Harmony Senior Services

The move in was not good. There was no help from the staff and their equipment was pitiful. They said they were buying proper equipment so that may be changed, but they still need staff to assist with things like furniture. They were brand new and had a lot of problems that may not exist now. I gave a 3 overall rating because you couldn't get through to anyone by phone or otherwise. This was very upsetting to me and my Mom.

It's a waste of money unless you enjoy socializing, going on outings etc. I am not a social person, it's all a waste of my money. Things never get fixed, I'm sure that there are lots of fun things to do here, I'm just not interested. Others would probably like it here. I picked this community, because it was close to family and care services.

Had an issue with my mother's unit flooding after a hard rain. This was on Friday over the 4th of July weekend. No maintenance person on duty. Sent emails asking for a response to the Executive Director and the maintenance Director. To this day, no response. A nurse, fortunately knew where their extractor was and I spent over two hours getting as much water as possible out of her carpets. If there becomes a mold issue, those unanswered emails won't be a good look for them.

While my mother has a lovely apartment at this facility, there are many issues first being constant changeover of staff, including the people that do the cooking, and that run the facility. there are a few activities, and even those that are on the monthly calendar sometimes do not even occur. They used to go out to movies that has not happened in quite a while. People have actually left the facility because of the food and the length of time it takes to get your food. The food is the biggest issue and the activities or lack of is the second biggest issue for a facility that charges this amount they should have a very active group. The facility is also built on a piece of property that is not conducive to getting any outdoor exercise or enjoyment. There are no gardens. There is no place to walk, except for the sidewalk in front of the facility. I attended both the Easter dinner and the Fourth of July dinner for Easter. I finally left, they had to wait in line that was 30 people long

Harmony at Southridge is a beautiful facility, had an appointment but sales guy was 20 minutes behind. Ultra expensive- high end, staff appears snotty. Money was of importance. Travel to and from very inconvenient for our family - these were the main reasons we did not choose this facility.

The reason for the 3 scores was related to her getting moved to the memory unit. I didn't like the care received there. The place constantly smelled of urine and the entire place was depressing. We have since moved her to [facility name removed] which seems to be a much more professional and engaging atmosphere. She has since been placed on Hospice which has been beneficial to her overall care. The price was similar to other places. However, the cost of the memory unit exceeded the cost of [facility name removed] by approximately $[removed] per month.

We toured Harmony at Spring Hill during our search for Assisted Living for our loved one. The facility and the tour were okay. However, the apartments were more like a hospital than an apartment to us.

Our family had an in person tour with Harmony at Hope Mills and the community just came across as very sterile and not so friendly and just did not really feel as welcoming.

We got off to a rocky start with aids not getting mom taken to dining room for meals. That's been resolved and we have no complaints now. Transportation to doctor appointments has been unreliable. Not sure if it's been a scheduling problem by front desk staff or an unreliable driver. Cleaning is superficial. They don't get into corners. There are some activities, but mom can't get around by herself and aids don't encourage her to go and take her/pick her up. I totally understand that there aren't enough aids to go that extra mile. It's expensive, but I like that mom has an apartment and not just a large bedroom to live in. She uses her pendant call button as needed and the aids come promptly. That brings peace of mind. My mom does like the place. She truly loves her aid, [name removed], who gives her great care and lots of hugs.

My loved one resided at Harmony at Spring Hill from [date removed]. Before selecting Harmony, I read reviews where people loved it and thought it was great. I think it's really important for people to understand there are two different parts - assisted living vs. memory care. I can see how assisted living potentially could be pretty good. But memory care had a lot of serious problems. We as a family had to advocate for our family member who lived there because he was not getting enough care. And the staff were not communicating issues with us. Other families we spoke with were experiencing the same lack of communication. Ultimately, the things that were promised to us were not what we were getting. The facility might look nice, and the food might be good, but the care was not good - and that's what is most important. Because of that, I would not recommend anybody go there for memory care. Our most frequent problem was when our loved one declined help when they asked, they would simply take that at face value. He required supervision and some assistance getting ready for the day and getting ready for bed - taking his hearing aids out to charge them, taking his two partial dentures out to clean them overnight, getting in/out of his clothes, etc. But if he said "I don't need help," they wouldn't do anything for him. They claimed they couldn't force him, but there has to be a way to help a dementia patient who isn't thrilled to be helped or doesn't remember that he needs help. They would just leave him alone to fend for himself. This happened frequently and after addressing it with them, any improvement was intermittent at best. We just couldn't count on them to provide consistent care. And it was RARE that the staff would communicate any incidents like falls to the family. Some of the staff was actually good, and I want to give them credit. But some were just okay, and one was not good at all. Again, it came down to inconsistency.

This facility presents very well. It is extremely expensive, but unfortunately that is just part of the business. As a family member I can say upper management communication skills are extremely lacking, especially regarding healthcare. Everyone has busy lives; however, if you are moving your family member into a facility please have someone routinely showing up. On an individual level the staff are very committed and it shows. They are not being managed well though. There was a recent change in directors which will hopefully change things, but from my family’s experience so far, they simply do not deliver the amount of communication and care that is worth over 6 thousand dollars a month. They are definitely short staffed & there is only ONE medical doctor at this facility currently. this is the best option my family could find, and we understand the general state of the healthcare as a whole is lacking, but this facility definitely generates enough revenue to step it up.

You still need to follow-up, that your loved one is actually receiving the attention they SHOULD be receiving. Example: checking on family member every 2 hours, if staff is supposed to assist with showering, they need to be there, if supposed to change bedding and do laundry 2x a week and it isn't happening (and it is included in monthly rate) tell the manager. Don't let it slide. Overnight staff (11-7am) seems to do what they can get away with. Residents are supposed to have 3 meals + 2 snacks a day, and they hardly have snacks.

The residents who live at Harmony all seemed to be very friendly and nice when I would visit my loved one. The staff was friendly and tried to accommodate any of our requests. When the power went out they need a better backup generator. People that couldn't walk the steps were forced to stay downstairs for approximately 5 hours.

Harmony is a beautiful facility. Harmony has been great for my mom. Communication isn't the greatest. But it's ok. No one will care for my mom like me. However with her having Alzheimer's, I can't care for her. They're the next best thing that I've been able to find

I found the staff at Harmony Hope Mills to be helpful and friendly and caring towards their residents. They kept the residents busy with activities throughout the day. I didn't appreciate the fact that I gave a 2 week notice and moved my mother out on time only for Harmony to withdraw another month's rent on April 3. Now I'm the one being inconvenienced with the missing funds in my account until a check from corporate arrives.

I visit twice a week. They never put her hearing aids in (as in her orders). She's always out of toilet paper. Her laundry is always mixed up. She has other peoples clothes in her room. They don't serve her water at her meals unless I ask for it. They won't let her order off the menu unless I'm there and go to the head nurse.

My mother has lived at Harmony for 3 years. 2 1/2 years were fine and she was happy in her independent living apartment. Last October she fell and ended up on the floor for 2 days before her neighbors’ request for a wellness check were granted and she was found. She was hospitalized and then spent about a month in a rehab facility getting strength back. We then tried to get her moved to an assisted living apartment and that is when the experience went south. It took almost a week to get any response from Harmony, problems getting the contact printed, being charged for the new apartment even though it was still occupied, no follow thru from the business manage or new director in fixing the billing. Too bad administrative staff drops the ball because other staff do a pretty nice job. A lot of staff turnover which is concerning. Consider carefully before placing family members here.

There was definitely an issue with dispensing medication correctly. If I had concerns, I had to go to the director to get things taken care of. She was very responsive, but if I talked to the staff directly, they were not responsive. There was quite a bit of turnover. The food started out pretty good. But they started making changes to cut costs, and it was really awful - much lower quality, and they changed some of their recipes (started putting iceberg lettuce instead of romaine lettuce in the "Caesar" salad, etc.). When a new resident comes in, they need to do a better job to explain things and better welcome them into the fold as they become adjusted to the community. Some of the people there were wonderful, but I would not send a loved one there again.

I would tell others looking into Harmony at Columbia that the staffing shortages that they are having is impacting the level and quality of care.

Overall, things have been really good here. It's just that most of the staff are CNA's that are supervised by LPN's. There really are no RN's here overseeing the care. The medical staff will only do things through a dr's order. Our issue is that our loved one is diabetic and they aren't checking her blood sugar. Her dr is trying to get that worked out so that it's monitored and that he can prescribe medication for her. Communication with family is not that good. I would recommend this facility for Independent Living, but not for a resident that would need medical care or another level of care.