Merrill Gardens

My parents have lived at Merrill Gardens for the past few years. Staffing is always a problem. Chef quits regularly and any good staff leaves for better paying jobs. Can't keep a general manager. Food is horrible. If you need any help with daily living, they charge even more. Very expensive and rent is always going up. They need to pay a decent wage and try to keep staffing consistent. I do not recommend this place.

We toured this community and it wasn't a good experience, in fact, it made me a little nervous in regards to thinking that all communities were going to be like this. The place was clean however it was very depressing no activities being done the residents were sitting around in what looked to be the dining area. There was nothing on the tables the community just had no personality to it. As you were walking around you couldn't help but notice a smell that was not pleasant. The staff was a little pushy trying to get us to commit to a lease and as we were walking around we didn't see a lot of staffing.

This place is pretty good!

I visited my friends in their apartment and was given a tour by them. Except for the high cost, I was favorably impressed until we had lunch. The salad bar was fresh, but very limited. The entrees, however, were almost inedible. Fish tasted old and unpleasant. The ribs were burned and tough and left uneaten. Friends said they had a new chef who was trained at Cordon Blue, I believe. If so, he must have graduated at the bottom of his class...or he falsified his resume. Desert was good, but I am sure it was purchased from elsewhere.. This is an expensive place. No excuse for poor food. I'll pass.

Not the best of care.

They seem to be a little understaffed even though they have the "required minimum" if anyone is sick or needs extra help there isn't really anyone "extra" to give them attention. We have had to move our Mom because she needed a little extra help getting settled (she was slapping her legs and yelling No!) and they felt it was disruptive to other residents. We know that if there would have been at least one "extra" person that could have gone to her and comforted her she would have settled down. She is really not disruptive to other residents (per our observations) she just needed a little extra attention at certain times and there weren't enough staff to help make that happen. She was given 3 weeks to acclimate - since we've never been through such a thing before we don't know if this was a "normal" time period for her to settle. We looked to their expertise and were told they had not ever dealt with such behavior and couldn't give advice. That was hard to believe since we personally know two other families with dementia parents who have exhibited the same types of frustration behavior. We don't feel like they were much help with advice upon move-in or with what to expect. We got the standard answer of "everyone is different" and when our mom started having her frustrations the staff were saying she was fine and getting better but the administration was saying that she was a problem and we would probably have to move her. At 5 weeks in they seemed to be short staffed due to illness and that is when we were given 30 days to find a new place for Mom. The truth is we think she was settling quite well and when she was upset if she was given a hug and distracted she would calm right down and her "episodes" were generally first thing in the morning when she was frustrated with getting dressed and whenever she was asked a question that she couldn't answer. I would think that experts in the field of memory care would understand that frustration from someone who can't even remember their own name. I have to say that if you have a family member who is cheerful and easy in all ways or docile and not hard to take care of then Willow Park is a great facility but if you have any issues of any kind this is probably not a wise choice. I make this observation by spending many hours per week at the facility with my mom and observing the other residents and their interactions with staff. They are wonderful caring people - they just don't have much time for any individual attention beyond bathing, dressing, feeding... Hope this helps

Although, my mother has started her rent as of March 1st, she has not as yet moved in. It would not be a fair evaluation at this point. She has gone to Fig Garden for several meals, but she still needs to move furniture into her living space and as yet has not even spent the night. She has felt welcomed and included into the circle of table mates. Perhaps another month she will be able to haved moved in and can offer an opinion.

It’s so new. We went and the staff was so new. It was all young people and they were just all scatter brained. Mom did not want to take a chance with them because it was just a young, inexperienced staff.

We were promised a credit on rent because of a referral from current resident. The resident or my father in-law did not get it. They promised a good friends make great neighbors a discount that you get after living for 3 months. We have been there 6 and no discount and they keep jumping through hoops

The facility at the time we visited… -65 age to get into the facility -everyone we saw were in wheelchair/rollater. - long walks to get anywhere

Merrill Gardens at Barkley Place wasn't what we thought it would be. The apartments were dark and not very cheery. The restaurant served the same meals each week, many barely warm. Also, the cleaning crew was lacking.

The place is beautiful. It is not intended for independent living. The apartments are very small. the food choices are limited. The mini kitchens are not built to supplement the choices. You allow dogs but tell me that the dogs urinate In the public patio. Stool is to be picked up but the urine is washed down only once a day at night. The ambiance is beautiful but all I saw was people sitting alone, not talking to others. No one was smiling or having a good time.

Communication is not good there. Expectations set by facility were not met. Also there has been quite a bit of turnover since last September. 2 activities directors have left and 1 director in the dementia care side has left

My dad suffered a stroke 20 days in and was dehydrated although I was paying for them to take him to the dining room I don't believe they were. He had indents on his knees for being on the floor so long and took hours to call the hospital or myself to get a report thus they didn't do the stoke protocol due to the delay in reporting. The person who sold me on the placement was great but minute I signed everything was chaotic and all over the place. Feces left in the hallway I had to report to get cleaned. It was not the place for my dad. But he is at an amazing place now. I would never recommend them for a family member with beginning dementia. They are just not equipped for the adequate supports.

This is based on my loved ones comments who is at Merrill Gardens. Our loved ones biggest complaint is there is high turnover with employees.

I've been here for [date removed]. It doesn't seem well managed. 7 top tier employees left. And they hired questionable people, who also quit. There isn't any continuity. On my floor there are 4 empty rooms. So no one is wanting to move in. And many are leaving. On the upside, [name removed]in activities, is always planning things for enrichment. And chef Adam does very good with the budget constraints. And he cares about the people. Again on the minus side, they don't vet the incoming guests. Once they had to hire armed security to follow one guy. And they replaced him with someone equally disturbed. Police escorted both out. My point being, I question the safety here.

I think the Assisted Living area at Merrill Gardens is well-suited for many people, but I cannot recommend the Memory Care unit. The staff there was not helpful in resolving issues with our loved one, and we often felt the responsibility was placed on the family rather than being addressed by the team. We ultimately moved to another facility where the level of care has been excellent, with noticeably more staff and nurses available per resident.

They're a little snobbish specially the staff members I was treated really bad so I left found a much better place. I'm happier.

The property is in need of constant repairs. The pool roof caved in while my mom was there and the elevator quits regularly. The balconies are in need of repair. The front facade cannot be cleaned. The current Mgr is disrespectful to the residents and their families.

There has been a lot of employee turnover, so they have been short staffed pretty much the whole time [name removed] has been there. I would not recommend Merrill Gardens at Willow Grove at this time.