Bridge Senior Living

This review is about the Estate at Franklin. The facility is nice. Be careful during the sales process because they will tell you things that are not exactly honest to get you to sign the papers. The activities are nice, the residents seem to love the activities director, and they also take nice trips to Walmart and other places which does make the residents happy. The menu and food is not very good, all residents complain about the food, the Estate at Franklin needs to get much better at that. The staff seems very disorganized and overwhelmed and cannot keep up, many commitments are not kept, communication is lacking after the sales process, and I think management needs to fix that asap. Many residents are considering going elsewhere. Overall I do like the Estate at Franklin, but may move to another one soon if they do not get better at the items listed above. Really do like the facility and hope they can straighten things out. Obviously this is anonymous.

We had a bit of a rocky start here, but now that my loved one is settling in and I am getting used to how they operate I think things are going to go very well. The facility itself is beautiful, and the aide staff take wonderful day-to-day care of Mom. She says she really likes the food here, as well! They have a lot of different types of visiting doctors, which is very convenient. However, I do feel a little out of the loop when it comes to their in-house doctors. When we started using them they prescribed a medication, and I didn't even know she was taking it until much later, I would have liked to have been told. When we first moved her in there was a mix-up with her medication as well, so that is something to double-check if you decide on this place for your loved one. But overall it seems very nice, and I think Mom will do well here!

General observation has been that the quality of the environment is excellent. The value for the amount of space is reasonable. They are on the higher side of the price point scale. We have been struggling with creating communication lines between the family, staff and on site service providers. Part of that is due to the family being out of town. And partly from staff turn over that of course happens from time to time. If I had one room for improvement observation, it would be that the welcome/orientation period was not great and my Mom has reported that she is having a hard time learning the ropes.

The sales director [name removed] was very good. Caring and knowledgable. The helping staff seems to be good as well. They seem to be overall a little under staffed. I think with the management change they are trying to find what they need to focus on a the day to day is suffering a little. The dining area is very orderly and clean. The food is I would say just ok. Sometimes smaller portions am lack of seasoning. The room my mother is in is a decent size. It's like a 2 room split. It's very good for 1 person. I would say overall th facility is very clean and organized. They need to focus on staffing up and more attention to the food and menu. For the price and value it is in line in my opinion. They do have quite a lot of activities and the director of activities is extremely nice and accommodating.

Does not seem like there is any overseeing of those in Memory Care...My husband's room was atrociously cluttered, the smell was not too nice, people walking in and out while I was trying to set the room in order. Staff could have been a lot friendlier to me and mine during sherbet hour.

My medications have. been mixed up or not available - Lexapro that I take for depression and should NEVER be stopped "cold turkey " because of dangerous side effects was stopped twice for two weeks and caused me to start crying involuntarily and become depressed- the Med Tech didn't tell me about it until I noticed my 2 daily tablets were missing. Similar Problems have been experienced by other residents. On my first day here , I asked the lady sitting next to me what activities she liked. She responded that she learned to love Bingo because there isn't much to do. That proved to be true. I'm 79 and one of the younger residents. My 75 yr old friend said there aren't any activities to stimulate your brain. At least 90% of the residents have significant short term memory loss and don't remember talking with you. The food is Hit & Miss and sometimes you don't get what you ordered. The security guard leaves around 7-8 pm. I worry that if I ever had a stroke or heart attack that I wouldn't make it to the Novant Hospital (within 30" to avoid serious damage or death and their Emergency Room about three miles from here. I have had to wait over an hour once because the aide didn't see my request. SOMERBY bought [removed name] and [removed name] which has better management. Since it became. SOMERBY in September, they hired some of the staff from [removed name] that is near here. We've seen some improvements since then but there is a long way to go. I am moving to [removed name] as soon as an apartment becomes available to be closer to my family. I like most of the residents and staff here. They still have a lot of empty apartments and I learned since my move here that rates were negotiable when this was [removed name]. I have a two BR apartment for [removed rate] Some of the residents have children or family members living in [removed name]. Most people have family in other [removed name]. I think it may be short staffed as I don't always get my meds the same time every day. I am told. that one of the evening Med Techs didn't show up for work and another one has to do the work of two. Sometimes people in wheel chairs are still waiting in the DR after meals and I call the Front Desk so she will call an aide to come and get them. The building is nice and clean. Most people complain about the food or service and I think they have gone through many servers because they are short staffed and expect two people to take care of the 80 or so AL residents per meal. My main concern is with medication and most of the Med Techs appear to be 18-25 and not aware of how important the meds are to older people. I cannot recommend this facility because there have been too many times I have not felt safe here.

Staff is friendly .The didn't replace mattress protector on mattress and then urine got through and was left untreated until I noticed. South Carolina is unable to assist residents with eating - i wish i was told this before admitting my mother. I had to move my mother for her last two weeks of life because of this.

It seems like the staff overall is friendly, the food overall is good, and they have nice activities and a nice atmosphere. My mom said that sometimes when they deliver food to her room it's late, and it does seem like there's a fair amount of staff turnover, but in general it's been a positive experience there.

The staff has experienced major turnovers since March - upper staff just before my Mom moved in (so they were learning their new positions)and then again when Somerby was evidently bought by a national chain - not sure when, as they didn't tell us, and then a change of the overall director, who had us refill out the protocol paperwork which we had just filled out in March. They also could not produce the signed ACH form by which they are withdrawing monthly from Mom's account (we needed it to apply for Veterans Benefits). The staff which most affects my Mom's Somerby experience, the understaffed, undertrained, underpaid assistants, have almost weekly turnover. Weekend hires seem to be reliably sub-par. Their inability to answer questions about what meds they are handing my mother, lack of proximity to prevent falls when they are sent to her room for that purpose, and lack of response to any one of my Mom's 3 call buttons late one night. have all worked together to undermine my mom's confidence that they know what they are doing. The dining experience, which they bragged about when we were touring, underwent a major change under new management, with many disappointing experiences since. We are blessed if a conversation with my mom has a few moments of "I am fine" before launching into recounting whatever change or staff interaction has confused or made her feel vulnerable.

They are not good at following up on problems that have affected my loved one.

The facility was just renovated in early [date removed], so very nice. The staff are hit and miss - some really care and are very attentive to residents, while some don't do much. The Memory Care unit is often skipped when activities are planned. However, these residents can participate in many activities. I suggest adding painting, dominoes, bingo, and group visits to the outside patio to enjoy the weather.

The restaurant service is really really bad. The food is OK, but getting it can be a real challenge. In the end room cleaning/laundry that is supposed to happen once a week never does. I think maybe one time in about 10 months.

What they could improve on would be the cost and communication from facility to the Dr and family. The billing is also very unprofessional.

Overall comment : if not for the quality of food this would have been a total waste of time and money. Unlike other places, the rehab activity was dependent on qualifying insurance networks. This should be clarified prior to commitment for assisted living. Care givers are overworked and seldom appreciated. Substitute care givers are often unmotivated to provide good service. Overall success is dependent on amount of care required. Mediocre staff make for a mediocre program.

The activities director is fantastic. The administrator of [community removed] was totally unresponsive. (She is no longer there!). If their loved one needs Hospice get them on it right away and keep emphasizing that they be called first with all issues. Hospice is fantastic and a Godsend. At Somerby they would not allow you to go into the dining room with your loved one and they charged you for each and every thing they did.

I didn't have any specific complaints about the facility itself, but dad's room, particularly the laundry felt was typically a mess whenever we visited. The staff we interfaced with were very friendly. Dad was sent to the hospital on their doctor's recommendation - I understand that dad was a handful but the reasons they gave for not being able to take him back were suspicious, such as requiring an RN to service a catheter, which they didn't have? There was some turnover in admin staff during his stay but often times it would take a while for them to get back to us. I found out later this was because the admin staff had to occasionally work the floor due to staffing shortages. This on top of suspicions that admin staff pushed hard to not let him come back after his hospital visit. Meals/ Food - plenty of options but some were definitely better than others. Their staffing issues were clearly limiting how much care they could provide

Maybe have more activities and encourage residents to participate. Also, make the transportation shuttle more accessible.

[name removed], the activity Directors are absolutely incredible! They are so kind and engaging and creative with all of the activities

There's been a turnover of all dept directors since I have been here - the executive director changed twice. Care workers are always coming and going. I would recommend them. They seem to be working on their problem areas and take feedback from residents at a monthly meeting. I've had my mother and husband at other facilities that are now not in business anymore so I have some comparisons to ones I wouldn't recommend.

Just feel like management does not communicate well with staff and residents POA. Still trying to get forms submitted to Long term Care Insurance Provider. They indicate they have requested four times. Lots of turnover.