Benchmark Senior Living

Why have they dropped their night nursing staff?

The only thing this place has going for them is the nursing care at this point. The Arbors does have some incredible nurses. Unfortunately, I have seen the decline of the facility over the past year and a half since Michelle Ellis left. She had been the administrator for years upon years. In the past year and a few odd months, I've seen FOUR administrators come through. This was after The Arbors was bought out by another company. I realize there is a high turnover rate in all long term care, but this is unreal. Employees are disgruntled and unhappy. I see their love for the residents when visiting my mother, but the atmosphere is just not what it used to be. All of the incredible activity staff is gone!! I see two of the girls occasionally, but they are overworked. Did the other assistants leave?? If The Arbors was like this when I found it for my mother years ago, I would have ran screaming in the other direction. My mom needs stimulation, she can't do much but she is getting nothing. With memory care popping up all over, you can likely find something less expensive with happier staff. For what I pay per month, plus hidden costs, my mother should be getting more.

My mother lived here for two years. She ended up in the memory unit. The facility became dirty with visible bugs and smells. My mother was not showered properly and her false teeth and hearing aids were lost. The people in charge were nice but not competent and there was no accountability. Frequently the residents in the memory unit were left on their own to entertain themselves because the activity person was with the other residents in the facility. We were happy to leave there.

A huge mispresentation of facts, poor service and bad food is my experience at Crescent Point. My 85 year old father was walking on his own, driving and articulate in all ways prior to him moving into Crescent Point. My family was outright lied to and today after his fall while being transported by the repairman at Crescent Point he can't walk on his own and is confined to a wheel chair. The shower never worked in his room and I complained several times to no avail. They will say anything to get you to select Crescent Point, in fact they promised to transport my dad to his girlfirend's home three times a week and they never did once. An aide yelled at him in the dining room when he was incontinent. If you have any issues they have a thousand excuses and alway circle back and will blame your family member as being confused, ect. I have several emails where I complained about the same thing and they never did anything. We were told that they have a full nursing staff, but they don't. At night there are no nurses. After my dad fell and they brought him back to his room, the nurse called me at 8 o'clock and told me that my dad was in distress and that I had to make a decision to send him to the hospital or that she was going home. FIRST TIME I HEARD that there wasn't a round the clock nursing staff. This place should be SHUT DOWN. I filing a complaint with the Connecticut Department of Social Service for Elder Abuse. Fact: When you take out your loved one out at night and just bringing them back to Crescent Point it will take you a get 15 minutes to ring a bell before the aide comes back to open the door and let you in...absoulutely crazy. My Dad lost considerable weight while his at Crescent ....the food was horrible. I do not reccommend Crescent point and am moving on to letigation.

In very plain and emphatic words ------ THIS PLACE IS EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE AND ---- MOST THINGS ABOUT IT - (staff esp.) REALLY STINK

My mother lived in this building for some time before we decided to move her into another facility. At first, the staff was dedicated and caring, but were often cut short by managers and administrators who didn't even bother to say hello. I was particularly disappointed when I saw a charge on my mother's bill for a vacuuming. When I inquired I was told that residents only receive this service once a week, and if they needed it again, they would have to pay. My mother is partially blind, which led to her knocking over a plant, and such the surcharge. The executive director was no help when I tried to reason with the business office and seemed out of touch with the daily functions. I'm not even sure if she knew my mother's name. Also, the activities board boasted full days with multiple programs occurring at the same time, yet there were constant cancellations and activities that never actually occurred. There were several nights my mother attended bingo only to sit with a room full of residents for 30 minutes until it became clear no one was going to show up. The final straw was when my mother pressed her "pendant," which supposedly contacted the nursing staff when she needed assistance, to use the bathroom and waited over an hour for a response. A family member walked into the room to find my mother wet and was in the middle of changing her when a staff member walked in, "cleared the pendant," and left without actually assisting. Capitol Ridge has a complete disregard for personal connections and treatment. Their main priority is milking every dollar out of a resident while providing insufficient care. For almost $6,000 a month, you would expect adequate staff numbers and genuine, caring individuals. However, it is clear that at Capitol Ridge, the only thing they care about is making the most off a resident as they possibly can.

I heard and saw some things during out tour within the last 2 weeks (July 2014) that made our decision easy to look elsewhere. This facility has nursing home patients but was clearly not built or staffed as one. Stay away.

We arrived on time for our 6:15PM Monday appointment with Lorrie Funk, only to find out that Lorrie doesn't work on Mondays. The staff seemed stressed & a bit out of sorts. & we instead met with Doug Murphy, their Senior Executive Director. Doug was very honest with us - when we told him about my Mother's lack of finances, he explained that the Village at Buckland Court was definitely out of our price range, & he gave us some good advice on what to look for going forward. We appreciated his forthrightness, & willingness not to waste our time on a long tour of a facility my Mother would never see. Later that evening, while we were watching the news at 11PM, the report came on about a nursing home worker [removed] - the worker was a Village at Buckland Court employee! Even if my Mother could afford it, this is the last place I would consider for her!

Another Benchmark. Cost an issue.

Cost prohibitive

This is not a place for a senior. We had such a bad experience here. The same day we moved my loved one in the same spot and the next day my loved one was still in the same spot and not clean. The community didn't listen to the special dietary restrictions that my loved one needed. The medication wasn't crushed up for my loved one, and when I requested this they proceeded to not crush them improperly.

My loved one's care staff was amazing for them! The community was reasonably priced. When the pandemic hit, the administration did what they had to do, to keep the residents safe. They ended up shutting the community done. I was the only one managing the care for my loved one. They only allowed outside visits. If the weather was too hot, or if it was raining out they would cancel the visits. I asked the community for a back up plan, and they never would give me an answer for this. They only allowed one visit once a week for each resident outside. The administration didn't communicate to staff very well, and there would be problems with the staff and the family. The staff would follow the rules they knew about, and not the new rules from the administration team. I was taking my loved one out of the community and they didn't want to allow me to come in to get their items. They only wanted to only allow the movers. I ended walking in to get my loved one's items. The community is outdated. I feel the community wouldn't pass health code standards. They have a dorm size refrigerator on the floor in the apartments for the residents. This causes the residents to have to bend over and potentially causes mishaps with safety. The walk in showers only have wooden benches, and not shower chairs for residents. I ended up bringing in a shower chair for my loved one to use.

My mother was here about 5 years ago. Every bit of nice that she had was stolen. All of the nice clothes that I bought for her never came back from the laundry. She arrived with 5 nice lamps and by the time I took her away, all of the lamps had been disposed of without my knowledge because they posed some sort of harm to her. Worst of all, she told me that her bed hadn't been changed in months. I reported this to staff who were not responsive and the very next week, I went with fresh sheets to take care of the issue. I found her bed to be filled with dried diarrhea. No one even cared that I might possibly sue. There are no legal avenues for such a process. If I could give a rating of zero for this facility, I would.

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.

Many of the nurses and aids do a great job taking care of the residents, however, the administration is the worst. It is always lip service. The building is old and the heating and cooling system is in need of repair. My Dad's room has been dangerously too hot during the summer months. After complaining to the facility, they installed a window AC in his room. They didn't turn it on in time and the temperature was very hot recently. There is no excuse that the AC for the building doesn't work and no excuse for not monitoring the temperature in the room. The food is ok but nothing special. Very expensive and not worth the money.

My grandfather recently passed away, but before that he was in the Atrium for about 10 months. In that time, the “care” he received at the Atrium was absolutely disgusting. The staff are too busy talking to each other and looking at their phones to even notice what’s happening with the residents. Any time they need to do anything—whether getting a blanket or a glass of water for a resident—they sigh obnoxiously and try to find a reason not to do it. I’ve seen them grab residents. I’ve seen them scream at residents. There is absolutely no respect. If you haven’t seen this article, I can assure you that not much has changed since then: [removed]

Please DO NOT send your cherished loved one to this facility. They have NO compassion for you or your family member living there. It is all about the money for this facility and they do not treat your loved one with dignity. I am so sorry I sent my parent to this place (has since passed away). Stay far away from this assisted living facility!! There are much better ones out there.

The only good thing about this place is [name removed], whose knowledge and treatment of Alzheimer’s is beyond reproach... I would not place my dog, let alone my wife, in this environment ever again. My children were equally discussted with how their mother was treated. I can’t begin to discribed the conditions under which which she was cared for.... as soon as we had the proper people in place at home we got her out of there. Thanks to Home Care Assistance.... and [name removed] She is thriving at home.

I have lived here for a while now. Things have been okay. People that work here and who I live with seem to be very nice. Food is good. Soups are really good. Girls in the dining hall are Pleasant. My room it's small. And needs to be cleaned more than once. I have asked for additional cleaning I was told we are short-handed doing the best we can. I understand that but for the money I am paying my room and bathroom are filthy. The girls come in very quick before I have time to ask they are gone. The supervisor is very rude sometimes when approached. I've spoken with my daughter and she said she will fix it for me ..I hope

Living here has been OK so far..Food is good,great soups.girls are lovely in the dining hall.people are nice.my room is hardly ever cleaned. Iwas told sorry we are short handed?.laundry needs help,lost items,still dirty when returned etc.asked for a nurse,told we are short handed?iIunderstand but for the money being paid,and promises made I am upset.I know some other folks are looking to move because of frustrations i hope this helps others