Bethesda Senior Living Communities

There has been a change in Management. They need more systems in place to assure residents are being cared for according to their care plan. Management seems weak and unorganized. Staffing is an issue, especially around the holidays. They did some nice family activities for the holidays.

If your loved one has any behavior issues this is not the place for them. They are definitely way understaffed in my opinion. We explained my parents issues before they took them but they assured us they could handle those issues. 2 months later they told us they could not care for them after all and we had 30 days to find a new place. Most of the staff is really nice but some were unkind and kinda mean to the residents. I am sure the assisted living is nice but the memory care is only for those alzheimers patients that will follow rules....unfortunately my parent was not wanting to be a rule follower.

The facility isn't great at providing what they say they do... they make communication very difficult. The activities team does the best they can at providing activities - and sometimes it's just difficult with what they have to work with in staffing levels and resources. I wouldn't pick this facility if it wasn't for the fact that my loved one needs Medicaid/low income spend down at some point. They promised a 30 day, 90 day reevaluation and health check in with me and my loved one... it never happened. An occasional phone check in with family member would be helpful. Having more front desk support or call-in support after 5pm would be helpful. And new carpet in the halls. The transportation options are so so limited.... at least one outing a week would be nice. Some months it's only been 1 a month. Even a "trip to the bank, or some basic errands" support would be nice. Middle of the night "on-call" button response was a maintenance man, not an actual nurse support. They gave vaccine clinic and vaccinated my loved one without knowing for sure if she had been... I was mad about that. So they don't keep up very well with medical records when someone is more in the independent living side but still struggles. They are very nice to her and would never do her harm, it just it not what we had hoped for. Another positive is someone that did not need to help stepped in to help my loved one use her phone. I would just like to see some incremental improvements.

The facility is clean and quiet. They can improve with communication and quality of care. but I am disappointed at this time. Staff is weak.

They were ill prepared for the tour. The community had a new tour guide who didn't know what was going on in the community.

Ok but could use some cleaning. Urine smell in hallways.

The community is constantly making excuses when I have a problem. They keep saying it is because they are new. That should not be an excuse to make mistakes. I feel that the staff does not communicate very well I have to prompt them for any answers. The community has also changed the dining by taking things off the menu and making it smaller so that they can speed up the time for dining. Timing on meals did improve but it is a very limited menu. Matt Director of health services been great with me but the resident says he never has time. The other medical staff is constantly making mistakes, that affect residents health. I would not recommend my friends or family to this community.

We had a very disappointing experience with The Gardens at Barry Road. They were one of the facilities we visited while looking into memory care options for our loved one. When we visited they were very encouraging and said that they were completely willing to see if things would work out for our loved one at their facility. We scheduled an assessment with them, but when the day of the assessment came they called us and told us that they refused to do the assessment since my loved one was beyond the sort of care they could provide. This was a huge letdown for us, we wanted to get assessments at a few different facilities and we were counting on them to be one of them. Based on our experience I would not recommend them, they did not seem professional or reliable.

I was genuinely troubled to see the memory care director,[Name removed], leave her position. Having worked with her a few months ago, I can say she was an extraordinarily loving, patient, and empathetic leader — the kind of advocate this facility needs. I don't blame her for leaving at all. What concerns me most is something I witnessed firsthand: while waiting to speak with her, I overheard a conversation between her and the executive director. His tone was belittling, and he spoke about writing up and firing staff in a way that felt dismissive of the people actually doing the caregiving. Given that, it's hardly surprising how many memory care directors have come and gone. It's worrying to think this same leadership will be opening a new, state-of-the-art center — I have real concerns about whether the culture behind the scenes matches the polish out front.

Our experience was not a positive one. I would rate it a 1 overall. The room was super small shared by 2 people. Mom's side had no windows and the other room mate had to go through mom's side every time they entered the space. The food that was served was mostly cold sandwi hes, hot dogs, chips, and cookies so hard they could be used as hockey pucks. They often left mom in her wheelchair in the dining room long after dinner was finished and dining g hall cleaned. I found her multiple times sitting alone in dining hall long after meal time was over.?? i had a camera in mom's room so I could communicate with her and check on her while I was working. Multiple times I witnessed the morning caregiver coming in kicking the bed and saying "get up" if mom didn't she would leave and mom would not get morning meds or breakfast. I tried to get assistance from the on sight nurse and the director. Neither were helpful or even interested. Met with the nurse who was over the caregivers and she actually called the caregivers into meeting and yelled at them in front of me. I felt that was inappropriate and unprofessional. Mom was only there 6 weeks before we had experienced all we could handle. Mom deserved better, as did all the other residents. One positive was a one sweet caregiver named [name removed]. She had been there for years and truly tried hard to do her best to love the residents. I appreciated her care for my mom. The facility itself is very cute and could be such a great home for our seniors but just didn't have the leadership needed to make it a safe place for seniors. The emergency pendant system was useless as there was usually no one near the front desk at night to hear the pendant alarm if someone pushed theirs often resulting in a lengthy response time. So sad. Should have been able to receive alarms on the cell phone so they could recieve and respond to alarms from wherever they were in the building. I could go on forever. It was a long hard 6 weeks for mom and my family. Mom is at [community removed] and thriving. We are so glad we got her away from bethesda gardens!

My mother was a resident at this facility for less than one month, and our experience was deeply troubling. During the short period, she required emergency transport to the hospital on two separate occasions. Her final hospitalization transition directly into hospice care and she passed away. On our visits, it was apparent that the facility was significantly understaffed. This lack of concern was evident at the management level as well. When I spoke with the director of nursing on the day of my mother’s final hospital trip, she seemed dismissive of my concern that this was the second time in less than a week that my mother had to be sent out by ambulance. The most critical failure in care occurred on my mother’s last day there. The staff waited nearly 24 hours to call for an ambulance, despite her being unable to get out of bed. We later discovered she was suffering from three distinct infections. This delay in seeking medical attention is unacceptable. I cannot recommend this facility

It's a terrible place to live! Food is horrible, helpers are rude. I want out! This is an honest and true feedback.

My experience at Bethesda was good at first week or so. The promises that were made were not being fulfilled. My friend who was the patient was interviewed via phone as he was in another city and we wanted him to be closer to us , rather than 2 hours one way driving. It was determined after that phone call that he should go to memory care with a promise of reevaluation after he was admitted. The director of this facility is [name removed] and when I ask for the reevaluation so that my friend might be able to go to assisted living she replied " your friend is not a candidate for our facility!" When I went to ask a question she stated there was no room for argument and my options were to leave him there or move him. We had been in this facility a very short time so we lost our $[removed] entry fee as well as the current months rent. I contacted two other facilities to see if their opinion was assisted or memory care. Both advised assisted living as my friend is not a flight risk, can walk and is fully verbal and needs no assistance to eat meals, bathe etc. I moved my friend within the week to [community removed]. There was a change of director personal in the memory care unit. When I ask about a new director I was told by my sales associate [name removed] that they were making some changes and going back to an older way of doing business. Whatever that meant ? I know this is rambling and long but my experience with [name removed] was not a good one. Even the staff would ask me why my friend was in the memory care unit. Their general thoughts were we were doing him an injustice by being in this unit. This was a most unsettling experience for all of us.

Both of my Parent's were at Collinwood. My Dad in Memory Care, and my Mom in Assisted Living. I would NOT recommend Collinwood. I could literally write a book on the horrible experiences I went thru, as well as my Parent's. It was a long & awful journey for all of us. I need to mention that I could have had a few lawsuits against their Memory Care facility, and won. I could go on & on, but trust me...look elsewhere! Their staff is not trained to deal with the elderly or memory care patients. They basically hire anyone that applies, and the turn-over in employees coming & going is incredibly high! Some of them are just 20 year old kids. Do you want these people taking care of your loved one's?

Both of my Parent's were at Colinwood. My Dad in Memory Care, and my Mom in AssistedLiving. I would NOT recommend Collinwood. I could literally write a book on the horrible experiences I went thru, as well as my Parent's. It was a long & awful journey for all of us. I need to mention that I could have hada few lawsuits against their Memory Care facility, and won. I could go on & on, but trust me...look elsewhere! Their staff is not trained to deal with the elderly or memory care patients. They basically hire anyone that applies, and the turn-over in employees coming & going is incredibly high! Some of them are just 20 year old kids. Do you want these people taking care of your loved ones? Let me also mention that their turnover with Executive Directors, Assisted Living Directors AND Memory Care Directors was incredibly high over just a few years. I seen at least eight people come and go.

If 0 was an option I would have given 0. It was a nightmare from hell. We moved mom within 6 weeks out of fear for her well being. So very sad for the poor people left there.

We took her out after about 6 weeks. Inconsistent care. She fell one night and no one responded to her buzzer. Medications administered at random times. Since some medication needed to be given 30 minutes before a meal and medication was given late, she missed some meals. Those are just a couple of things. I live in California and had to fly out to Texas to take her out of the place.

After only 2 months we moved our mom out because the assurance we were promised never happened. She was helped to shower once while living there. She could hardly eat the food because it was too hard to chew. Her meds were not given consistently and even got the wrong medicine once. Very disappointed.

Bethesda Gardens was good the first month my mom moved in. Then things started to go downhill. The facility is called Assisted Living but has become more of a Nursing Home/Memory Care facility and this place is not equipped for it. Biggest issues are with limited staff and issues with the dining room. If this place was truly Assisted Living then current staffing might not be an issue but since so many residents require way more needed attention than Assisted Living more staff is definitely needed. The place lacks efficiency with the way it runs things and has no plan for when Caregivers call in sick, take vacations or resign. Dining room has very limited staff and even when they use some Caregivers and Med Techs to fill in which is most of the time it still is not enough. Then Caregivers and Med Techs are not available to do the job they were hired to do. The food in the dining room is not great. My mom barely eats what is offered so I end up bringing her food just so she gets some nutrients. She does like most of the deserts and chicken fried steak and taco salad when they are offered. Games are the main form of activities but I hardly see the residents playing them. An outside volunteer group comes in about 4 times a year to set up holiday parties which my mom and many of the residents seem to enjoy. Overall, I am disappointed with Bethesda Gardens.

Based off of our personal family experience, I do not recommend The Gardens to other families searching for care for a loved one.