Merrill Gardens

There is no communication between the staff and the employees at this community. It feels like there is no chain of command and they are doing what they want to do with the patients. They don't call me when I need to know things about my love one and more. There are people there that I truly like but things are not going well. It feels like a lot of things are being swept under the rug and I do not like it, I am just not happy period.

On my tour at Merrill Gardens, I was not satisfied with their answer to some of my questions regarding their dementia care.

Our family had an in person tour and it was just not going to be a good fir for our loved one

Our family had an in person tour and the lady who showed us around was not the most knowledgeable - but to her defense she was subbing in for the lady who was actually supposed to give us the tour. The finishes are more down scale which we were not very impressed with, but we absolutely loved the rooftop gardens. We were able to sit up there for awhile and actually speak with another residents. However the residents told us the meals were dreadful, and if you need assistance and call a staff member for help it could take hours for them to come.

My loved one is safe, and the environment at The Pines is safe. They are keeping an eye out for her and they do tend to her. But the quality of the care is lacking and not amazing. She doesn't need as much care, but other than them making sure that she eats every day, I'm not sure what they're doing for her, especially regarding memory care. Every time I drop in, she's in her room doing nothing. The food is terrible. I don't ever see activities going on, although I know they have a few here and there. They are not doing a good job of keeping her room clean, and her laundry is not getting done at all. I've talked to the daily staff about some of my concerns, but I don't think that's getting conveyed where it needs to in order to effect change. At this point I probably need to talk to management. I do appreciate that my loved one is safe and fed, and the staff are mostly friendly. But I would like to see so much more.

The facility very nice, however the care services were completely lacking. The first day our loved one moved in no one came to her room until the afternoon and that was after she pressed the help call button. We told them she needed help with her medication, they thought she could do it independently which resulted in her running out of her medicine way to quickly. The place is very nice and the people are nice, but the care was non existent.

Our tour was not nearly as good or as involved as the one we had at the community we ended up choosing. Merrill Gardens didn't spend as much time with us or offer us a meal. It was during Covid times, and things were just starting to open back up. But the deal breaker for our loved one was there was no in-room laundry.

My loved one did not like the feeling of these communities and that was the only reason that we did not go with this community.

Good housekeeping, & good food. Front desk staff are rude and unhelpful. They can help with meds but not insulin so they don’t really provide diabetic care.

Our family had an in person tour, and because of the restrictions we were not able to walk around the community. We were able to see some of the model rooms which were nice. The facility is very nice, but it is quite large so we thought it would be overwhelming for our loved one.

Most important Ball Game no TV gee not a priaraty Breakfast this morning Cold pancakes drinkable oatmeal, not what I expected for the money.

We virtually toured this community. The staff was very friendly and shared a lot of great information. The tour was good but we couldn't do an in-person tour due to covid

The apartments are small and out of date. They need fresh paint and some basic upgrades. The staff is very friendly but the residence here are much older and there is not much communication. The community is kept fairly neat and clean.

After visiting a patient 3 times ,by appointment I am still disappointed in this place.We have never seen anything beyond the visiting room ,which is very dirty.I understand the Covid restrictions but things are far too secretive for me.We asked if we could visit in the courtyard,the reply from staff member was “ I don’t know how I can get you there ! Really,does she not know where it is or is it not accessible by the patients,my sister is mobile and could walk there. What is the harm in visiting in her room ? Or the activities area ?

For the most part the care was great. They seemed overwhelmed when our loved one was there. The response time on the call button from the residents pushing it was slower than expected. There have been residents that have contracted COVID, and we don't know the protocols the community is taking to ensure this doesn't happen again.

The food is horrible here. No one can hardly eat it. It's really bad. The employees are really nice and really helpful, and that's the only reason I stay. Some have been here a lot of years. But the office staff is rude to us. They're not as friendly as they used to be, and they don't make me feel as comfortable I don't know why they don't get with it and see what is happening. I see people moving out, and it should be looked in to. The activities are mediocre. They're not organized or put together very well. I'm grateful I can spend time with my family instead. It could be a much better place if they had better people running it in the inside office. I thought I was getting a good deal before, but I'm not anymore. I'm having to buy my own groceries, and all the food was supposed to be included.

Go young, don't be old when you get there. If you fall they send you to the hospital and then they can't welcome you back into the community. They are unable to handle skilled nursing. I would like to see skilled nursing offered at this community. The best thing about the community is the good location, and nicely set up.

You'll still pay full price even though they're not doing half the things you're paying for. Right now there are no activities, no cleaning service, no laundry. The common areas are kept clean, but they're not going into resident rooms to clean at all. The staff are mostly good, except for one bad apple who has no patience for the elderly. But most of them are very nice. The food is very bland. Overall they're just too expensive for what they offering right now.

When my mom first moved in, the facility was not ran properly. They not have a new director and administrator, so since they have made these changes they have come a long ways and are improving. They brought on a lot of new staff as well which has been good. The meals were being delivered and it was cold and they did not have a lot of variety. They only had 2 things to pick from for lunch, and whatever you do not pick that is what you get for dinner. They did just start going to the dining room, so it may improve. They have been doing a little more activities the past month since things are starting to open back up, so we are excited for that.

The communication is lacking towards the families, staff, and residents. If there are activities the residents don't know about it, unless the resident stumbles on to it. The community didn't even know when the quarantine was to start and stop. The community overall is nice, and most of the staff are friendly. The consistency in rules is another concern. For example, there was no separation of staff and residents for vaccines.