Colonial Oaks Senior Living

I don't get up to see my mom as often as I would like so I depend on the staff here to keep in constant contact with me to let me know how she is doing which is not happening. Then when I do get there and I don't like what I am seeing they don't cooperate to help me change things they don't listen to anything that I say. I don't trust the staff personal belongs of my mothers have gone missing. There are only 2 good things about this place she likes the food and the community is always clean.

Strong Points: Nice sized rooms; very good views of the mountains and Albuquerque skies as you walk around or wheel around the grounds; sunny, cheery dining room with lots of windows; salad bar available at lunch and dinner in addition to meals, and also a menu from which one can make a selection if the dinner choice does not suit you; residents enjoy bingo, poker, and frequent music programs; transportation for medical appointments is available two days a week; chief administrator and senior staff are very caring towards residents and their families. Weak Points: Staff turnover is a real problem. Resident assistants change frequently, and this detracts from resident care, as it takes time for new staff to learn the needs of each resident. Training is lacking for new resident assistants, this again detracts from resident care, particularly for those residents whose level of functioning is somewhat lower

We looked at this community when we toured. They just didn't seem able to handle the behaviors that come with dementia and Alzheimer's. Unless they are very mild cases. If your loved one has anger or aggression, then they won't be able to handle it.

It seemed to be nice but they were redoing it and putting new carpeting down. It was a little farther away from us. There didn't seem to be anything wrong with it. It was an older building.

Love Cheryll. The facility is great, but the rooms are very small and outdated. This was one of our top two choices, but my Grandmother would not be able to fit most of her belongings in the studio that was in our price range. She is not going to be satisfied if we have to store most of her belongings.

good, small sleep area, too expensive for the what you get. great location for us.

Our family had an in person tour and we did not care for it at all. They told us they prefer families do not come to visit their loved ones after 6pm=7pm at night and we did not like that. We also did not see any residents on our tour and the assured us they had plenty of activities but we just did not see much engagement going on. Also the staffing did not seem very adequate.

Moved my father in to transition loss of wife. Within 3 days got a phone call from director that she was going to call the police because my dad was being irrational and threatening. I call him and he’s upset but didn’t sound threatening as she stated. He was upset that his medications never arrived and this is an extra charge that he was paying for so yes, I would agree that one should receive them in a timely fashion. Food was always subpar. The housekeeper always shrank his clothes with every wash. He was independent to be able to leave but you can’t leave without someone entering a code. Much like a prison. And it’s a month later and I am still waiting for refund and no one answers my calls or messages.

I was afraid of it being too isolating, as I didn't see any of the residents in the community. They seemed like nice people.

The food was not nutritious, and she has received a dinner consisting of, a couple of slices of processed meat crackers, pudding, and a celery stalk. The staff that interacted with my sister were minimally trained and turnover was very high. I would not recommend this community to others.

They were disorganized when we brought him and they lost all the paperwork. Then they changed his meds including taking him off his insulin (deciding his diagnosis that the endocrinologist sent over was incorrect) it almost hospitalized him. We do have him back on insulin now, thanks to the endocrinologist stepping in, and his health is improving. We truly like and appreciate his med techs. It has been a very tough and stressful transition.

My Dad lived here 5 years ago and we (and he) were very happy. 3 years ago my Mom moved here. Over this period of time the staff has turned over a number of times. In the last 6 months the quality of care has dropped significantly. My Mom has dementia and needs the staff to help with a variety of personal services which they used to do. Under the current management, they no longer proactively provide this help. When we ask them about their service levels, they claim "she never asks for help". With her dementia, she doesn't have the awareness to even know she needed the help. For example, her shower was never cleaned - it was full of mold. They claimed she never asked for help cleaning. During this same period of time, they notified us that her rent was going up by 50%. The only option to avoid this (she could not afford that increase) was to accept a roommate. A recent hospital stay found Mom at a Nursing home for rehabilitation. We made the decision to permanently move her out of Blackhawk and into the Nursing Home. She is very happy now and we are very glad she is out of Blackhawk.

Rooms were small, tour guide was not very professional in the end, one of the rooms I looked at didn't smell good at all. Most of the building was under renovation, so probably not a great time to get a feel for things. The residents seemed happy. Very simple place, very rural feel to it. Price is good and all inclusive--that is why it has 2 stars.

Rooms too small. Too few residents and rent high for what you get.

**UPDATE [date removed] - The reply from [name removed], the Executive Director at Garland, is a cut-and-paste from some guy named [name removed] who replied to my Facebook review w/the exact same response. I have no idea who [name removed] is as he does not work at Garland, isn't part of the Executive Team, and appears to only reply to negative reviews. The fact their own management can't/won't respond to these reviews is telling. That and that they refer to a "loved one" as a "POA" (power of attorney) proves they're impersonal. The CEO referred to my Dad as the "POA" on my call with her. As for the reimbursement for the missing items, my Dad asked them for weeks while my stepmom was still a resident to find her missing items and they did nothing. It wasn't until he demanded reimbursement for those missing items AFTER his wife was no longer a resident that the CEO finally obliged, probably because she knew the ED wasn't going to find anything and wanted to be done with it. Despite admitting to or apologizing for wrongdoing, they did refund my Dad for the last 10 days in June that my stepmom was not in the home, after my Dad requested the do so. They've yet to refund the deposit ("community fee"). ** Arbor House Garland is a beautiful home with lovely decor and is very clean, but that's where the positives end. My stepmom was here for just under four months and after the first two weeks, it was nothing but problems with the caregivers and management. The first issue occurred when they allowed my her to run out of her much-needed meds and didn't bother to reach out to hospice or my Dad to let him know. (For anyone who has a loved one with dementia/Alzheimer's, you know that a disruption in meds is serious.) The only reason he knew something was off was that she was acting agitated, hallucinating, and crying for no reason and not allowing the caregivers to change her one night. When he asked if she had taken her meds that day, the caregiver nonchalantly told him she had run out the day before. The head nurse and hospice both visited with my Dad and assured him it would never happen again, and it didn't. However, the nurses/caregivers often did not follow hospice's instructions on when/how her meds should be administered the rest of the time my stepmom was in their care. Other issues included: 1) Allowing my stepmom to sleep outside for three hours when it was 95º. It may have been longer had another resident's loved one not called my Dad to let him know what was going on. She was still outside when my he arrived and was very hot. When my Dad complained to the caregiver, she claimed they left her out there because they couldn't wake her up. No one bothered to get a nurse or doctor to check my stepmom out to make sure she was okay. This was reported to the Executive Director but nothing was done to rectify the incident. Weeks later when my Dad listed this as one of the many reasons he was moving her out in an email to the Executive Director (CCed to the Regional Director or the CEO), only the ED replied and none of them bothered to address this or any of the reasons he was abruptly moving her. That was on [date removed]. After my Dad asked for a refund for his deposit and 10 days in June my stepmom was not there - citing neglect and breach of contract - the CEO finally got involved and she too had little compassion or concern for what my Dad or his wife had gone through. On [date removed], the Executive Director called my Dad to discuss a refund at which time she made excuses for everything and told him that the day my stepmom was asleep outside in the heat, they had a video of her coming in several times to get water. She said on the phone and in an email [date removed] that she would "gladly" set up a time with my Dad the following week to review the video. This never happened. My Dad called her bluff and emailed about it again on [date removed]. That's when the Regional Director (who hadn't been involved at this point) replied and said the video had been written over. We don't believe there ever was a video or that my stepmom ever came in to ask for water. She has late-stage dementia and is unable to communicate like that. Besides, had there been a video backing up their claim, they would've have shown it to my Dad weeks prior when he reported the incident or at least when he said he was moving her out. This incident, in particular, was the last straw and the ultimate reason my Dad moved her out as quickly as he could, as he feared for his wife's safety. 2) The A/C was out for several weeks during the heatwave where temps reached the high 90s, maybe even triple digits. My Dad asked for weeks when it would be fixed, only to get excuse after excuse. When I mentioned this on my call with the CEO on [date removed], she was oblivious about the A/C having been out and indicated she had not been informed of this issue, which means the Executive Director and/or Regional Director failed to tell her. Either way, they dropped the ball (again). 3) My stepmom's clothes, towels, and bedding constantly went missing, despite having her name on everything, and were never found. When my Dad would tell the caregivers about it and ask them to look for the items, they'd claim they couldn't go into other rooms and look for stuff due to privacy reasons. The Executive Director was no help either, no matter how many times my Dad complained/asked about the missing items the money he was losing because of their incompetence. It got so bad, my Dad started taking clothes and stuff home to wash them himself just to ensure they weren't lost. On July 6, over two weeks after he took my stepmom out of there, my Dad requested reimbursement for the missing items. The Executive Director told him she and her team would look for the items for a week and mail what they found. The next day, the CEO offered a reimbursement for the items, probably because she knew as well as we did, the ED wasn't going to locate them. These are only *some* of the issues that arose in the short time (4 months) my stepmom was at Arbor House Garland. Overall, they did not follow through with their verbal or contractual promises/obligations. Most of their caregivers acted unprofessional, ill-mannered and inexperienced. After dealing with management (Executive Director of Garland, Texas Regional Director, and the CEO) these past two weeks, I found they were no better, which may explain the high turnover my Dad witnessed in four months. Their responses to my Dad's and my emails were condescending, dismissive and rude. The CEO and Executive Director were even worse on the phone. I wouldn't let Arbor House take care of my houseplants, let alone a loved one. We don't trust them. Mind you, we can only speak for the memory care side but given how bad the management is, I can't imagine the assisted living side is any better. If you are seeking a memory care home for your loved one, make sure and do your homework and ask all your questions up front and in writing. Don't just go off what you see online or what the Marketing person tells you or how pretty the place looks. Be sure you meet ALL staff who will be involved in your loved one's care, directly and indirectly, particularly the Executive Director, head nurse, and whoever is in charge of the caregivers. VISIT OFTEN and stay for a while and observe not just how *your* loved one is being treated but how others are being treated as well. People with dementia and Alzheimer's don't really have a voice so it's up to their loved ones to make sure their loved ones are being taken care of properly in their final years.

There is new staff weekly. New management took over around October and things have gone downhill since. The new manager is not working out. They raised the rate by $[removed] after one year.

Stay away. The ENTIRE management staff was replaced at the end of October with zero notice to residents. The NEW staff is horrible. When it comes to the residents, they treat them as if it's a parochial school and not an assisted living facility. They give you one "warning" about a resident needing to make an adjustment to their lifestyle. If the resident doesn't do it on the Staff's timeline, they give you 30 days notice and don't want to deal. What was one of the best facilities is now junk in terms of the management staff. It's clear they only care about the bottom line and NOT the residents whom they are supposed to be caring for.

My loved one is no longer here and I would not recommend them to others looking. The nurses and the director of nursing are not good at all. My loved one fell and was on the floor - I do not think they should have ever taken her in here as a fall risk.

Our family had an in person tour and we just did not really like the tour. We don't know if it was just a bad day but it was very rushed and the tour lady did not really ask our family or loved one any questions.

The Best Community in Garland! posted September 2018 is from the current marketing director of Arbor House of Garland. Several of the reviews, the positive ones, are from current employees of the facility which makes me think that the staff has been directed by management to post said reviews. The marketing director will promise you the sky. e.g. You want a sandwich at 3 am, she will tell you they can do that. They can't or won't. When you run into issues with the care provided and approach her she will make a pathetic face and tell you in a whiny voice, "I wish I could help but I don't have any influence over the operations." The food is not fresh but rather delivered by a food distributor (Sysco) and then microwaved, boiled or reheated in whatever manner. The food choices remain the same day to day with one or two "specials" on a rotating schedule week to week. Most of the food is so bad that residents will not eat it. Food has to be brought in to your loved ones if you want anything tasty and nutritious. If you are not able to leave your room they will deliver to you, late, after they have wheeled other residents to the dining area and served them. The one nurse, who is not there 24 hours, has limited hours and arrives late, leaves for lunch, and leaves promptly at 4:30 pm, is an LVN. What is a licensed vocational nurse or LVN? They are also known as a licensed practical nurse (LPN). Becoming an LVN is one of the quickest ways to become a nurse, as there is not an extensive amount of education required for most other types of nurses such as registered nurses (RN) or advanced practice nurses. She has no ability to perform anything other than what a doctor has written in the chart. If your loved one should experience difficulty such as severe pain, adjustments to prescriptions, etc. the stock answer is, "I can only do what's in the chart." And that is all she does. Medication is administered by med techs, often late, and frequently incorrectly (missing or wrong medications). The nurse is often not aware of the med-techs actions (i.e. not delivering the proper meds or changes in when meds are delivered). The nurse has no special connection to a doctor of any kind. If you or your loved one has any medical need outside of "what's in the chart" your only recourse is to go to the ER or make an appointment with a doctor on your own. While the building is attractive and the decor that of a modern apartment complex marketing to millennials. The building is a square with the only outdoor space being the interior courtyard with a few short concrete walkways in the middle of some poorly maintained ground-level plants. There is no other space for your loved one to enjoy the outdoors. Any form of complaint is responded to with the management teaming up and defending the management and the following retaliation (providing meals and medications even later, not following up on request for medications, and idle emotional threats to the resident(s) even if the complaint is not by the resident themselves. The staff is way underpaid and walk around as though they are fearful of management. Otherwise, they are the most pleasant people to interact on a social level. In the past year all of the management and staff, except the marketing director, were fired or quit on the spot, within 24 hours. A month later, management sent a rather patronizing notice to the residents written as if the former staff and management had retired or found other positions by choice. These were the people residents had come to know and trust and in many cases had visited the resident's home prior to moving to the facility. What they didn't count on were the relationships that residents and their families had built with the former staff who they were still in touch with and were able to learn the truth. For all intents and purposes, it was some sort of coup. And that is the point that services became worse than ever. I urge you to be very cautious when considering this facility. Ask for credentials, visit after hours, speak with current residents in the dining area (not those hand-selected by management). And by all means, DO NOT TRUST what the marketing director sells you. It won't be what is delivered.