance into the community, I was assured that they had experienced staff that would be able to provide the care that my LO needed. What I didn’t know is that their approach was “one size fits all” and not a customized approach to my LO needs. Given that there is always a transition period, my LO refused to bath/shower and they assured me that this was very normal. After 1 ½ years of not bathing/showering or even sponge bathing, I took my concerns to the Benchmark corporate offices. They assured me that the staff in Danvers, MA would be better educated on how to handle the behavioral issues that come with FTD. Finally, he was showered after 1 ½ years and with the help of Benchmark corporate office using the “hand on hand” approach! There were many other concerns with the Atrium starting with their housekeeping, (or lack of). My LOs room would only be cleaned when I visited and insisted that they clean and sanitize the bathroom. It got so bad that I started taking photos of what I encountered while visiting, sending those photos to the Executive office and being told that they were understaffed and trying to hire someone. Another concern was their communication (or lack thereof) between staff and Resident’s loved ones. I called every day to check on him and each time spoke with the Nurse on duty and was told that my LO was doing the same, no changes. This included urinating in the common areas of the facility. Their Nurse told me that this is a very common trait of especially men with Dementia. I then purchased a one-piece outfit for him to discourage that behavior and was told that it didn’t help and they would try to adjust the environment instead so I was asked to provide “pet pee-pads” that they would place in the areas that he urinated. Never heard another complaint, until during a scheduled visit with him, I was asked to meet with their Executive Director of Resident Care where I was told that there were two options for my LO, I either hire a one-on-one person to stay with him (in addition to paying the private care of over $8,000 per month) or move him to a hospital or facility that can better manage the FTD behavior. Their staff may understand Alzheimer’s Disease or other Dementias, but certainly were not educated to understand FTD. Had they been honest with me during the application process, I would have researched another facility, but I was assured that they could handle FTD. Thankfully my LO has been moved to another facility that does have other FTD residents, a full staff of Nurses familiar with this disease and he is doing much better. A “one size fits all” approach is NOT ideal, The Atrium should be working with the individual to see what those needs are and customize the approach to their individual needs.

My LO entered the Atrium in May of 2018 with a diagnosis of FTD (Frontotemporal Degeneration), a form of Dementia that affects a younger population and affects their behavior, understanding, executive thinking and their speech. Upon acceptance into the community, I was assured that they had experienced staff that would be able to provide the care that my LO needed. What I didn’t know is that their approach was “one size fits all” and not a customized approach to my LO needs. Given that there is always a transition period, my LO refused to bath/shower and they assured me that this was very normal. After 1 ½ years of not bathing/showering or even sponge bathing, I took my concerns to the Benchmark corporate offices. They assured me that the staff in Danvers, MA would be better educated on how to handle the behavioral issues that come with FTD. Finally, he was showered after 1 ½ years and with the help of Benchmark corporate office using the “hand on hand” approach! There were many other concerns with the Atrium starting with their housekeeping, (or lack of). My LOs room would only be cleaned when I visited and insisted that they clean and sanitize the bathroom. It got so bad that I started taking photos of what I encountered while visiting, sending those photos to the Executive office and being told that they were understaffed and trying to hire someone. Another concern was their communication (or lack thereof) between staff and Resident’s loved ones. I called every day to check on him and each time spoke with the Nurse on duty and was told that my LO was doing the same, no changes. This included urinating in the common areas of the facility. Their Nurse told me that this is a very common trait of especially men with Dementia. I then purchased a one-piece outfit for him to discourage that behavior and was told that it didn’t help and they would try to adjust the environment instead so I was asked to provide “pet pee-pads” that they would place in the areas that he urinated. Never heard another complaint, until during a scheduled visit with him, I was asked to meet with their Executive Director of Resident Care where I was told that there were two options for my LO, I either hire a one-on-one person to stay with him (in addition to paying the private care of over [amount removed] per month) or move him to a hospital or facility that can better manage the FTD behavior. Their staff may understand Alzheimer’s Disease or other Dementias, but certainly were not educated to understand FTD. Had they been honest with me during the application process, I would have researched another facility, but I was assured that they could handle FTD. Thankfully my LO has been moved to another facility that does have other FTD residents, a full staff of Nurses familiar with this disease and he is doing much better. A “one size fits all” approach is NOT ideal, The Atrium should be working with the individual to see what those needs are and customize the approach to their individual needs.

In the month of October 2020 the Salem facility is a sham // 3-4 days of no phone contact // my wife is very upset with the fact of no contact with your facility so she can talk with her mother // we spend a ton of money to your facility and you have a phone system problem // in this day and age this is NO excuse // what is wrong with you system that you can not contact anyone plus if you leave a message no one call's you back //get your act together // what kind of an organization are you running ??

This place is the worst! Staff lack the proper training to do their jobs. There are a few special LNAs and nurses, but most are too burned out and don’t care about the residents. The building is old and in need of upgrades to their heating and cooling system, phone lines, cable, and internet. Cooling and heating is a major safety issue and temperatures in the resident rooms can be unsafe. Food is not great. A lot of processed and canned food and no fresh fruit or veggies. Concerns and complaints are not addressed and all you get is lip service. It is a full time job to advocate for your loved one to receive proper treatment and care. I would look for any other place before going here.

The overall appearance of the community was fine, however my father's room was always unclean and continuously had an odor. They should be checking on high risk residents more, especially during the night. For those who are known fall risks, it didn't seem that they had adequate protocols in place to protect them. The staff communication with the family could have been better. We felt that a lot of times aspects of my father's care were not being properly communicated with us. Now that my mother is in a different community with better care, I can see the lack of communication much clearer. We did not feel Orchard Valley was a good value. My dad was only there for a few days and the price was very steep. We saw a lot of fees, like community fees and service fees, added up quickly. We thought it would make a lot more sense if they could have charged us one flat fee for care and prorated us for the time he was there.

Horrible. Loved one has been there for a year. Staff doesn't care about residents; they are not attentive, do not try to engage residents beyond giving them their meds. They have zero patience but they make up for that with their attitudes. It's like they're doing us a favor by giving meds to him. Um, we pay $8500/month to be there, that's the least you can do. The aides can be downright mean. It's awful. Who treats elderly people this way? A lot of the staff are not native English speakers and choose to speak another language with each other in the public areas of Evans Park. It's unsettling for those of us who are young and there visiting. But for elderly people, for people with memory loss, it's just not OK. There are no nurses there regularly, no one over night to give even Tylenol. The residents fight amongst themselves and say who can and cannot sit at certain tables in the dining room (which really isn't big enough anyway). The food isn't very good, either. Upside: they bring musicians in regularly, so that's nice.

The staff is friendly and painted a beautiful picture for me so, I moved my husband in on [date removed]. He has Alzheimer's and was fairly high functioning on that date. Activities consisted of music videos and occasional low impact activities probably perfect for the docile and/or immobile, If you expect them to have activities slated for the higher functioning patient, forget it. My husband was left with nothing to do except walk back and forth in the hallway with nothing else to do. For the first month, there wasn't even a TV and then only UTube. They promised me people he could talk to. With the exception of 3 or 4 women, no one leaves their room except for meals. The meals are terrible; he refused to eat and lost weight. I would visit him and rarely see a staff member. You DO NOT want to be here.

We visited to place my parents but hated the lack of smile and major attitude we witnessed from the " boss" [name removed] towards staff. He did " pretend" to be friendly with us but was bothered by any question asked and on the pushy side. Place did look nice.