Merrill Gardens

Improve the chef and menu. The menu was very limited and one dimensional. Such as for lunch, a sandwich on sandwich, bread and chips. No other choices, no alternate menu. At times, we understand there was no chef at all and just staff making sandwiches. The lack of menu variety was not good.

Touring and the staff were initially great and we were promised all kinds of things. After the lease was signed, suddenly communication dropped off with administrative staff, there have been staffing shortages, surprise bills, cleanliness declined severely, my dad's fees were increased $[removed]without notice, I've been trying for weeks to get a hold of admin without success, finally had to get the ombudsman involved. Positives: the staff in the memory care - Garden House, is amazing! They love my dad and treat him as family. They are just way understaffed. The activities director is the best! She sends me text pictures of my dad and communicates with me about my dad because I'm 3,000 miles away.

I can tell you the staff in the garden house are all caring and watchful over mom. Food is good. My biggest concern is cost vs actual care and services. They are up $[removed] since mom came on a year ago.

Everyone that works there is very polite and helpful. [name removed]the med director is fabulous. I wish they had one level of care in memory care. It has gotten quite expensive for the services provided. There are very few activities for those that can still engage!

Good facility as long as you're not a memory care resident. They don't know how to divert the patient out of memory situation. A worker actually called me at home telling me my aunt wanted to go out .They did not how to divert her .You pay for extra help for memory care level but they don't have the extra help to give the patient .She fell needed ice on her arm she kept taking it off instead of them figuring out how to keep it on The pines Director of nursing [name removed] said she wasn't compliant so they gave up . Memory care patients need that extra care

They recently lost a lot of staff to another facility so the activities have been scaled way down. The chef just left. There was a power outage and the elevators weren't working for a day. They have asked management about the possibility of a generator but they aren't planning on having one. The new facility manager seems a bit out of touch. Newly remodeled which is very nice. Food is only ok. Staff is friendly however they are short staffed

Stayed for only 6 months and moved to facility with much better activities. At Truewood the residents were set in front of the TV for most of the day. Not unusual for aides sitting with them busy on their phones. I think they do much better with the assisted living group. Not really equipped to take care of those with memory disabilities. Probably Not Great for Memory Care as the assisted living group seems much more active. I guess you get what you pay for. Truewood is $[removed] a day, current memory care facility $[removed] a day.

Directors motto was. I’m nice to them until I start getting their money and I could care less about them. She treated me like shit three times in in four months. The elevator was down and there was no way for me to get down from my floor to do anything or do any go outside anything because I couldn’t go down the stairs with the walker Food not always the best. You could’ve used some work. I know there was a combination of our old shift and a new chef and our old chef on certain days. It was ridiculous. Activities were very, very little.

My mom did not like food at all. The medical assistance people were very kind, but the administration was just ok (not as friendly) The place was clean and the activities were good.

This is a great place for someone who is fairly independent. While the caregivers from [removed] are amazing, they don’t have enough staff to provide one to one care. The food is great and they always have a choice of at least two options. The director was rude and the customer service has some room for improvement. Overall, this place offers a nice environment with lots of activities for residents, but my family member needed more care.

I would say that it is good for independent living if you don't need their additional services for care. The care they offer not good and VERY expensive at least for the independent living. I have no experience with the memory care side.. When my parents needed more care we had to move them to a residential board and care

They lie about cost but the staff is great. The staff is great but billing will lie and take extra money so I give it a 3

I moved into an apartment that had not been properly maintained or ready for a new tenant. The floor in the living area was warped. I tripped over it repeatedly. I can only assume they were waiting for me to fall before fixing. The bathroom vanity needed to be refinished in a small area. It looked very worn. Outlets are all loose. The only things they actually fixed were the dryer vent because I said it was a fire hazard. And the toilet because it was running. They thought I meant overflowing so came immediately. The food leaves much to be desired. Breakfast is served and immediately after, they start packing the orders for lunch and put them on the table for residents to pick up. They might sit there for 2-4 hours. That is not safe. Same for dinner. Food is mostly the same thing over and over. I hope you like fish. They are supposed to knock 4 times before entering and one person just used key and tried to walk right in while I was sitting in my chair. No explanation.

We moved after 6 months to a rental on my son's property. We concluded we were not disabled enough to take full advantage of all the services. The facility was comfortable and quiet. Staff was helpful. The monthly fee at the upper limit of our budget and we really moved because we could meet our needs more economically with a little help from our family.

We lived in the independent living section and getting our aides from another company which I paid separately and was very happy with. I felt that what I was getting for the amount I was paying Truewood wasn't worth it. They were short staffed so the staff was overworked although extremely friendly. The Companion Service was overpriced because I got less than half of the services quoted in the contract for the same price. My husband and I moved out and into a beautiful apartment complex after 11 months saving approximately [fee removed] a month. I did keep the separate company for my aides. We're so much happier now.

Do not expect concrete answers, Callbacks, or assistance if the resident is truly in need of any emergency type services due to unforeseen circumstances. The sales staff and the administration make promises of being there for residence, regardless of their status. However, if something happens to set resident who may otherwise be able to live independently, they will lie to you and ignore your calls and otherwise just seem to care about one thing: MONEY!

I was disappointed to realize there was no medical oversight. My mom has high blood pressure that she takes meds for. Fortunately she is in the habit of taking her blood pressure every day bc she caught it herself when it started to go up. I took her to the Dr & they increased her meds.

They are easy to deal with and pleasant - I do not really have many complaints. They are presently on food unfortunately activities are up to residents. If you are interested in what they have to offer I would recommend Merrill Gardens.

This place is depressing and a big disappointment.

[name removed] got Covid there, but their doc said cause of death was Alzheimer's which he was never diagnosed with. A simple worksheet on what do do when someone dies was not provided. Communication from staff was mostly good, but sometimes very bad. Activities were not done daily. Many food items were not easy for residents to eat. I moped his room floor many times myself. The cost was less than other places but not sure that is the case now. I was told there would be gathers for resident families that never took place.