Bickford Senior Living

We took a tour at Bickford of St. Charles, and while I thought the community was nice, it was not suitable for us because of the many stairs they had throughout the community. We decided to go with a facility that would be a better fit for us.

Was a resident of Bickford since [Removed]. Contract started two weeks prior so that move in could be completed. The cost of Bickford was almost $2,000 more than a solid rated competitor, but the facility was newer and my family had higher expectations, since less residence numbers and supposedly more “one on one care”. Promises began early, but then it was quickly apparent that the staff was not organized and were not manage well. Many complaints were made in various areas, by various residents, including myself, yet changes were not made and the same excuse of “will look into it” was given. Little was ever changed. The staff lost my original contract and my family had to sign off on a replacement. The move in was hindered greatly since the staff could not disable the backdoor alarm and every 15 seconds the alarm went off, unless the door was closed. To be fair, the actual nursing staff all did a great job, except for the medication ordering as will be discussed below. This comment does not include the CNA’s,. The facility had a great deal of turnover in CNA’s and people were always “in training and were unaware of what to do”, which negatively affected care ion some areas. They did, and still do have some very good people, but some “poorly skilled lazy people as well who are not weeded out or managed properly”. The facility went many months without a maintenance person and many things were not done during this period. The activities coordinator tried very hard to keep things lively and entertaining. She had various things to do each day, which the residents really like. She was always pleasant and did a great job managing all the personalities. Specifically, for myself, the staff was to assist with showers, making bed, house-keeping, laundry services, medication management, transport in wheel chair to and from the dining area and to and from activities. What we found was as follows: The bed frequently went unmade or was haphazardly made. I had to take that task on myself. Staff came by infrequently to ask about showering and finally I had to also do all that on my own as well. The laundry was sometimes lost or misplaced. One time a comforter was returned wet and the person just put it on my bed. Hard to imagine why anyone would do that. The facility always seemed understaffed and it took long periods to move people who needed help getting from place to place. The facility was also about three months without a housekeeper and many times the rooms went uncleaned during this period. It got so bad that the director actually started to clean rooms herself after all of the complaints. My family also had to clean my room as well even though that is a paid part of the contract. The medications were quite a challenge for Bickford to transition over and the dispensing had to be taken back by my family to manage on daily basis. Bickford was left with doing the ordering, but on multiple occasions either it was not ordered timely or the pharmacy did not deliver timely. There were shortages of medication on three specific occasions. On the last one, my family had to pick me up and take me to the emergency room as my blood pressure shot up to over 165 and I was visibly shaking severely. The most horrific part of Bickford Tinley park is the kitchen staff. Many complaints from many residents have been made on this aspect, yet nothing seems to improve. Finally, the Heath department was called and the facility cited for delinquencies. Those delinquencies however do not cover the poor quality of what is being served. The dishes are not washed properly and the residence had to rewash to use. Many time’s in the morning the utensil setups are not dispensed and residents wait so they can eat. Some servers stand around and do little while the residents are left to fend for themselves without even getting coffee. On more than one occasion, the servers were observed brushing out their hair in the kitchen. All these examples show a lack of training. There have been many poorly made meals. Lots of examples of undercooked or overcooked items being served. One example, soup was made with clear water and some undercooked potato’s and no broth to speak of. On other occasions, the food was raw inside as if it did not defrost before cooking. Many meals go un eaten due to being improperly cooked and there is a great deal of waste. The residents cannot cut through some of the meat to eat it. All of this was passed on to the cooks and then to management. The cooks, really do not know how to actually cook food and simply claim “they follow the recipe from corporate”. If food is sent back due to being undercooked or overcooked, nothing is re made or served to the resident. At dinner, the cooks, leave right at 5:15. Sometimes they do not make enough portions to feed the approximately 45 residents and some people had to eat just a roll with butter for dinner. On a number of different evenings, pans of vegetables and other items sat out after the cooks left. When staff was questioned, we were told that it was left out for the staff, however it was observed being out for hours without refrigeration and not touched. The floors in the dining area were not cleaned daily and many food particles were found under tables. The tables and chairs also do not appear to be cleaned very well even when cleaned. The staff allowed animals in the dining area. These pets do not fall under the companion dog certification and one in particular has open skin sores on its body. Another health code violation. This same dog actually wipes it butt on the couch, chairs, and carpeting in the living area. CNA’s seemed to have access to resident personal information. More than one CNA, who are no longer there, mentioned my financial information as far as what is in the contract paperwork. Personal financial information should not be allowed in the hands of low level staff members. The last incident at the facility was when another resident struck me in the shoulder. This occurred in front of the new director, who took no action and claimed it did not occur, even though it was right in front of her. She also did not even write the incident in the log book. One of the nurses did follow up afterwards and logged the incident. My family had tried to be patient on many of these items, but finally it was evident that things were not improving at all. The family provided Bickford with its 30-day notice and moved her out that same day.

My wife has recently made the move into this community but is currently in the hospital due to health reasons for a short period of time. I am a little disappointed in the staff right now as it is impossible for me to communicate with them. Every day when I call I seem to get the run around and passed around instead of the answers that I need for my wife to return.

This community wasn't a good fit for my father and his needs. I was not happy with the community and the staff here. The building is nice and pretty clean. The staff wasn't very attentive to my father. I feel his level of care was to much for the staff. I would say if your love one needs more care then the average senior, this would not be a good fit for them.

I hesitated writing a review too soon-but my Mom has been there more than 5 weeks. What appealed to us was the size and atmosphere of the facility. Mom's room is lovely- great bathroom facilities. The front office staff has been very responsive to various needs. However, we had a major mistake with over-billing for meds. The pharmacy (Valumed) that Bickford contracts with are not responsive to phone calls. Nurse is aware of this as well - said they don't return her calls either. Mom's physical condition has declined - she was transferred from rehab for a broken hip. She is not as mobile as she was when she arrived - she is receiving rehab as an outpatient with an outfit selected by Bickford's nurse. She has lost a lot of her mobility- we are considering other options. The food is marginal - mom is also not eating. We were very optimistic about mom thriving here and now find ourselves looking at other options. We really feel that Sue and Tonya are doing a very good job, the nurse seems disconnected. I know these first few weeks can be very difficult- but as I see my mom decline physically at an assisted living facility - I feel in my heart that Bickford cannot meet our needs.

My mother moved into this community and just loved it, until the ownership changed. The transition has been rough for her with new restrictions and many staff leaving. We are still giving it some time to recover to the happy and resident friendly place that it was for one month after her move.

We toured this community and nothing was very memorable. The staff were not friendly, didn't look up at us while we were walking through. There were no residents out and about which seemed odd for the time of day and considering they were full. I liked the dining room and home-like feel of the community but there was a smell that was displeasing throughout the community. The community and the apartments seemed small and dark overall. I would feel sad leaving my loved one there.

Bickford is attached to an Alzheimer's wing, and so the doors are locked and there was no easy access. I came a little early for my tour, but the doors were locked when I got there, and there was nobody at the desk, I didn't see any staff around. It was very dark inside, dark wood, and hunter green. It was a newer facility, and the apartments were nice, but it wasn't warm and welcoming.

My Grandmother moved back home on December 15, 2013. She did not have a good experience at Bickford. She is independent with her knowledge but needs help physically. They treated her as though she was incompetent. As a retired City Treasurer of Peoria, Illinois she did not take this well. We eventually had to call corporate to get her billing and Long Term Care straightened out and she has been home with home care.

Care in the dementia area is very poor. Food awful. My husband fell numerous times & escaped the area several times & once was outside on the sidewalk. Staff poorly trained . No routine showers, shaves etc. I checked out the physician supposedly available & he in a chiropractor not MD I moved my husband & am happy with the care he is getting & the cleanliness of the facility. Amazing that clothes are not disappearing as they did at Bickford. --Most of his LL Bean sweaters, jackets etc 2 walkers gone. The rollater (spelling?) was never found. They found someone else's abandoned so they gave me that. (Socks still in the seat)

For the price point, I would absolutely not recommend to anyone. Poorly managed, dirty, not well-maintained, high staff turn over, including administrative team with no notice to family members. Huge disappointment.

The staff that cares for the residents are good. The administration is terrible...Particularly [name removed]. The meals and activities are fine.

Staff is overworked and unqualified. The food is horrible and the way the staff complains openly and just sits on their phones is unforgivable. My dad can't see without his glasses. They had 2 pairs in the nursing station as his memory was failing but no one checked to see if he had them. Even after we asked. Horrible. They did go like 10 days without an elevator which means no one on the second floor could leave their room. Not safe

I do not recommend them to anyone. However, there were some workers there that were awesome. The higher up staff was very disappointing. I actually had already had him set up to be moved, but the director talked me in to moving him to the Mary B Ward, where there was more one on one. I had to bring in Heart to Heart Hospice, because when he was in memory Ward, he fell twice, taken to the hospital the first time. Meds were being left on his table, and some I found underneath him. They were not cleaning his room, I did that for a while, and I did his laundry also. They would bring in his food, he woukd be sleeping, they wouldn't even bother waking him up to let him know it wad there. Then when I got there, he was still on bed, awake, couldn't get his legs put of his bed on his own, so his food was cold, I would microwave it for him, and help him to his recliner and table to eat. Heart to Heart Hospice was incredible, very good at picking up the slack, from what Bickford did not do.

The Service plan is not followed. The Wellness and Medical Director says he will do something but never follows through. The Executive Director is never available and does not return phone calls. The current staff-to-resident ratio is inadequate.

They are frequently understaffed. They need to adhere to the care plans that are set up at the time of entry.

What we like the most about Bickford of Battle Creek is tt was small. I liked that. It was nice that each room had its own thermostat. They seemed to never be fully staffed. We had to call the kitchen several times because my mother did not received her meals. Very rarely did she get her insulin shot on schedule. Some of the people were very kind. My mother started out at the highest care. A couple months in, she was taking care of herself, doing her own laundry and the price never reflected the lower care level.

So don't get me wrong, this place is very nice and the staff is mostly warm and welcoming, but when we had signed up it was based on this pretty good deal that I thought we were getting (not necessarily an incentive, but just a deal on the monthly rent). Now my mom hasn't even been there 2 full months and they're already raising her rent a considerable amount! I'm trying to get a hold of management to speak with about this but it feels like they're avoiding my calls and still won't call me back. It just feels real deceptive and kind of a dirty trick. I remember the sales manager even telling me what a good deal we were getting because the rent was going up, but as in this shouldn't affect us! I guess I'm the sucker for not expecting the rent to go up so soon.

They have been in turmoil since my sister in-law was there. They had turn over of the staff from the time we started there. EVERYTHING related to the administration needs improvements. I would NOT recommend them at all.

Response time for calls can be very long depending on who is working. Sometimes up to 45 minutes. Some nights there was only one aide working! When she first got there and needed a lot of support I didn't feel comfortable leaving her there alone. She needed more help than they could give her. There was a huge change in management while my mom stayed there making it difficult to talk to anyone in charge about issues. The facility is clean, my mom's room was very dusty and cleanliness depended on the staff that day. When my mom went to the dining hall for meals they were good, when she ate in her room they were cold. My mom liked the kindness of the activity director, the cook and one of her caregivers.