Charter Senior Living

They have recently hired a new site director and a new chef. My relative had been complaining about the food for some time but now says it's getting better with the new chef. They also were without their van driver for transport to shopping and to appointments for a considerable amount of time.

They seem to have a lot of ownership and management turnover. They weren't very successful at all and getting my uncle [name removed] out of his room. And on his last days, they seem to be in conflict with hospice. Overall, they did a pretty good job, but I think he needed full nursing care so he was beyond what they could offer.

Very nice facility but just getting set up on activities for residents. I would recommend

The facility was bright, spacious and clean with a section for more serious care if needed. Initial impressions across the board were favorable. However, I found the level of attention my father needed was not provided as time passed. If you have a loved one there, you must visit everyday to ensure proper care.

Biggest complaint is food. I find staff very helpful and friendly. Facilities are up to date. Lately dinning room seems to be short staffed. There are activities scheduled for most of the day, from exercise to soap making. Choose what and if you like. As I said in prior writeups, food menus seem to be a challenge.

The staff were sometimes lazy and inattentive. Being understaffed is a problem. My loved one was often not clean and they seldom assisted with teeth brushing. (Her tooth brush was usually dry and her dentist said her hygiene was terrible) She also was agitated due to boredom. I saw few activities or enrichment beyond watching TV. She fell out of bed and suffered significant bruises and they did not call hospice or me to notify us. I would not recommend the memory care if you had other alternatives, but unfortunately I think there are not very many alternatives, they are all about the same unless you spend a lot of money at Penwick. My husband is a doctor and we asked around and it seems to be the consensus that they are all about the same (no very good).

My experience at Charter is mixed bag. Starters the location is perfect and common areas are cleaned, but the rooms were not getting cleaned once a week as promised, they still are not. The facility had a great group of people talking care of mom and that was important. However they have issues keeping caregivers and med techs so people are often over worked or not there and then my mom's care suffers. The sales people get people to come, but also make caregivers uncomfortable due to difference yet they have influence with the administration. When I get more time, I may explore other options for my mother unless things change. They are failing at keeping the staff that does a good job..

Charter Senior Living could definitely improve on the food and maintenance. They are "renovating" right now but it's just cosmetic stuff and the building is old. One of the elevators was broken for like 5 days and that to me is just unacceptable. Most of the staff is really friendly and the director works her butt off.

No matter what your family member needs an advocate. The supplies we pay for tend to go missing. My dad has gone several days without being bathed or having his clothes changed. For the most part it's a good facility with good people but it's hard for them to keep the staff. So there is a lot of turn over and the customer suffers.

What i like most is the location and that it's a smaller group of residents than it was at the last place she was at. They could improve on being more organized, more aides to assist residents, and more activities.

Always available to discuss needs. Willing to work with family to ensure patients are cared for. Limited resources for bed ridden patients. Limited resources for transferring patients needing physical assistance (bed to chair, chair to bed). Activities - need to include patients who are not able to physically participate because they are bed ridden. Food - menu options need to be expanded. Need to provide more advanced knowledge of food menu options. Be able to accommodate food restrictions for patients.

Putting humans in a warehouse for old people is a tragic experience. Memory Care is the worst. Charter Senior Living is a for profit enterprise. Costs are cut to make a profit. This showed in some of the low quality caregivers they hired and some of the med techs they hired. The people who worked there were a mixed bag. Some were caring and attentive to my wife and some just ignored her or did not try to help her. When I tried to get answers to medical questions, it was extremely difficult. One of the med techs was as helpful as she was able. There is not a medical doctor affiliated with the place that I could see. The applications for payment to medicare for my wife's medical care were made by nurse practitioners or physicians assistants. Of course, even though they were being paid, they were not available to answer questions. As for the food, Memory Care did not receive the same quality of meals that the general population did. Some of the meals in MC were OK, a few were good, and most were deficient in protein and vegetables. Any time a dish was to have meat or chicken in it, you had to search carefully to find the little shreds of meat or chicken that were there. My wife loved the pink lemonade. Usually there was only enough for one serving. Pinching pennies just went too far.

A beautiful picture was painted at the initial meeting. One rarely sees the decision makers and only lower level staff. The worker bees are nice but they are slackers too.You seldom see senior-level staff walking the premises to see what is happening. When one puts in work orders, they are ignored more months and likely perpetuity.

I like the pleasant nature of the helpers. They could improve on actually delivering on what you pay for in regards to assistance. However, we would not recommend this community to other families. If your loved one needs actual assistance they need to be somewhere that will actually get it. This is a corporate facility where the e

What I appreciated most about Charter Senior Living of Towson was the living accommodations. My family member had a one-bedroom apartment, which provided a separate bedroom and living area, along with ample closet storage. The bathroom was spacious enough to accommodate both a walker and a wheelchair. The kitchenette, equipped with a small refrigerator, microwave, and sink, was a nice addition. Since they had a corner unit, the natural lighting was exceptional. I also liked that the floors were not carpeted, making cleaning much easier. I found Charter to be a relatively small community, which made the staff more accessible. If we needed maintenance assistance—whether for repairs or help setting up the cable—I could simply email the maintenance person directly. Similarly, we had email access to the nursing staff, which was a big plus, as some facilities only provide a single point of contact, leading to communication breakdowns. As for the facility itself, the back porch and patio were pleasant spaces, but one side of the building had stairs, making it impossible to walk all the way around with a wheelchair. I was also concerned about the dryers, as the filters were consistently clogged with lint—especially concerning given the frequent elevator malfunctions during our time there. Hopefully, these issues have since been resolved. The dining experience was underwhelming. It’s difficult for me to fully assess, as my family member only ate breakfast and dinner, skipping the main meal served at midday due to the short gap between breakfast and lunch. Dinner options were typically light, such as sandwiches, chicken tenders, and salads. While there were a couple of excellent waitstaff members in the dining room, many were slow and inattentive. Additionally, the facility charged a “tray fee” for in-room meal delivery. I caught staff delivering meals to my family member instead of bringing them to the dining room—charges that should not have been incurred. On one occasion, it seemed like an intentional avoidance of duty; another time, I suspect it was due to understaffing, with the caregiver simply trying to ensure everyone was fed. The activities team made an effort to engage residents, and the more dedicated caregivers encouraged participation. However, caregiving itself was my biggest concern. My family member required assistance with activities of daily living (ADLs) but did not need nursing care, making assisted living a suitable choice. Charter seemed committed to fulfilling their responsibilities, but staffing shortages were a persistent issue. And with the staff that were employed, some caregivers were excellent, while others avoided tasks—especially at night when no supervisor was present, which I found concerning. Understaffing at night led to serious problems, such as "double diapering" or caregivers failing to check on my family member, evidenced by dried-on feces in the morning. Knowing mornings were the busiest time for care, we hired a private duty caregiver, who often reported the poor condition my family member was in upon arrival. There were also troubling delays in response times. On multiple occasions, my family member waited for what they thought were hours after pressing their call button at night, though staff later claimed it was no more than 20 minutes. When I requested to see the actual response records from the system, they refused. Many issues went unreported, including missed laundry pickups, uncleaned rooms, and trash cans emptied without replacing the bag. At times, I refrained from complaining about caregiving lapses, understanding the staffing challenges. It was easier to just take care of what I could on my own. However, as my concerns continued to go unheard, I felt increasingly frustrated. In one instance, they even suggested that our private duty caregiver was responsible for an issue I reported, rather than addressing the real problem. Overall, while Charter had positive aspects—particularly the living spaces and accessibility of staff—the inconsistencies in care, especially at night, were deeply concerning. I hope they have since improved their staffing levels and caregiving standards.

[name removed]was on the Memory Care Unit from [date removed]. We had to move him home as he was not thriving in that environment. The Memory Care Director is fabulous, but he needed one on one care. It is best for me to keep him at home and use the help of sitters.

The friend whom we convinced to go to Charter has a lot of anxiety issues, and although the apartment that she has is very similar to the apartment in an independent living facility that she left, there are still issues. Perhaps because of staff turnover, it has been difficult for her to get a regular shower schedule, and to get advance notice of when that will happen. It would be good if they had a resident handbook and suggestions on how to deal with particular problems, or how to better adapt to the facility and communicate with the staff there. It has also been difficult because there are at least three of us who are trying to help her, and perhaps the staff does not know who to contact if there are specific issues. It's tough for everybody, and that is not unique to the situation at Charter.

They are renovating, but facility needs upgrades. Very old. Wish these facilities provided social work services so residents could access needed services better, like medical care, therapies, etc.

The situation: my LO was only there about 10 days. During that time they experienced falling but it took them a day or so to hospitalize them. They had a stroke, that they never recovered from. They were not returned to Charter. Charter asks the families not to visit for 30 days, so we have no idea what day to day activities were like or the meals. Everyone was friendly.

Their call buttons for the residents at the beginning didn't work. So the only way to get help was if someone came and checked on my loved one. The facility was taken care of, except for their outdoor areas. The regular staff have been very friendly and are so helpful and provide great care. The meals are average. In December, policies are changing and there will be charge for residents to eat in their rooms. I think the overall cost is average.