Highmark Senior Living

Staffing shortages and delay in services. Exceptional facilities. Competitive rate.

We are having a little bit of an issue with the meals and dining service - first off the quality of the meals are just really bad and second off they strongly push for everyone to come down to the common area where they serve the good for every meal, if you do not want to go down there but still want a meal they charge you a stiff delivery fee. However they do seem to have a lot of different activities going on like bingo, entertainment after lunch and people come in to sing songs

The caregivers here do a great job and always help us when we have questions, activities are great. But the management part could be a lot better every time I call the manager is never available to take my call or when I come in to talk he has left the building for the day, seems like I just get the run around and the assistant manager seems very nice but I over heard her talking to a couple other staff members and she is pretty rude to talk about some of the other residents! But the facility is beautiful and the food is great and they have a great view!!

Like the open dining concept. Rooms feel a bit small and dark. Beautiful setting outside

My mother was recently switched from the memory care side to the assisted living portion of the community. She seems to have adjusted well to the assisted living side. The community look great, they do a good job with the cleaning. She is trying some of the activities they offer. The care staff is good, they are caring for her very well. The administration needs some improvements. The meals are fair. Overall she is in good hands and I would recommend it.

One thing I do like about them is that they do treat my dad with respect, which is very important. That said, there are definitely some things they can improve on. My dad's sheets have not been changed since he has been there (two months now). Mom has eaten dinner up there with him a couple times and the food has been cold. There is not much activity - just listening to music or doing puzzles. Dad says there is nothing for guys there.

My grandfather resides here and has had bad experiences that are not just an inconveience, but [removed]. They mess up his medicines constantly, the nurse is exceptionally rude at EVERYONE in my family, the staff literally laughs at my grandfather when he is having problems. (We have seen it firsthand). A Vetran does not deserve the type of treatment he receives. (NO one does). Multiple complaints have been made about the nurse, but it has not changed. In fact, they are promoting her to manager soon.

We were sold because of the song and dance the salesman gave us. He pranced the activity director in who went on and on about her wonderful activity program. This has been the biggest disappointment ever! Very sad activity program. He was a true salesman and got us on the song and dance. On a happy note nursing had been great and food pretty good.

Things started out good but they started to decline quite rapidly. They had huge turnover. Some of the meals were absolutely gross some were not designed for elderly people in walkers.

My mom loves the wooded views and it is beautiful! She has made some good friends here but I am so disappointed in the poor management. Management is always gone. Very poor communication. My mom said they are used to it and if they need something they ask the housekeeper to get it done. This really is unsettling to think the housekeepers is who they have to depend on.

Food is mainly deep fried and lots of carbs. Not enough fresh fruits and vegetables. Menu is not diabetic friendly. Menu offerings should be expanded. Evening night staff is unsatisfactory. Residents cannot communicate with many of them. Often they are chatting with each other, on their cell phones and ignoring residents. Residents who need wheelchair assistance off and sit in the dining room for an hour or more waiting for an aid to come and get them back into their rooms. Residents push their call buttons over and over and over. Again waiting for help. On the weekends, there is no one at the front desk. So people and visitors coming to visit. Others are stuck. Trying to figure out what to do and where to go. Often times when friends and family try to call the front desk. No one answers the phone for hours on end during the week. Communication overall is awful at Edencrest in Johnston Aides need to have their cell phones taken away during working hours. Aides need serious training on building relationships with residents through kindness, respectful communication and compassion. Perhaps they need incentives to meet and exceed goals of engagement and resident care and support. Currently, residents are not getting the assistance that they are paying for each month. I think the problem lies at the top management at Jaybird Senior Living facilities. I think the facility directors want to make changes but hands are tied by upper management and proper budget isn't provided to make improvements. The activity director is really abrasive and not very creative in coming up with activities that really engage people. Her activity room is a disorganized disaster zone. It always looks like a tornado went through it. She should be replaced with someone who really loves the job. [name removed] just doesn't have what it takes to put smiles on residents faces. Activities and her attitude is so ho-hum. She can sometimes be disrespectful. To make sure long days include ever changing activities that attracts and encourages people to try new things.

This facility has such a turn over in staffing due to very low pay. The management cares about bottom dollar and not residents of the facility. Meals are awful, as the residents if you can get them away from management to be truthful. They don't have choices in meals like they say, it's what ever the special of the day is and only offer food at meal times otherwise it's not available. Be careful of the pricing, they increase prices at least yearly and sometimes even more often. They spend money on pretty but not on residents care.

Beware of the corporate guidelines before placing a loved one in this home. As they are corporate they do not follow the guidelines of a state owned care facility. They will hold your loved one captive from family members due to strict COVID guidelines that other care facilities are loosing up on. 24 hours to reserve a visit your loved one and then for only five days a week.. where is their compassion.???

While my loved one has been at Edencreat, there have been several issues. The food is good, and the place is generally clean. However, the staff and management do not keep me updated on my loved one's care. They will tell me "he is resting comfortably," when things really aren't going so well. There is a real lack of communication, and they go behind my back to give items to my loved one that they shouldn't have. My loved one needs exercise, therapy, and stimulation to keep him engaged. They are not doing any type of exercises or therapy. My loved one lays in bed all day and watches tv. They also don't clean his room once a month like they're supposed to, and I'm the one who does the laundry. I wish I could say our experience was better, but that has not been the case.

Forced to take meds and put on wander guard device. The washing machines had 6 inch wide greasy ring around the top of the tub. Most staff members were friendly and pleasant but a few were a bit cold and overly forceful. Care providers were mostly decent but a few didn't understand that the patient has a right to refuse medication. Meals were very elementary school like with an over abundance of pork meals and lunch meat sandwiches. The activities were very simple but included a lot of live music which saves the category. Way too expensive for the value received, I cooked 95% of our meals, we had to take our laundry to Laundromat as I had 7 new shirts permanently stained by the staff's laundering skills.

It was not a good experience at Edencrest. The only 2 staff members that rated highly were the housekeeper who cleaned and did laundry and the van driver/handiman. The executive director was too young, too inexperienced and his follow through was nonexistent. I had to ask numerous times just to get a monthly invoice/statement. I didn't receive one until March. The activity director was abrasive, uncaring and didn't offer much more than Bingo for activities. She was outright disrespectful to residents at times.

I moved my mom out of Edencrest Beaverdale on July 1. I moved all essential personal items, leaving only large furniture items behind. According to Edencrest administration, I had until the end of July to move my mom’s furniture out of her room. On July 9, I returned with help to move furniture. I was astonished when I walked into the room and it was empty. All of my mom’s furniture was gone. When I asked staff, they said it was all moved and most of it was taken to the garbage. My daughter was told staff members were allowed to take what they wanted, prior to trashing possessions. My daughter was told by [name removed] (Regional director of sales & operations ; Jaybird Senior living) we would be compensated for all possessions that were destroyed. I have been e-mailing, and trying to work with [name removed - regional director] for more than two months to rectify the situation. There has been no progress made and little to no communication.

We were not impressed with the sales guy at Edencrest at Riverwoods. You could tell that he was all about the money. When we told him we would not be putting a deposit down, you could see him immediately shut down. We would not recommend them based off of our tour experience there.

The aides have not had training or any experience. Mom was dying from cancer. They had to be reminded every hour to give her medicine. Two of the girls asked me which arm to use for the morphine. It was liquid and I had to teach them how to put it in her mouth. No supervision whatsoever. Director too busy thinking of himself to actually do his job. Think twice about trusting them with your loved one.

Edencrest at Riverwoods in Des Moines,Ia, the staff was not trained to take care of dementia people. They would yet me wife be wet for hours, would not give her shower, she would wear the same clothes for days, My wife loss 12 lbs. in the she was there, some of the aids would feed her or save her food. She had a black eye and a hip hard so bad her had to go to the hospital. The hospital doctor say looks like she was abused there. The Edencrest nurse say her does not what happen to her. I found my wife on the floor sleeping I ask how long has she been on the floor the aid said she there when came work, which at that time it was 3 hours. Some of the aids are real nice but some wasn't. I would not recommend that place for memory care at all. Other people that have family there would say if they could breath they would hire them. They are over payed and the kind of help you get.