Life Care Services LLC

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.

my husband was in the facility for one week and passed away from necleck it is nice on the outside however the iside or his room was dull walls painted white nothing to look at not to metion he was in the hospital for 2 momths and he was fine .I would not let my dog be in this place

Well, needless to say the covid lockdown has changed things a lot here lately. But overall we have been more disappointed gradually since the new director/dictator [name removed] came to power. This lady is always trying to sneak around or hide in the front office. She lets people freely in and out of the building with NO masks. No respect for us and that we are able to catch the covid easier than most. We get weekly letters which up date us on the situation, but no follow through. Now she wants to reopen things. The actual building is beautiful and has lots of amenities, a gym, aerobic room with chairs, a very nice bar and rec room. But some things have fallen off. The activities were never really good even before the covid, now my friend and I just see them push a cart around all the time like something was just thrown together. The food was delicious in the beginning, went down hill significantly, but has recently gotten better the last month or so, better dessert selection WITH sugar free options finally! We will probably be looking to move out if things continue in this direction. My friend that lives a floor below me told me her daughter put a review and that it did not even get posted. Real honest business practices I see, wonder what else [name removed] is hiding?

I’ve been here for a while now, almost 9 months. This place has significantly declined. It was very good in the beginning, the most disappointing thing is that after speaking with my neighbors- we are concerned that the reviews are being filtered/doctored. There have been several of us that have left reviews on google and they do not appear, and magically all these new fantastic reviews are popping up at the same time? Why hide the true resident reviews and create false ones about the executive director? We all gathered at the beginning of the covid epidemic and collectively wrote her a letter advising we we’re going to petition her out after the covid. She has been allowing visitors in under lockdown, not enforcing masks or social distancing, as well as not reporting the death from covid and the true number of cases to the public health department. THIS CONCERNS US!!! Over 2 weeks ago a resident death- NOTHING reported!! She hides the truth on all accounts, even down to review censoring I can’t believe, so deceptive! We are a high risk population and deserve respect and the truth should be told to others in the community as well that are looking for a new home.

I have been living at Clarendale for a about 8 months now. Things were great at first. All the staff was friendly and the executive director, [name removed], at the time really knew what she was doing. Things have drastically gone downhill since the end of last year. We got a new director, [name removed], who doesn’t seem to have a clue about anything. The way she speaks to us is very condescending. She has no compassion for us residents, especially during this tough time. She lets people gather in the front, doesn’t mandate masks and tries to cover up people having the COVID. We have already lost one of our fellow residents due to [name removed]'s lack of social responsibility. It’s very unfortunate. My neighbor told me her daughter put a truthful review on Google, but it never showed up. [Name removed] must be filtering these reviews so people don’t know the truth. I think it’s important that people know how Clarendale really is so they don’t get their hopes up by the pretty building. I have started looking at other places to live. The Radcliff seems to be very promising and the man running the building seems very friendly. He actually sat down and talked with me, which is something I have yet to experience with [name removed]. I am looking forward to the day I can move out.

My parents lived here for four months. The building is beautiful. The executive director could not solve the poor food quality. She hired a new executive chef and the quality declined further. Also if you have animal allergies, this is not the place for you.

Never put your family at this place. My mom stay 15 days but they never gave her bath not even washing face or hand. I trying ask some information staff doesn't know anything. Whenever I am there most staff watching computer play with cellphone. I can not believe how can this place got such good reviews and 5 stars. NEVER NEVER PUT YOUR FAMILY. My experience is this place NOT even one star.

This place is horrible . I went to visit my mom , her room smelled of old urine like it hasn’t been cleaned in days. My mother who wasn’t able to feed herself was left alone with a plate of food in front of her and no-one cared to check on her. The staff made me very uncomfortable they kept asking me if I’m ready to leave . Met a woman there who was visiting her husband , the poor woman was crying because she couldn’t get these lazy woman do anything. My mother was elderly and sick but she died at this facility of neglect . Her legs turned black from knees to toes in 3 mos They wouldn’t let me speak to her when I called . I complained to [name removed], the manager but it went nowhere . If you care about your loved one don’t sent them to Freedom Square.

Don't put anyone you love in this awful place. It may look nice but is run by the most incompetent staff I have ever seen. And the CNA's are horrible to the residents

This is not a place if you need help or assistance. It was a terrible experience for my mother. I would not recommend it to anyone.

After many years of uneventful life in independent living (where the only problem was how the food went downhill after Brookdale took over), my mother had a stroke, suffered paralysis, and spent her final 6 years at the "Inn" - skilled nursing. Staffing was a problem, the nurses overworked, the aides as well (some of whom were desperately in need of more training). A supposed slip from a chair (mind you, she was partially paralyzed) broke her leg, and 90 days later she was dead. The wound was not cared for properly and became necrotic. Opiates were necessary to keep her painfree. The aide who "found" her was covered up for by the staff, even though the ones who knew us gave me the wink wink, nudge nudge when parroting the corporate line. Avoid skilled nursing there at all costs. Your loved one's life may depend on it.