Cogir Senior Living

My mom is 89 & has been at Harvard Square for over a year. Due to a fall when she was 88 causing a broken upper arm and a subsequent stroke, she needs fairly extensive assistance with dressing, bathing & transport to meals. There has been a recent change in facility ownership and we're still trying to figure out if there's going to be any benefit to the residents. It feels like meals have become skimpy in portions, and that there isn't enough staffing. The care staff, while typically kind, is predominantly "English as a second language" and this can be a problem for elderly people who don't always process well cognitively and may be losing hearing. Communication can be difficult. My mother doesn't participate in any activities so we can't comment on the quality of those. Overall, it's a nice facility and because of her assistance needs, the only option we can afford. She has a studio apartment and a small kitchenette, but she sleeps in a recliner and can't walk other than to get to the bathroom. The rooms/apartments here are bigger in general than other places we looked at. It is an older building, so the apartment bathrooms could be more accessible, the ventilation system more reliable etc. I was hoping the new admin would address these issues. The residence is close to my home and I'm mom's only family so this is a convenient option. It's so hard to move her that we just live with the deficits.

I saw the memory care area here. I didn't really care for it. I saw a different Emeritus, and they were great! They seemed to keep the residents active, and played games with them. They got the same food the rest of the residents did. The memory care at this Emeritus was not that way, and is the main reason we did not go here.

My parents live in a cottage. It's a nice facility which is well maintained and has many activities the residents appear to enjoy. The food is average, but I gather that's typical of these types of places, since they can't make the food too spicy or exotic due to dietary needs and tastes of this age bracket. Inclusive features are nice, but the facility is on the pricey end. I would have given 4.5 stars but current head manager is not service-oriented and requires the residents to follow his rigid policies instead of flexing around their needs. Co-manager and previous managers have been great, so hopefully this manager will move on to something else better suited to his personality.

In their Independent Living, they truly expect all of the residents to be 100% independent. They are not trained to deal with any form of memory loss. A fully cognisant senior would do fine here. [removed], who may or may not work there anymore, was not kind to my loved one. The staff had some strong personalities that did not mesh well with residents with strong personalities as well. Overall though, I really liked them. It's a nice facility and the food was good. I would say that 80% of the staff were really good people.

This was a great place for my mother and aunt after they both became widows. My mother lived in the Villas which are small attached homes. She had breakfast and dinner provided in a pleasant dining room setting with all the other residents. This offered her autonomy in a safe, cared for environment. There were lots of activities available should you choose to join. There are two beautiful pools on the grounds. Housekeeping is provided and the gals make the beds with clean linens which can be a struggle for the senior. My mother moved in at a time when they offered a great contract and price. It has since undergone new management and become quite pricey. If the cost is not an obstacle then the Montecito is definitely worth considering.

very similar to Emeritus at Vallejo, but more drab inside and no enthusiasm of staff. Saw few residents. Nice exterior look but not comfortable.

So far, they have been very helpful, ready to answer questions. We have had three meals there - very delicious. The apartment was spotless. I would recommend this to anyone needing a place to retire.

My mom wasn't there long enough for a full review. There is really not much communication when the rates are raised. I got a letter they were being raised a month after the fact. Otherwise the staff was really great and lots of activities.

It was nice, but here was the big thing with my mom, she did not want it to smell like an old folks home. That was the big thing, if I walked in and smelled a weird smell I knew she wasn't going to like it and a lot of these places, not too be snooty, but a lot of these places that have a lot of people kind of have that smell.

My dad is not longer there because he got a lot worse and we had to take him out. He's in a nursing home now. When my parents were there most of the staff were pretty good. The food was horrible because they don't season it. The whole time my mom was there they didn't come in to vacuum but the staff was pretty good.

It only had a courtyard in the center- not much outdoor area for the people to go. My dad's an outdoors guy so that's an important factor for us.

Our 90 year old Mother has memory issues, but is well served and supported in the Assisted Living portion of this facility. The staff are all open and helpful. The new director has made changes to better fit the needs of the current residents and is very aware of all the staff and residents. We researched dozens of facilities in the area and visited 18. We found this facility to be the best for our loved one's needs. The staff made a visit to her home over 2 hours away to make the initial assessment and help us determine the level of care she would need. She is very is happy and active here, even if we had to kidnap her to get her here.

In point of fact, I moved out of Solista after the minimum stay. I moved into a stand-alone cottage community which I love. Ok. Why did I move? Residents were lovely. Still have friends there. A few residents, including me, went down and picked up the evening meal. I did not want to eat in the dining room. I did not care for the food. I can cook and I wanted to. I had to sign up for meals I wanted to pick up. This was a hassle. I understand they have a new cook. I did not care for the apartment I was assigned. Luck of the draw. Bathroom was nice, kitchen nice. Both newly renovated. No porch. No morning sunshine. Limited storage for such a large apartment. New Director. She is great. New Activities Director. Also great. Lovely, in-town convenient location. Independent Living was just not my cup of tea. One of the main reasons to live here is on-site medical and physical therapy. If you need this, consider Solista. Close to major hospital and doctors.

Staff genuinely care about the people however after contract was signed I never knew from month to month how much they were going to charge. They never consulted with family about the additional fees and some fees were not legit. For example they were charging for 15 mins checks ( unnecessary) but when family came to visit they had no idea she was missing for 3 hours while she was with another family member for lunch. Also mom had been seen by two doctors and was not prescribed any medication. While they initially charged her for a history of medication and said she could refuse if it but they are going to charge her for it. Eventually they agreed to not do that but said if she complained of upset stomach and they need to give her OTC like tea they were going to charge her monthly for that if she needs it or not. We decided that family was the best option. We wanted her to have an active social life but the unpredictable payments were way beyond her private pay budget.

I have a loved one at this facility, due to that I won’t use my name. The food is terrible. Heavily breaded slimy ‘meat’, high sodium, not a balanced diet. Their idea of a turkey sandwich is a slice or two of paper thin cheap deli meat on bread, maybe with a very tiny slice of tomato. For what they charge this is just not acceptable. The staff is very nice and I have not had an issue with that. But there is no excuse for the terrible food

Based on feedback from my loved one, the food is substandard. Proteins are drowned in sauces or gravies, vegetables are over cooked. 3 mouthfuls of salad or soup are served. There is a shortage of kitchen help no substitutions are allowed. Sandwiches come on one type of bread with one type of cheese because nothing is made to order. All travel activities have been canceled because “ the price of fuel is too high” and now the main shuttle is in disrepair and cannot be used. A small van takes residents to appointments. There is no director on site full time. The director spends half of their time at another Cogir location. When we first joined, there was a third party assisted care company on site that residents could hire if needed. Now there is no company on site.

The facility is beautiful, the rooms are very nice, and the food at the restaurant is very good. The staff members we interacted with were friendly and pleasant. However, I have some serious concerns about the level of care and response time, particularly for residents who may need immediate assistance. While I was away on vacation in Alaska, [name removed] became ill and eventually had to be taken to the hospital. What concerns me most is that the staff did not recognize that he was sick. I realized something was wrong when I spoke with him by phone from Alaska. There were also several occasions when [name removed] had to wait anywhere from 5 to 25 minutes for assistance after pushing his call button. For someone experiencing a medical issue or needing timely help, that response time can be concerning. The building itself is beautiful, the restaurant is good, and the staff is friendly. However, based on our experience, I have concerns about the ability to recognize when a resident is ill and provide prompt assistance when it is needed. I would recommend carefully considering the level of care required before choosing this facility, especially for someone who may need immediate or frequent medical assistance.

Receptionist very nice THE Executive Director no where to be found once again had a meeting with James and was cancelled, The nurse was somewhat rude Leah not much help RCC was in a rush not professional place during the tour,

Over all good wonderful staff older well maintained facility I personally wood prefer an age restricted apartment many of residents here are not exactly independent. Yes, I would recommend this community to other families.

The staff are lovely and the community is beautiful. They did an annual rate increase of $[removed], yet our experience has only gotten worse as she's lived there. It's not lost on me that they are also doing renovations to the community that don't really seem necessary, right as they are increasing the rates. The dining experience is poor. Yesterday, I had lunch there with my grandma, and we waited 40 minutes before being told that the "waiter" had forgotten to put in our order and that they were out of what Grandma wanted to eat. We got our coffee only after I reminded the waiter, about 20 minutes after ordering our drinks, that we had ordered coffee. Our waiter was doing other things, like bussing tables, while we still didn't have our coffee or food. He then didn't check in for another 40 minutes. I finally had to physically go find him and talk to him. The waiters seem to avoid eye contact and looking at the tables, or they simply aren't trained to remember to check on the tables that have just come in or the ones that are waiting for their orders. It's hard to get their attention. Residents are raising their hands, calling out, and getting frustrated. That's a normal occurrence there. When food and meals mean so much to some of these residents, it's awful to watch them have such a frustrating experience meal after meal. Housekeeping stopped cleaning her apartment floors altogether. No one told me they were going to stop; I simply noticed that they had stopped, and now I have to maintain the floors myself. I can't get in touch with housekeeping when I call and am connected. I leave a message, and it isn't returned. I'm also helping my grandma manage her medications in addition to Cogir. She gets the majority of her medications through Express Scripts rather than the pharmacy Cogir uses in-house, Omnicare, because it saves us a lot of money. But Cogir doesn't tell me when she has a week or less of a medication left. Instead, they'll sometimes tell me the day she has completely run out, and then it takes a few days to get her medication through Express Scripts. The same thing happens with her over-the-counter medications—they wait until she's out to tell me. It's very frustrating to pay almost $[removed] a month for medication management and still have her run out of medications because of a lack of communication. I can't rely on them, so I have to keep track of when she's running out of everything and make sure I get it filled and sent to them. That's a lot of work that they don't have to do, and of course, there is no discount for me having to do it. They also started charging $[removed]more per month for behavior management because she had a couple of rough weeks related to a UTI, her phone being taken over by malware, and receiving mail that was confusing and upsetting because of her Alzheimer's. Now that we're paying more, she isn't needing any behavior management from the staff. It's a six-month care plan, so we probably don't have the option of reducing the cost of her care for another six months. They're also supposed to be providing engagement, but there are many days when my grandma either calls me saying she doesn't know how to eat or where to go to eat. There are also many days when she spends all day in her apartment eating the food I keep there for emergencies and snacks because nobody is engaging her around meals. Meal engagement is supposed to be part of her medication package, but I don't feel like they do it beyond morning breakfast. I understand that they're letting her wake up on her own schedule, which is fine. But I have to make sure I call her and check that she's eaten lunch or dinner, or she might go all day without eating, especially when the Cogir restaurant is closed. And as of [date removed] they will no longer accept any form of Medicaid Long-Term Care. My grandma will ultimately have to move to another community, which is painful for many reasons. They used to accept PACE Medicaid LTC through Providence.