Monarch Communities

I toured this place when looking for something for my Mom. It seemed nice enough, but it was just too big for Mom. I know if she was here she would get lost or not want to leave her room in general.

This community has an excellent director, and the activities and daily programming staff are excellent. Lots of appropriate activities for the residents. They have plenty to do on-site, and field trips for the more mobile residents. I also like that there is an independent on-site doctor and physical therapy location. They also have some serious issues. NONE of the toilets in this community are handicapped/wheelchair height, they are all standard size. They have a do-not-lift policy, which is very unusual for an assisted living facility. They will not bring medication to the residents, the residents must go to a specific location to pick up their own. The food is also disappointing, there are few selections, and no low-sodium options, which many residents need. It would also be nice if 2 bedrooms units were offered, as many residents have 24 hour aides.

She's 90 years old so it's hard to make her happy. She says the aids are stealing drinks, they're eating food on the job, but that's just her impression. The place is fine, it's not as nice as the Herrick House but it's also a lot less money. It's an older building, it's a school they rehabed and it's part of the PACE program. I don't think there's anything inherently wrong, the don't have a maintenence staff that's always painting like at Herrick. The care is fine, in fact, she's independent living, she went from assisted to independent, there's just someone coming in to help her shower. They just got rid of their activity director to cut costs. I think it's adequate, the cost is a lot less and she says the food is a lot better.

An item was delivered to her room before my cousin moved in. When I looked, the box was open and the item missing. I contacted them immediately, and there has been no resolution to date. Room size and layout seem good. There are lots of windows in her unit.

Our initial experience at The Fountains was disappointing. The staff was unprepared to receive my mom, and her emergency bracelet failed to work throughout the entire week we were there. Despite my repeated alerts, it took three days to convince them to test it. Additionally, no staff responded when I pulled every emergency button in her apartment, as the bracelet clearly wasn’t functioning. I strongly recommend that families test their loved one’s emergency devices, regardless of assurances. One aide also made my mom’s bed while attempting to cover up an accident, ignoring the soaked mattress. This was unacceptable, especially considering the high cost we’re paying. The quality of nursing care varied significantly — some staff were excellent, but others provided subpar care. The first week was particularly distressing, and we had to escalate the situation with a call to the Executive Director, [name removed]. While she offered a sincere apology, progress in addressing the issues was slow. At upwards of [fee removed] per month, we expected much higher standards. While it’s better than previous facilities we have experienced - the level of care still fell short of expectations for many months. Communication was another challenge — staff rarely answered the phone, and assistance with coordinating outside appointments was minimal. It’s crucial to manage expectations, especially for out-of-town families, as they will likely be left to navigate many of these challenges alone. That's a BIG deal. On a positive note, The Fountains offers many onsite activities in a beautiful space, and has good dining options. The residents enjoy the food in a restaurant like atmosphere. Art classes. Movies and frequent religious services are available along with a great physical therapy team and area on the lobby floor. There is a reliable shuttle service for transportation.

What they could improve on is just keeping the cost down, but I guess I would recommend this community to other families.

I would recommend to others. I would say overall it's a good place. My concern is with administration they do not clearly communicate with residents and do not explain increases. My mom was increased with no satisfactory warning or explanation. Then a rent increase followed. We picked Bella Terra based on the cost.

Our loved one appears to be cared for and healthy, and thinks the food is really good and the aides are nice, those are very important positive points. The communication around appointments with visiting doctors has been uneven but they have tried to improve it, so they're making an effort which is also good. The other residents are nice and seem happy. If the level of care goes up under their new, more expensive cost structure, the overall value will decrease substantially and the overall cost will be comparable to more expensive assisted living facilities in other areas like [removed].

I toured this community and it was ok. The memory care unit didn't seem to be very focused on memory care. Cleanliness was good. There wasn't a lot of mingling among the residents, we were told the price could change, food is a la carte and was confusing.

Our loved one was there for [dates removed] for respite care and with it being a newer facility it was really nice and super clean so that was a plus. However where most of our complaints come is directed towards to executive director. Whenever we would reach out via text, phone call or email with any questions o concerns we rarely ever received a response back.

Our family had an in person tour and it just had a nursing home feel to it, it did not really blow us away like the other communities we were looking at.

My loved one was at Spring Meadows Summit for about 6 months and we had to move out because they felt that they could not provide the care that he was needing. I was not super impressed with our experience here.

We chose Landmark at Ocean View because we knew someone who was already here and also the price was right for us, they were more affordable than others we looked into. We liked that they are a privately owned facility. The room sizes here are very nice. The nurses were great and they tried their best to care for my mother. The facility offers a good variety of activities for residents. It would be nice to have more communication from the staff members. I would recommend to others looking.

I went with Bella Terra beause of what they said they offered and I liked the layouts of the apartments. There is a new company that took over in February, so I am curious to see what change they will be making. We are still in lock down so all they have as far as activities is bingo and jeopardy. The residents here are wonderful and it is not a place you feel like you have to keep your door locked at all times. Overall I would recommend to others who are looking.

They are in the transition of being bought out, so capital one is no longer the owner. I am not sure how good the cleaning is, I think it is just very basic but I think they should be doing more than they are. The food here is not good. My mother does not eat it sometimes, there is not variety and the quality is not good. Overall I would still recommend them, they just need to improve on these things.

Do your research before and make sure the community meets your needs. The communication needs to improve between the staff and the family. They do not return calls in a timely manner, and I would like more info and updates. I would not recommend this community at this time.

The food is ok but there is not a lot of variety, Your loved one needs to be healthy and completely for this community, if they are I would definitely recommend this community to others

Activities cancelled a lot. Food is not too good.

My loved one resides here I have to be honest it’s ok definitely not as attractive decor as other Brandywines Food served at poor temp so needs to be hot Many visit I find snacks empty on Reflections this should be replenished as well as the hydration with fresh iced drinks The fruit in main dining area that sits out is always old spoiled not appealing One issue is Activities I’m so tired of coming in to Reflections to see them in front of a tv sleeping or left to stare at each other The coordinator when you approach her she claims she does activities but I never see a calendar I never see activities unless tv or weekend sing alongs where’s the trips? Trivia somthing I have been in at 10a 11a 1p 2p and same day after day when they do watch a movie in Reflections it’s on small tv It’s very concerning this escapades Director needs to go look at other brandywines I have wanted to speak up to [name removed] or [name removed] but to be honest I think that Director would be evil to my mom in return

Spring Meadows has good size rooms and the staff seemed very nice and had a lot of good information. The outside surroundings are lovely, but the inside looks very tired and is need of a face lift.