Morningside Elite Management

The food leaves a lot to be desired. The dining room manager is surly and has an excuse for everything. It doesn't appear that the resident's ideas are listened to. Good stuff like coconut shrimp. donuts, pastries, etc have all but disappeared from the menu. There used to be someone cleaning the common area and hallways daily, but that has disappeared. Concierges are very friendly. Used to bring snacks to room, now residents have to make their way down to the first floor for them. No way to get coffee or hot tea except at mealtimes. Inquiries about conditions are usually met with disbelief or the assumption that the resident is old and doesn't know what they are talking about. Needs to have surprise visits and for the bigwigs to eat the slop they serve the residents. Things would improve for sure.

I'd probably rate it a 2. Staff were friendly. Assessment at SNF was excellent and we agreed on the level of care that included assurance that call bell pendant was on my mom each morning, ( it wasn't most days), she would get assist getting out of bed and dressed, and a shower 2x a week. Meals were excellent and they allowed her to eat in her room. Activities for residents seemed good. After a month I had to write to housekeeping that my mom's bathroom/ bedroom never cleaned. They were very short staffed but eventually did clean it well, the only cleaning. Rest of facility is clean. I had to repeatedly ask for stockings to be put on, shower, and assistance, which was in care plan. This rarely was done. I believe staff gave her 2-3 showers altogether. She fell twice and sustained compression fracture. Pain so bad they really pushed for their medical director's hospice. About a week later she died with VERY little observation from staff. As a nurse, it seemed there was very poor communication by management to staff care providers.

I would tell others looking into Morningside House of Ellicott City to sit in an-out-of-way spot and watch, listen for several hours on different times and different days.

All I know from her is that it was too expensive, too many rules, the food was terrible. She said they never had enough and it was paltry options . Sad options either the $ they had spent to be there. Overall. She liked the staff but not the institution itself

There are activities for those that are interested but there is little or nothing done to encourage those who are hesitant. Also, communication with family needs improvement. Looks nice though and is in a nice location

Recently moved my mom in and it was complete chaos. No one really helping us because the health department was in checking everything so we got pushed to the wayside. My mother has never been showered and she has been there almost 2 weeks. I had to come and shower her because they did not have her on the schedule. I also know that my mother cannot have certain things to eat and I specified that and they still gave it to her anyway. She also fell because she could not find her walker and they moved her commode into the bathroom without my permission, not happy with how things are turning out, possibly thinking of other facilities.

The pros the food is great, it’s very clean, the new nursing director, and the way the residents look out for each other is truly heart warming. The cons: upper management never returns calls/emails, the amount of agency they use, their medication is now stored in their bathrooms with no real security. I was able to pull the medication cabinet open last time I was there and thank gosh the aide on had a key to close it. I could continue on but I will end it with if you looking to place your parents do your research and don’t go off how nice it appears.

Loved the staff - everything you could hope for. Mom had no complaints and neither did we a month AFTER mom passed on 1/9/23 when we received the bill... We visited mom that evening after her death and took everything out of the room except her clothes and unopened personal care items which, when we asked the staff if we could donate to anyone there in need, were told that we could. NO CONTACT UNTIL 3 WEEKS AFTER SHE PASSED. Then, on 1/30 when we received a call asking about the clothes still in the room, we advised that we asked to donate those to anyone in need and were told that we could. Bill time comes around at the beginning of February and we were charged over $XXXX [amount removed] for the time for the room after mom passed while her clothes that we ASKED IF WE COULD DONATE AND WERE TOLD WE COULD. When I called and explained what happened, I was basically told in a professional way that "they don't do that" and that we needed to pay $XX [amount removed] for every day the room wasn't cleared out.

The initial visits were nothing short of spectacular. The Administrator and Staff were wonderful and we thought this would be a perfect place for our loved one who could no longer be cared for at home. Unfortunately, Memory Care. Second day not allowed to use the walker, saw first handed rough treatment when being changed in bathroom, etc. In the main area (not in the assisted living) the temperatures were set extremely low air conditioning all residents had light clothing on and most were freezing. Sheets in room had urine on it but bed was made. Of course, pneumonia. Was there under a month more than half the time in the Hospital. There were so many things wrong with this place and they were extremely understaffed. The Administrator at the time tried to be helpful and a few of the Staff were very good but our loved one lived a nightmare. Ask the opinion of anyone who works at nursing home locally. My intention was to relocate my loved one but unfortunately she passed.

I visited Poet's Walk and was generally impressed with their program. When I visited I thought I was ready to move my wife from another facility. So, I put down a $[removed] non-refundable deposit to hold a room for 30 days. After about a week I decided I really needed more time to determine whether I actually needed to move my wife. I contacted the Exec Dir and the salesman and told them I thought it only right that I release the room for them to rent to someone else. My hope was that they would reconsider returning my deposit since it was to their benefit that I released the hold on the room 3 weeks early. No such luck. They held to the non-refundable policy.. Since this experience, I have visited 3 other facilities which were either similar or superior in their programming. All were well under the $[removed] per month at Poet's Walk and all were very low pressure. I have heard from 3 other sources that Sales at Poet's Walk tends to be high pressure, That was my experience, as well.

This community was not the best, they forgot that we were coming it just was unprofessional to me and did not feel like the place we wanted for our loved one.

This community was not community orientated and felt more like a hospital with medical carts in the hallways. There also was a high sales pitch which was uncomfortable to me. The community was also older and could have used some updates.

So upon moving mom out the mail issues have been a nightmare. They don't have individual mail boxes for residents so because sunrise sorts all mail in house you cant forward mail through the post office if you move out. major pain. they also only speak to POA about any medical issues. This does not work, so if they hospitalize a resident and cant reach the POA they will not tell any other of the residents immediate family what happened, or that the resident is not in the building. The Dr is an issue when they plan to put all memory issue on a self until the get the "know" the resident, mean while the resident ends up spending more time in rehab for breaks due to falling than in Sunrise over a 6month period. Listening to all that know the resident especially the ones who spend the most time with health care even if they are not the POA is extremely important and not done at Sunrise.

If your loved one is able bodied with only minor dementia Poets might be okay. The quality of the care seriously declined during the past year. While a few staff members are exceptional , most of the caregivers are short term, untrained, and uncaring. I do not recommend Poet’s Walk.

The friendliness and caring are not genuine. My father was there for only 1 day and when we tried to communicate with them they would return calls until weeks later. they were always available before we moved in but when we moved out they were always busy and not available. I would not recommend this community to others.

My mom lived there several years and the service has gone downhill since Senior Lifestyles had taken over the facility. They wasted a bunch of money in redecorating while cutbacking the actual services and care while instituting unfriendly rules. When she first went to live at Morningside House, I was comfortable with the care she was getting and they handled everything. Once Senior Lifestyles took over, it seemed like I had to do all of the work. Most of the veteran staff left because of poor management and it seemed like there was a revolving door of staff. We had several facilities issues and the staff seems pretty unhappy with the current management.

My husband was a resident at Poet's Walk for 5 days in January 2019. I brought him home due to lack of good, quality care. He was left to shower unattended, his medication was given incorrectly at least twice and a Plan of Care was not established. Poet's Walk did not live up to their contractual agreement so I brought him home. I would not recommend Poet's Walk for your loved one.

My husband was a resident for 5 days in January 2019. I brought him home due to lack of care. His medications were given incorrectly more than once, he was left unattended to shower by himself and a Plan of Care was not established. Poet’s Walk did not live up to their contractual agreement so as his advocate and wife I brought him home. I would not recommend Poet’s Walk.

The environment is friendly but the staff/resident ratio seems very low; care level seems inconsistent; attitude of nursing staff is inconsistent

much older facility;1 year new ownership;making changes to procedures;a bit cramped space;Is a Memory Care type facility