Merrill Gardens

Some staff are great but constantly say we don't have time for you. We found our Mother laying down unable to move or even reach her water. After we came in and started feeding her and giving her water she got better. They said we don't feed the residents. We understand that but they knew she hadn't eaten for 3 days and didn't notify any family members that she couldn't feed herself. they bullied and intimidated a 91 year old lady then lied to the manager about when we reported them. The only thing they care about is the $ [removed]per month that they get. Most of the food sucks, looks like road kill with gravy on it. Will be filing a complaint with the state DOH

My mother’s diamond ring was “misplaced” from her right finger. She is in memory care, has had a stroke, and doesn’t talk or walk anymore. Her rings were very tight on her fingers. After this ring went missing, my dad had to take her wedding ring off for fear of it also being “misplaced.” He and one of the caregivers had difficulty removing her wedding ring. The response from the facility was, “Things happen.” I’m disappointed for my family that this heirloom is gone.

This may be a decent place for Independent Living but is a horrible place for Assisted Living. [name removed]and [name removed] are gems and are the only two good staff besides the people who work in the dining room. Management is horrible and so are the med techs! RUN and do not come to this place.

My mom is a current resident in assisted living at Merrill Gardens. She went through covid and they left her in her room and the nurse barely helped her with anything. Now she is suffering from the stomach flu or possibly food poisoning. No one will help her. The front desk won't answer. We had to call the ambulance ourselves. This is not a good place for my mom. They can not be trusted to take care of when needed. Isn't that the point of assisted living?

Sunshine Villa was an absolute disaster. I would never send even my dog to their memory care unit. The upstairs part looked fine. But their memory care unit was unacceptable. It looked and felt like a morgue.

It was a clean facility. My loved one needed memory care, and advertised that they took care of dementia patients. My loved one was there a short period of time. They did not give them showers, do laundry or did not know how to handle my loved one. They were not giving them their medication as needed and on time. I picked this place becasue it was a smaller community. It was very expensive. It was a negative experience. The staff was not accomodating.

The food was terrible. The staff was not very good. The food is not good. The cleanliness is not good. The invoices is different every month. Overall, everything needs to improve.

I have been to the Pines in Newmarket several times. Mostly, I smelled urine throughout the halls and filthy hall bathrooms. It made me gag and I had to hold my breath. Another time, I sat in on a get-together with the elders and sat next to someone with memory issues. She was a true delight and reached out to hold my hand. I looked down at her hands and noticed black dirt under her nails. I asked her what had happened to her fingernails. She said, "my bum itches, and I have to scratch ." I went to the office and reported it to the woman there. She did come and took her away. Another time I was invited to have lunch with the elders. We were told it would be free. We were served spaghetti and sauce. My plate had at least an inch of water under the spaghetti and it was served cool. For dessert, we had ice cream. The ice cream was served with freezer burn over the top. The "chef" came running out and said we had to pay $20. I said we were told it was free. He said, nope. Never again.

This is not a good place for memory care. The staff is not equipped nor inclined to enrich the lives of residents. It works for those residents who are not able to participate. It doesn't really work for those residents who are mobile. The community is also not equipped to deal with negative behaviors associated with memory care.

Unprofessional and regular hiding of complaints by tenants and Family. Food budget cut to bone. No security. Egos roam large there. Expensive and poor cleaning of rugs - steam cleaned not once in 2 yrs. Bad place to house your loved ones. General Manager never on site or on Vacation

If you truly care about your loved one then PLEASE don't allow them to be a resident at the Ackery or any LeisureCare facility. I realize that it's a business and their goal is to make money but they're also dealing with human beings and they didn't treat our Dad as such. Once in memory care, he was left to sit in his chair for most of the day and all night and developed severe distortion in his neck. He now has trouble breathing, swallowing, and can't even look his loved ones in the eyes. We brought it to management's attentions several times and they assured us they would stay on top of it, provide us reports, and ensure that he was receiving physical therapy to fix the ailments that their neglect caused and we're still awaiting those reports. It was bad enough to move him and now he's in good hands at a fraction of the cost and in a facility that is easily putting the Ackerly to shame. Please do your homework and stay away from these places.

The staff seemed to try to help get things together and figured out but when we were there they were not. The food did not look to appetizing. Don't send anyone that you love to this community. I would not even let my dogs live here.

I would tell others that there is a disconnect between the general manager who wants to sell and keep people there versus the person in charge of determining care levels for individuals and that causes an issue.

Don't think this is for us.

I would tell others that if you have any issues or requests, it is hard to get staff members to answer and go to help your loved one. Our loved one was unable to use his phone for 6 weeks because we could not get anyone to go fix it and we could not get in to help him since it was during covid. When they initially assessed him he did not need much care, but after 30 days they reassessed him and wanted to increase his care. I wanted to set up a meeting to discuss these changes, but that did not ever happen. They drastically increased the price without any type of agreement first. The staff members were very nice, but management does not do anything about issues that come up. Overall it was not a good experience for us.

I DO NOT RECOMMEND Merrill Gardens Tacoma.1)They DON'T HONOR POLSTs.If a resident goes down staff will start CPR until the Fire DPT comes and sees the POLST. My parents have definite wishes and want no life saving measures. How distressing for my mom if her husband had a heart attack, staff would start CPR. This is a travesty to not honor a legal document.2) the manager has little compassion for elderly.My mom has vision problems.She can't see the laundry machine to work it. the manager's, response, "I have shown your mother at least 20 times.I'm not exaggerating"3)We had to hire a private care giver.Once the staff "forgot" to put sheets on their bed, they slept on mattress pads a few days.4)Response times need to be adjusted. My mom requested a medication, 2 weeks later, NOTHING!.After a procedure my mom had to ask for pain medication at least 2 hours before she needed it due to bad response times.I HIGHLY RECOMMEND if you are looking for elder care LOOK SOMEPLACE ELSE

Our loved one has diverticulitis that needs to be on a special diet, the community has orders from the doctors stating this and they still allow her to chose from the regular food menu. For the amount of money we are spending, we were expecting better care.

I would say not to put your loved ones in this community. We were told one thing and they didn't go through with their promises. The memory care area had residents sitting in wheelchairs. The staff has a lot of turnover. They cater to the people that are able to walk. The food they served to memory care residents was horrible. They had two different chefs and kitchens.

Moved in March, now it's June and I'm looking to move out.

After observing for a long period of time, I have not noticed a vacuum cleaner being operated in any of the rooms. The room of the resident I visit is always dirty - everywhere, especially the bathroom. I have only seen the room clean once in 3 years. Evidently, no one inspects to see that the rooms are cleaned, and that the clothes are washed properly, if at all - especially on the weekends.