Life Care Services LLC

To start off, my experience with this community is pretty bad. What I think it came down to was my loved one needing more assistance that the staff team wanted to give. My loved one was there a short amount of time. Between the 24 days that she was being there, she was only actually there 7-9 days. She has dementia and we talked to them about that. When I would go to visit she would say “he was being too rough with me”. My opinion of rough and her opinion of rough are 2 completely different things. So I wasn’t really too worried about it. A little while later, she had a fall there. They called me and said that they had to take her to the hospital. I went there, she didn’t need any type of surgery, but when she got out I noticed that she suddenly developed a ring bruise around her pinky. I asked her what happened and she said “one of the nurses was being rough with me”. Staff is slow to respond as well. My loved one wore a button on her wrist and it would take 15 minutes sometimes for someone to show up. She told me that there were times that she waited 30-45 min. Now because of her condition I didn’t think she could comprehend time. So I didn’t think much of it. There’s a lot of back and forth with myself and the staff. On the second day that she was there my daughter, who is a CNA, stopped by to visit her. There were no sheets on the bed. The staff said that my loved one ran out of clean sheets. So my daughter went out and picked some up, but we came to find that there were actually clean sheets in the dresser. The staff was just too lazy to put them on the bed. After her first fall of 2 ½ days, her mental status really seemed to be altered. I wanted to keep a closer eye on her so I visited her more often. One Friday morning I received a phone call that they found her face down next to her bed. They thought that she was having a stroke, but we don’t actually know what happened. They took her to the hospital and I stopped over there. She was in bed; she vomited, and then just fell out at some point. Regardless of what happened gravity just took over and caused her to have major brain bleeding. She would have to go into surgery. Unfortunately, she fell into a coma and never woke up. When I returned to the Harbor I saw the vomit and the blood on the floor. We stopped by there a couple of times during the week and it was still there. It was just left there and no one would clean it up. We talked about it to the staff and basically said it’s kind of disgusting and disturbing that we have to keep looking at this. One of the ladies that looked at the room said I didn’t tell her about the mess in there. I shouldn’t have to tell her how to do her job. It seems that everyone just passes the buck and no one is acting like an adult to own up to anything. I would tell them that they never did laundry for my aunt. She still had clothes from last week in her basket. They then took it and those clothes disappeared. They presumably washed the sheets too, but they also disappeared. The only thing that we received back was her basket and her comforter. No one ever did anything. It’s not often that I get speechless, but with this I just couldn’t believe it.

What a charade! I heard the Sterling was a nice place for your loved ones, but I have found it to be anything but that. Even the Dr. is saying he never had any trouble with the facility, until recently. It turns out that even the Dr. has been having trouble getting through, to check on patients or give orders to a nurse. Staff members seem friendly and polite, in person, but it is very difficult to contact anybody or get help by phone. At first, I’d be transferred to the nurse’s station and the recording said the mailbox was full…then it disconnected me. Of course, you have to get somebody to answer the phone before they can transfer you to Never Never Land, to begin with. They have gotten better. Now the call to the nurse’s station goes through to voice mail, but Hell will freeze over before anybody calls you back. Go ahead and try to contact somebody in charge. They are masters of deflection. Tell them your concerns and they will tell you whatever they think you want to hear. I have found them to be [Removed] when it comes to patient care, especially at night. I’m pulling my loved one out of there!

Horrible met with Exec Director who didn't really give us the time of day. Acted like we were wasting her time. We talked in her office and never got a facility tour. Would NOT ever consider placing anyone there

I caution anyone to think twice before placing an elderly family member in this substandard facility. There is a complete lack of compassion toward the patient, and family, in every aspect of care. Complaints directed toward facility managers regarding lack of care are glossed over with false smiles and assurances that all issues will be corrected, only to find that this was nothing but a "dog and pony show" to appease you and continue collecting your loved one's insurance benefit. Having no experience with skilled nursing and given the recommendation that this was an outstanding rehab center, I deeply regret that we placed or elderly family member here only to be ignored, ill treated, by non competent aides and so called nurses at every turn. Due to a final severe lack of care and improper treatment for a reoccurring infection, I called 911 and had him transferred to a local hospital ER, which should have been done by the nurses, or his attending "Dr" given the condition he was in. I was there daily for hours advocating for him, I had to ask to have his bedding changed, every few days, it never happened automatically. He got only One shower in 3.5 weeks, watched him sit for 45 mins to an hour at a time after pushing the nurse call, to get pain pills. Night sleeping pills never delivered on time despite an order on record for a specific time. Food trays cold, not delivered, not picked up, never an aide or nurse to be found at the nurses station when needed, not an aide or a nurse ever popping in to check on him for hours while I sat there observing aides strolling the halls discussing their personal lives. He was treated harshly or completely ignored when confused over minor issues and we had to call the nurses station almost nightly to get him the pills he needed to sleep, after he called us in despair, waiting an hour for meds to be delivered. The general atmosphere of the facility is lackadaisical at best, not very clean, and our Dad was definitely targeted by his attending nurses after we complained about legitimate care issues, he was left for last and almost completely ignored on rounds. A head nurse actually challenged me as my Dad lay nearly in a stupor, not eating, raging diarrhea, and obviously severely dehydrated, hadn't been cleaned up, that he needed no extra care, no IV fluids, and his condition was perfectly normal. Not only was she rude, but condescending at best. Having been told by the ER Drs that he was in a very bad state and should have been hospitalized days sooner, I know that what we viewed on a daily basis was not my imagination, nor did we expect too much. Please consider the health and well being of your elder before entering this facility. I will be forwarding my thoughts through every avenue that I can, to expose the improper care we experienced.

I thought my parents were going to be in the independent side but we found that they needed more care. When switching over to the assisted living side they asked they get 24 hour care which was going to add extra costs. They way it was decorated was dark with no a lot of lighting. The dining room for assisted living was in the corner basement and did not look the best. I also feel the 24 hour staff were not qualified enough

We did not like our experience when trying to take a tour. The gentlemen we dealt with was rude. After we heard the price and informed him it was too much, he stated a rude comment about not affording it and said bye, no tour was given. We were early by 20 minutes for the tour and I was not impressed.

When my mother-in-law entered Cypress Glen, she & her family were assured that she would remain there for the rest of her life. When all of her savings from the sale of her home was exhausted, her social security & retirement would not cover the cost. At this time, she & her daughters were informed that they did not do charity cases at Cypress Glen. She had a spacious private room and was only 20 miles from one of her daughters. She was then transferred to a [Removed] home in Lumberton, NC, which was 125 miles from her daughter, making it a major trip to visit her mother. She was put in a tiny room shared with another patient. This room had 2 beds, 2 dressers and 2 chairs with hardly room to walk. After this happened, her other daughter had her admitted to a much nicer private facility in Raleigh where all of her cost was covered. Be wary of what you're promised at Cypress Glen & make sure you get all of it in writing or you may be carted off to a smaller room in another facility in Lumberton, NC when they have exhausted all of your savings & you're left with only your retirement check.

Poorly managed! Do not put your loved one here! Staff turn over rate is high full turn over of staff nurses alone is sad went through 2 to 3 full staffing changes since facility opened! Staff and mangment are not on same page when mom move in, no one really knows what is going on! No activities for memory care, aide are doing everything with residences and it is all looks no nothing more! Nurses are good when they start, but they don't stay! Ratios are too high, one nurse for 2 or 3 floors or no nurse on site at all! They say 24 hour nursing, not true mom dint get morning med til noon cause no nurse and director won't pass and she is a RN! No nurses would come in now it's all agency in there not stable at all. Not safe for your loved one, look elsewhere, keep your family safe, Mom moved out quickly, never again be aware!

ATTENTION to those thinking you can put your parent here, and they will be taken care of when you leave for your Aspen trips, WAKE UP!!! Monticello was a privately owned facility. At that time, they were a very favorable choice. The family sold to a corporation, and the game has changed, except the sales pitch you get has probably gotten better. If you read other reviews, the one-star review from March 2015 closely matches my mother's situation. Before I give you too much to read, I will say that in many cases, I have learned that a faith based facility is better than corporate, because there is another layer of accountability. (and I am not of any faith). My mother was there 21 days, and was taken to the ER where she remained hospitalized for a week. We then transferred her to a faith based facility that is the oldest in East Dallas. It was a remarkable difference in her care, and her health. She was admitted to ER for dehydration, malnutrition, never given her thyroid meds, and a host of other things. She never got a bath or her hair washed the full 21 days. That didn't happen till she got to Presbyterian. Her primary care doctor met us in ER. After looking at her, he remarked, "You wouldn't do this to an animal." Monticello wanted her on hospice, when in fact it was their lack of care. She fell in the hallway at night, as she was trying to get help. According to a neighbor, she was on the floor, crying, for over an hour. As she began to decline, she called 911 from her personal phone line. The nurse was so angered by this, she pulled the phone cord out from the back of the phone to disconnect it. Yes, you read that correctly! My mother had macular, and would never have seen this. Getting help at night is nearly impossible. She was told by one of the night staff, as they answered her call, "You'd better not push that button again." In the floor lunch area, one lady remarked that her coffee was cold. The staff attendant told her, "Well, that's just too bad, isn't it." I could go on-an-on, but I hope you get the message. On a final note, as I was moving her things out, one resident exclaimed, "Someone's moving out." I said, "Yes, she's moving to another place." The resident said, "Smart lady, she has kids that care." No joke, this broke my heart. I wanted to ask her for her kids phone number so I could call them, but it wasn't my business. Anyway, they probably put their mom in Monticello West, and went to Aspen thinking it was all okay! At MW, it's not okay.

Monticello West no longer provides the quality of care it was did. They are lazy and lack empathy for the residents. They are slow to respond to the call for help and do not check on the residents on a regular basis. My dad has been found lying on the floor several time trying to get himself to the bathroom when no one answered his call for assistance. The director is quick to request the family pay extra for an outside care provider when we are paying them to provide the care. My father ended up in the hospital after becoming severly dehydrated and his blood sugar level dropped dangerously low. They claim to have a nurse on staff but not sure if she is a registered nurse because she doesnt seem to be very knowlegeable in caring for the elderly.

My wife and visited the rehab side of Bellingham, the rehab looked nice, clean, most of the staff where friendly and smiled and greeted us. But in a far corner of one of the hallways, we could see maybe two staff members having a heated conversation. As we went though the building one of what we though was a staff member in that heated conversation was actually a daughter of a patient their at Bellingham, she express to us when she was very upset, that bellingham is a Medicare place only, or private pay. But when you run out of your 100 days the community will kick your Dad or Mom to the curb. We where in shock, we asked the Executive Director about this before we left and she said that the social services staff would help with placement. Before we left we spoke to the Admissions Director to ask about the 100 days of Medicare and then where do we go from there. My wife and I don't know if she was still in the fighting mood cause she was the second person involved in that heated discussion with that family member that left very angry. Needless to say Carolyn , the Admissions person said in a very loud voice, after the 100 days, if you don't have the money. We will send you packing. With that the Executive Director, said the tour is over and pulled the Admissions person away from us. Not a Great first impression. And I would leave my Father-in-law here for rehab, NO WAY. AVOID THIS REHAB, we finally have him at the Wellington, off route 352. That Admissions person Carolyn needs to fired. We actually called the [Removed] hotline and reported her behavior.

There many other facilities offering exemplary care and service to older adults. The administration at Clare Oaks is the problem Incompetent facility administrator (Tiffany )rude and clearly inexperienced in care of frail older adults . Does not belong in senior care Debbie social worker is inept .She does not possess skill or knowledge to be of assistance to anyone .She is unfamiliar with basic knowledge required of any social service. Kim is equally ignorant and lacks basic health care knowledge

There were good people – wonderful people who made a difference, and then there were some that just didn’t care. It’s beautiful. It’s very expensive. Please be careful. They’re under staffed. If your loved one is very vulnerable, please be cautious.

My grandmother lives here and I get calls every day about how terrible it is. When she first moved in she thought things were going to be great. That the food was going to be excellent, residents were happily living there and so much more. The sales lady sold her a lie. There are constant issues here, food being the biggest one. The staff forget to bring her a menu for meals, constantly mess up her order, the food is cold and there are even days her breakfast is never given to her. On her call to me today she told me that the Christmas decorations that were being put up are cheap and tacky. She is afraid to leave her apartment because the director of the building, [name removed] , is not enforcing residents to wear their masks and social distance. The covid has been spreading throughout the building due to the lack of precautions. There have been many attempts to bring the concerns to the directors attention from what I have been told and there has been no action. I am very disappointed in ALL of the management staff here, especially [name removed]. I hear complaints about food, activities, billing and even the maintenance. My grandma is so unhappy. Once things start calming down we are going to start looking at other senior facilities most definitely . I needed to write this review because what they are selling is a lie and I would hate for anyone to put their loved one here.

We had a very bad experience with First and Main Commerce Township. We had a great experience with the tour guide and had a plan in place with a smooth transition, but it did not end up that way. We were here 24 hours and they did not have his medication when we moved my dad in, so my dad ended up having a breakdown and we had to get him transferred. This was a major set back for our family. The staff required me to stay for 48 hours with no notice with my dad since he had a breakdown. They had me sleep in the hallways which was very unacceptable. I do think that this would be a good place for someone in a typical situation, but we just had a bad experience.

I wouldn't let me worst enemy stay at this community. This community didn't take care of my loved one with their memory care issues. The staff didn't know what they were doing, and they didn't have enough staff when my loved one was there. I had to deal with the CEO of this company, because of them not taking care of my loved one. There were always excuses of the staff of why things weren't being taken care of with my loved one. We moved my loved one out of the community within one month of their stay at this community. The monthly fee wasn't worth it, since they didn't do what they said. They promised to take my loved one to mass and then said that we weren't going to devout an individual staff member to taking my loved one to services.

Though the building may look nice this facility is the biggest mistake you could make for a loved one. My parent was one of the first residents and our hopes were high. They can not retain permanent employees and the staff is majority comprised of temp agencies with no continuity or dedication to the residents. The management is awful and with no compassion. Their policies during covid were conducted like that of a prison. The housekeeping was stopped for 6 months with no family allowed in to help. Dining closed, it was horrendous! To top it off we were told that mold had developed in many rooms by staff. The filth in the room when we finally got in to move my parent was unreal!!! We paid 8k a month.

First hand experience- First Cypress sold the memory care on being able to press a button. Upon moving in this button is located at the front of the door which means your loved one has to walk, crawl or scream to get service. Secondly, the transition was horrible. There is no welcome committee or sit down to go over medications, special routines etc. I actually had to seek out the director to get attention. Third, their system of care is every 3 hours they check on your loved ones. That can be a long time. They are understaffed and as your loved one declines their staff maintain the same level of people therefore do not expect more time to be offered to your loved one. Many people bring private staff in because it can be lonely. if your loved one is not a person who engages in activities then do not expect a lot of personal attention.

Your facility advertises 24 hours a day, 7 days a week staffing as well as the same for a licensed nurse, assuming that there is one of each on each floor. It does not designate that this staffing and nurse represents one each for the entire building, or if it represents one for each floor, most especially in assisted living and most especially in memory care. After 8:00 pm, it is impossible to find anyone or have anyone answer the telephone on that floor. It seems that someone should be present at the floor desk at all times. My sister has been in your facility for over one year now, paying over $6,000 a month. You advertise there is a secured memory care sundeck that the memory care occupants can visit and sit at. To this date, there has been no such thing. This sundeck has been torn up and inaccessible. Although it is still advertised, there is no such thing. The air conditioning system is very poor, often causing the rooms to reach 78 degrees. This facility is understaffed and there is no physical therapy. It's like bait and switch with false advertising.

I was a independent living resident at Balfour-Ann Arbor for 7 months - the first resident to move in when they opened in November 2019 and the first to leave in June 2020. In my opinion, this is NOT a good place for anyone to live, let let alone any senior! Most of the foregoing is the tip of the iceberg, but in a nutshell, what I have written says plenty to raise a huge “red flag” to potential residents of any Balfour facility, since they are all owned and managed by the Corporation Headquarters in Colorado. Balfour-Ann Arbor has 3 areas of living - Independent, Assisted and Memory Care. I was looking for a facility that had these things, but I wanted them to all be physically separated and that the areas did not co-mingle. I was assured more than once, and by more than one person, that each area had its own dining room and there was no mixing of residents. I told the leasing persons on more than one occasion when I checked on this initially as well as subsequently that I would not move into Balfour if the 3 areas co-mingled. Again, I was always assured that they did not co-mingle and that is one way Balfour was different than other places of this type. In about February, 2020, a situation arose that made me question whether that was indeed the case after I moved in. At that time, I asked the person I talked to on more than one occasion when I was looking into Balfour and she told me the exact opposite. She indicated that the three areas could mix and use any and all parts of the facility and that anyone could eat in any dining room they wanted. I was shocked to say the least. I checked with a couple of others who signed up about the same time I did and they were told the same thing I was. In my opinion, the Ann Arbor facility is totally disorganized and chaotic in almost every respect, except for the kitchen staff. The original staff, as well as many many subsequent employees, have either quit or been fired and almost nothing gets done that you ask for over and over, if at all, and you continue to pay for services you do not receive. Balfour is like an employee revolving door and has never been fully staffed. except maybe on the first few days. And, a large number of employees are incompetent and/or have insufficient on-the-job training and supervision to do their jobs. If they are competent, they have too much work to do because of understaffing and are unable to speak up for fear of losing their jobs and end up quitting at some point. The Associate Executive Director, who took over when the Corporation fired the Executive Director shortly after the facility opened, is overwhelmed with so many jobs to do; thus, he cannot possibly keep up. In addition, medical updates sent to the residents and families on a regular basis by the Corporation were almost always glowing about how well Balfour and the residents were doing keeping the virus out of their facilities. However, in Ann Arbor, in all instances but one, they never really informed residents there about the fact that the facility had never been risk free from anyone getting the virus in the facility. This was because of, among other things, selected resident reprehensible self-serving behaviors that almost continually put all residents and staff there at risk as well as contradictory or misinformation from the Corporation about the length of time someone needed to be in quarantine or whether they should be quarantined at all, The fact the virus has not gotten into the Ann Arbor facility is not because of anything Balfour did. It is quite simply a major miracle it did not. The “Balfour Way,” as they call it by the Corporation, REALLY means to give you as little as possible, despite what their literature and the Corporation says, and for residents to not complain. And, if you do, they threaten you with legal action and termination of your lease, like they did with me. In addition, they charge you a lot of money to live there that basically pays for all the decorating “fluff” and hollow promises of what they will be doing for you. Both of these things are part of the hook to sell you on this facility. The COVID-19 virus was not the problem, it just exposed a myriad of systemic problems with this Corporation that one might not have noticed right away under normal circumstances, but they sure became apparent quickly when you tried to get even the simplest of things done here before and during the virus. This is not to say that local staff are totally unresponsive. They are polite about requests and employees are nice to the residents, but there is largely no resolution to any of your complaints and requests, which has continued since they opened. Since, Balfour-Ann Arbor is only 7 months old, I would highly suggest that you research the other Balfour facilities and access sites online that give accounts of other resident reviews of all the other Balfour properties (in Colorado) and their experiences with this Corporation and things that people were/are not happy with at those facilities BEFORE signing up to live in one of their facilities. I would also read online internet reviews of employee experiences at other Balfour facilities. There are only 2 reviews of the Ann Arbor property from employees - one positive and one negative - and no reviews by any residents (current or former) except mine. But, I personally know at least one other current resident that is leaving Balfour-Ann Arbor soon because of the problems there, and residents continue to complain about things there that never get addressed. For some reason unknown to me, they still don’t realize after six months of complaining that they never will. I lived and learned, and I hope I can save someone else from making the same mistake or at least be fully informed.