Holbrook Life

I like all the activities they offer, but sometimes I do feel pressured to do them.

Independent Living, Assisted Care Living, and Memory Care are separated by floors (5 & 4, 3 & 2, and 1 respectively). The activities schedule for assisted care includes "self-directed" activities. Assisted care can be divided into mobility challenged, Alzheimer's, and ADL challenged residents. "Self-directed" activities makes little sense for assisted care living. More group outings that build community is needed. The staff that does the "assisting" hasn't been charged to excel over other facilities: they do as much as they have to. The facility is beautiful, but on a busy street. I could be the Club Med for seniors, but they have a ways to go to make it the Club Med for assisted care living and memory care (i.e. limited freedom) residents. I haven't had the food, but I am told it is okay. They are short staffed in the dining areas. (Name withheld to avoid possible retaliation towards resident).

Appearances and profit come first at Holbrook. Caregiving is an afterthought. 10% rent increases have happened every year since 2021 yet care and services have not improved. Once you've paid the steep entrance fee and your loved ones move in, my experience as a family member has been that e-mails go unanswered. Phone calls go unreturned. Voicemail boxes are full. The key word here is inconsistency: sometimes things go smoothly; a lot of other times they don't. Consistency is important for many seniors, my father especially, and this place is anything but consistent. Assisted living has gone without its own dedicated director for months and months at a time. There ARE some good folks working here. Memory care has better caregivers and retention seems higher there than in assisted living. But the good folks here are up against a corporate structure and culture that is more dedicated to empty rhetoric and profit making than their professed mission.

My parents have loved the activities and other residents at the Holbrook, and the building is clean and beautiful, however, the new manager is very unpleasant and rude to the residents (I've heard from many). They have also raised my parent's rent significantly every year while they pay their staff poorly. I've gotten to know some of the staff and most are making just above minimum wage.

We were impressed during our tour here. The lobby is gorgeous, gym and pool lovely, apartment nice size, and services offered seemed excellent. We were fooled by all this. Immediately after move-in we learned how poorly managed this place is. Their assisted living team does not offer much assistance, including when you push the help button. They will charge you for ADLs but only provide assistance once or twice a week when they feel like it. Most terrifying is the people handing out medication aren’t knowledgeable about what they are administering leading to a near fatal medication error. The General Manager was not apologetic or even concerned as we were to learn of the medication error. They just fired the individual, but ignored the systemic issue. The dining room staff do not pay attention to dietary restrictions (low carb, low salt, etc). We raised our concerns several times with Holbrook upper management to no avail. They only care about $, not their residents.

This is THE MOST BEAUTIFUL facility. Everything aesthetically is 10/10. However, they have been severely understaffed for months and their push to hire new help is resulting in only warm bodies who do not care about the residents. This includes Med Techs: (my loved one was not given PM & AM meds & their BP was thru the roof).Patient Care Techs:(bored, rude & they do not seem qualified or interested in the residents). Waitstaff: the dining room is understaffed and the food is UNACCEPTABLE. Not even appetizing. One elevator seems to be broken a lot which is inconvenient as that leaves only one in operation for meal times. No transportation to get residents groceries/essentials or to doctors appointments.. some residents rent a car for 24 hrs bc it’s cheaper than ubering. I have met w the managers who assured me ‘they meet the states standards’. We pay a PREMIUM and i did expect better service all the way around. I’m disappointed to say we are researching other facilities.