Cascade Living Group

I have specifically signed up for this website so I can disclose and share my recent unfortunate and unacceptable experience with the Cascades. After much heartbreak and consideration for alternative methods of car, my family decided to place my grandmother in an assisted living program. She has quickly progressing Alzheimer's, and we were worried about her safety in an at home setting. We decided that the best alternative solution would to provide her with the most comfortable, safe, clean, and knowledgeable care available. After months of searching we decided on the Cascades Assisted Living in Sparks, NV. As her condition has escalated, the care she has received there in the past year has gotten increasingly worse, till the point where when I visited her last week I was so appalled that we have called an official meeting to discuss her [removed] and transfer to a new facility. I would like to add here that my family is very involved with her care, and visit frequently (1-2+ times per week). When I went to visit her last week I found that she had not bathed, was wearing dirty clothes covered in food and spit, the entire apartment smelled of urine, and her garbage was overflowing with used depends. We have discussed her urination problem multiple times with staff, and they ensured us that they would be taking care of her escalating issues. After cleaning up her apartment, and bathing her myself I discussed the state in which I found her and her apartment with my mother (her primary) who was horrified. We had noticed a lack of initiative on the staff's part over her cleanliness, and have brought this up multiple times; however, this was the last straw. After returning home from a business trip, my mother went straight to grandma's assisted living to check in, and see if there was any change since I had seen her last (3 days earlier). She was shocked to find her in the same state wearing the clothes I had dressed her in 3 days earlier, urine soaked through the mattress and couch, food and spit on her clothes, un-bathed, and depends spilling over the trash. Grandma was mortified, and ashamed that she had wet the bed, and tried to explain to mom how she had 'tried to clean it up herself.' This is completely unacceptable. I wanted to compare this to something you may find in a public state institution, however, this is unacceptable and [removed] in any situation. Between being extremely worried about my grandma's condition, happiness, and living situation, having to deal with the incompetence of a well paid staff and institution is a stress that no person having to place a loved one in assisted living should have to deal with. We will be discussing all these issues, plus many others that I haven't the time to share here, with the management and staff, as well as filing a formal complaint with Nevada's senior protective services. If any other resident at the Cascades is living in a similar condition, than it must be brought to the attention of the family and authorities.

When my loved one was dying they didn't have a call button, for over a week. They would bring him food with plastic wrap, and wouldn't even unwrap it for him. Another loved one moved into their shiny new memory care. No one knew what they were supposed to do. We had a very bad experience. The workers here work so hard, and they are friendly and caring, but they can't be everywhere. They are underpaid, and there aren't enough of them.

Desert Hills staff told my family that they specialized in handling difficult behaviors, which can often accompany dementia. My dad, after being at Desert Hills for five days and presenting difficult behaviors, was hospitalized for psychosis stabilization at their recommendation. We understood and supported this decision. The staff said they had done this with patients before (we had NO prior experience with this type of situation), but screwed up his placement by not working out key details AHEAD OF TIME. My dad ended up in a local, poorly run hospital for two weeks before he returned to Desert Hills. The professionalism of some lead staff members is seriously lacking. A few months after the hospitalization, my dad was within a few days of passing and the Activities Director kept pushing a service on us that we (politely) declined. The Executive Director minimalized our concerns and brushed us off several times. Not the professionalism you would expect from a facility that prides themselves on being Alz Foundation approved. On the flip side, the caregivers, housekeepers, and nurses were amazing to my dad and to us, but like a previous reviewer said, there aren't enough of them to bathe, toilet, feed, clean, and keep the residents stimulated appropriately. At $4,500 + per month, the residents deserve more and I urge management to make a change.

I would not recommend desert hills for anybody. From my first hand experience overall it is not a great place. I have seen people being left in wet briefs throughout the day. I have noticed that a lot of the day staff does not give their attention to the residents and ignored them when yelling for help. I was disturbed to see that residents seemed to be treated roughly at times and that workers didn't not spend time one on one with people during activity hours. The activity director does not lead her activities and leaves her work to the caregivers. The caregivers do not seem like happy employees and do seem as if they are treated well by the management.

This option did not work for our family. They didn't offer the level of personalized care that our loved one needed, and we could not make this work. There were instances where she was neglected and kept in unsafe conditions. Just not what we needed.

My dad had Alzheimer's and we located him in Spring Point. The first two years had some problems. but management wanted to fix them. Then Emeritus bought them out it became a daily horror story and I hear it has gotten worse. Some things were minor like serving these patients shrimp with the shells still on. Then it got much worse, one woman screamed almost constantly in pain and they would do anything. Then as my dad was dying they refused to give my dad and another patient any morphine eventhough a doctor prescribed it. My dad was not the only patient they refused to give morphine on religious grounds. Also, they refused to bath my dad in the last two weeks of his life. There were little activities for the people.

Horrible! My father has lived there for 3 weeks. I called there today to find that they had thrown him into a locked dementia unit without my permission. I am his health care proxy, his daughter and a Certified Emergency nurse. No one called to tell me that there was a problem. He is forgetful, but they said that if it progressed that he could go into their illuminations program for those with the beginnings of dementia. That was never offered to me when the time came. The staff blatantly lied to me when they convinced me to put my father there.

Horrible facility! They lie and say that if your loved one's memory begins to fade that they have a special program called illuminations. Illuminations is offered for an extra fee to help those with the beginnings of dementia. I don't think they actually have that program. My dad has been there for 3 weeks and I call to find out they have thrown him into a locked dementia ward without notifying me. I am his health care proxy, his daughter, and a Certified Emergency nurse. Check out their complaints on the department of health website. They will tell you all kinds of lies to make the sale and incarcerate your loved one in their facility. Shameful!

This facility neglected my mother and was turned into DHS by the Hospital that treated her. Do NOT place your loved ones here you will be sorry!

Facility has high turn over rate of staff.

we had a terrible experience starting from day one. we got my mom a brand new bed comforter sheets pillows, foam mattress. and the very next day was ruined saturated with urine. we were paying for Depends services but management didn't relay it to the Health Service Department. so no depends where changed. one of the staffs through my mom into a cold shower. Mom was promised daily activities. She did four in one month. And one she said was so bad it was an insurance lecture. She hated it. S alot of stuff happened in a month. after just over three weeks they decided to raise my mom's rent to over $500 per month. and they knew from the beginning we were already a little bit short. they blamed it on management, and that the manager was gone. fired or quit I don't know

The manager was rude and spoke down to us like we could not afford the room. Money was never an issue. We found a place that was amazing and treated us with respect.

Poor service but it's to be expected with the low quality staff they have working for minimum wage. I was so happy to have moved my mom from here to another facility where the staff looks welcoming and caring. What really upset me the most is for such a high cost place, they seem to only hire unskilled care givers majority of which either don't speak English or hardly do making it very difficult to communicate with myself or my mother on her care needs. If you love your mom and dad, keep them out of here. It's a shame the state of WA will simply tell me to move my mother because they don't break any laws. Elderly in this place are nothing more than dollar signs and I am so glad I finally moved my mother to a place where she is seen and cared for as a person not an income.

Don't be fooled. Royalton Place management is excellent at at creating an appealing facade. They make everything look really shiny and pleasant. It's not. They care about one thing: making money. If your loved one is relatively self-sufficient and lucid, this is not a bad place to be. If that is not the case, you're in for an experience like all those nightmares you've heard about...neglect, indifference, thievery...scary stuff. Trust me. We've had years of experience, and it took awhile to figure it out because they're great at hiding it. Through countless directors and management staff, one thread remained the same...an interest in getting as much money as possible and a disregard and blind eye toward abuse and neglect. Our mother is safe now and out of this place.

A year ago I would have given a 4 star rating to this facility in spite of the constant turnover of executive directors, lack of leadership and training for the staff. The rating would have been based solely on the dedication of the majority of the caregivers. But when my mother could not care for her basic needs herself I noticed the care declined. When I needed hospice, there was a clear resentment on the part of the staff to their presence (probably because they questioned the care my mother was receiving). I was promised that my mom would be turned every 2 hours, as she could no longer turn on her own and her bedsores were getting worse. This did not happen and when I called it to the attention of the head nurse she reassured me it would be fixed. It was not. I hired a private caregiver who was there 5 hours a day, 4 days a week and there were many days when she told me she did not see a caregiver come in at all while she was there. Again, I called it to the nurse's attention and received promises, but nothing changed. With the help of hospice, I finally brought my mother home because on the days my caregiver was not there and I would arrive, there were too many instances when I found her in a soiled diaper and dirty sheets, which made it even more difficult to keep up with her sores. I blame this on lack of training, lack of a consistent executive director and the resentment towards the hospice nurses. If you have a parent who can pretty much care for themselves with minimal help, this might be a good facility, but I would never recommend it to an elderly person who is bedridden. I wish there would have been honesty in the fact that they really were not equipped to deal with someone in my mom's condition. But that would have cost them money by losing a resident. So very sad.

Talk about incompetent! The Administrators are yes-men, pure and simple, and the care-stuff are beyond clueless. They go through directors very quick, and there is always an excuse. I regret putting my father there.

All about the money. Simply a glorified babysitting facility for your loved one. No Alzheimers Disease verified philosophy. Loving but ignorant how to best encourage and support retaining any cognitive growth or maintenance. 3 thumbs down. :(

The cost to keep my father in the memory care unit is approximately $9,000.00 per month. I can't help but wonder, with a building that is dirty and outdated, with 4 people per room and no real assistance with feeding, staff who resemble drill sergents, and an activities coordinator that doesnt seem to facilitate any activities at all, why $9,000.00?

My Dad was moved there after being at another facility that could not contain him, after only four days they decided they could not keep him either - of course this is after they have had full disclosure from the other facility (before we ever moved him) and after they have collected their non-refundable fees. Caused untold hardship on my mother and family. During that time they required that we hire someone to be with him 24 hours a day. Worst experience.

My father was at this facility for almost two years. He was wheelchair bound, and had no use of his legs. Caregivers dropped him several times (propped on toilet vs. diaper change in bed) and then wanted to administer morphine when he was in severe pain. Caregivers would eat at the same time they were supposed to be feeding the residents -- the residents would basically watch the caregivers eat, and not get fed themselves. I visited my dad weekly, sometimes more. ALL seating was saturated with urine. One visit, caregivers left a resident in the bathroom for 40 minutes alone. We kept telling the caregivers the lady was calling for help from the bathroom, but she was ignored. (Also a wheelchair-bound person.) When my family and I would show up on weekends, the caregivers would "disappear" and could not be located. Caregivers would help themselves to the diapers and supplies of the Hospice patients (my dad) and never got in trouble for their complete neglect of the residents. Many, many more complaints...after speaking with Administrator several times regarding our concerns, no action was EVER taken by staff. Caregivers were too young, not paid well, lazy, incompetent, and unqualified for the position.