Merrill Gardens

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.

My loved ones moved out of Merrill Gardens [date removed] ago to a private home. They were very unhappy with Merrill Gardens management. Serious negative experience with general manager and senior management overall, but much more positive experience with kitchen and other support staff. Many concerns for example senior management refused to provide basic. Meals were hit or miss. We understand that overall they were probably better than many other places but for the $, ?? Our main concern was not having low sodium options. The games and other silly activities were fine for those who like that but intellectual activities, such as book club and community discussion. Too expensive not to have better service/care from management.

There was poor communication from administrators that resulted in us leaving to another facility

My mother was a resident at The Pines for about a year and a half prior to her death. They were mostly understaffed with high employee turnover, and not equipped to handle the issues that come along with caring for someone with Alzheimer's or dementia. My mother did not receive the level of care or understanding that she deserved. Her room was rarely cleaned, her personal hygiene was not up to par, her belongings were often lost and never found, and communication was poor. It seems their way of dealing with the disease is to heavily medicate patients. She fell almost daily during her last few months there and they did not have the staff to keep an eye on her to keep her safe.

Was very disappointed by leadership, cold and unhelpful. Turmoil in memory care staff, management of medications, dealing with typical dementia symptoms. Overall experience was painful and upsetting. Would not recommend

We moved her out because she wasn't getting the care she needed there was a time they didn't shower her for over a month...they just put her in her room after meals... and forgot to take her to dinner one time... so many things we moved her.. it looked nice when you went in but ??? If you could walk it was a decent place but if you needed assistance it wasn't good.

The memory care unit was not as presented. I was told there were activities for residents, but upon every visit, at various times of day and night, residents, often appearing drugged, were seated in wheelchairs in front of the TV. Because of some typical Alzheimer's behaviors exhibited by my loved one, along with only two staff working at night, I was told I had to hire around the clock "sitters" at $[removed] an hour in addition to the almost $[removed] I was paying for so-called "memory care." That would have been around $[removed] per month total! Fortunately, I was able to find an actual memory care facility that truly knew how to care for Alzheimer's patients. They knew how to deal with behaviors without forcing families to pay extra for "sitters." They also provided everything including furniture down to toilet paper! Also, the new place was about $[removed] a month less for much better professional care. They actually had lots of activities every day! I felt blessed to find a much better place!

I would tell others looking into Truewood by Merrill, Roseville that management really does work hard in helping the people get adjusted and connected with other renters. That would be [name removed] and [name removed] that I know of and have met. And the facility is clean and orderly as well.

The staff continually called me or my sister for support for my mom, often times requesting that we come to the facility at all hours to help them when she was upset. This defeats the purpose of us paying a facility to take care of her. They seemed to keep the common areas clean. Not giving a 5 is based on the fact that the staff never washed my moms linens or towels (which was promised to be done weekly). The staff working with my mom was sometimes very kind and helpful. There were many times when there was a leak in my mom's room, or a lack of support for her that we were told they were unable to be of assistance. The administrative staff was extremely disorganized, had poor communication, and when asked to clarify, they claimed I was being unclear. We were told one thing by one administrator and the complete opposite by another. Quality of care rates a 1 for lack of attention to housekeeping and continuously calling family for help. It was more affordable but lacked the quality of care and support for my mom and our family.

The place turned out to be very clickish, and unwelcoming to new residents. Transportation to Doctor appoints fell short. The hours it was offered, 8:30-12om was not enough time to complete an appointment, and making special arrangements was difficult. The single elevator was old and prone to breakdowns. With the dining room on the third floor it was used a lot. Residents had to share the elevator with staff hauling trash and kitchen waste as there was no service elevator. The only other way to get up and down were stairs. Everything seemed to be about money. The general manager was loud and confrontational and very prone to choosing sides without listening to both sides if a situation. I would not go back there, nor would I recommend it to family or friends. . I could go on. There are many more ways this place fell short, but these were the highlights.