Oaks Senior Living

Elevator, small garden, didn't see many care workers, residents helping each other return from lunch, large activity room on second floor, looked like decorated in 1990 never up dated.

Visited this facility last year when looking for father.

Very nice, relatively new. Kind of expensive. They start with a base rate and then keep adding for services so it ends up being rather expensive. Odor in the extreme dementia area; not enough one on one care? Starts at $2625 for a studio then add $300-$750 per month for help with meds, dressing, etc. Several of these things that we'd need.

Nice facility with plenty of outdoor sitting areas. Good Activity planning. Nice.

the Director was great. I enjoyed their facility. Ratio of like people was not good.

New Activities Direcor gave tour and did not have all answers. Facility is very nice but very costly!

We went & visited. It is a very nice place, but I would like something just a little closer. We will keep this one in mind though.

Nice. Has open snack bar all day. TV in room. Dog resides in common areas.

Good facility

Oaks at Dalton was a dump. Having driven by it in the area often, I didn't even want to see it, but my family did so I went along. The more I saw of it, the more I thought it was a dump.

We looked at the memory care here. It's very tight, and the people are just sitting in their chairs in the hallway. They have alarms so if they try to get up at all the little alarm goes off, so someone can make sure they are sitting down. It just doesn't feel good to me, but they all seem to be about the same way.

We have had our mom at Northlake Gardens for only a few months but they have been difficult, stressful months. We were promised 24 hour care, in-room checks every 2 hours by a caregiver, prompt and efficient response to concerns, a caring and active community, and excellent food. I cannot complain about the food. Our mom has complained of pain, asking for a Tylenol, for over 2 straight days and no relief was given, to the extent that she called 911, seeking relief from the local ER. Last month she was prescribed a special creme to help control her eczema condition. Because the doctor prescribed the creme to be given "as needed", this creme was applied 3 times in 3 weeks, each time after I asked for it to be applied, each time finding Mom in her room, frantically scratching and uncomfortable. After 3 months it was finally explained to us that "as needed" means "when the resident asks for it". Mom has dementia and doesn't know to ask for many things she needs. She did ask for pain relief for 2 days and did not receive any, so that might be stuck in her mind. Her legs are inflamed & bumpy, and no creme was being applied because Mom didn't specifically ask for it. We began noticing a musty, moldy smell in her room after a month and brought it immediately to the attention of the staff, including the maintenance and sales staff and finally the executive director. Some staff members attempt to cover up the smell with air freshener. It has been over 3 weeks since I brought the mold problem to their attention and this week the condition was checked upon and confirmed. We do not have full knowledge of the day to day activities at Northlake Gardens but with the exception of one occasion when she was at a meal, every time I have visited Mom, she has been in her room, sitting in her chair. Would we have moved Mom to Northlake Gardens, knowing then what we know now? Definitely not.

I had my loved one here briefly, however I just didn't feel like it was a good fit and moved her out shortly afterwards. The community just didn't have the comfortable homey feel I was hoping for, and my loved one just did not seem happy here. They didn't seem to encourage her to leave her room at all, so she often just sat in there all day. I also noticed that often when I visited her hair would not be clean. I told them about this once, and it continued to occur after I asked them to fix it.

My mom hasn't been there for a year yet and the entire staff has turned over at least once. It's impossible at times to get the director to return an email. I would say about the only decent thing at the place right now. Is the LPN. Thinking about yanking her out of there.

They were very responsive when I was trying to get Mom there and after that no response from [name removed] who I was originally in contact with. Not impressed with the communication.

When you tour the place, they tell you they check on your loved one every 2 hours, 24 hours a day. This isn't true. We were there many times for 4+ hours and no one checked on her. We were told the weekend staff number was the same as week days. Not true. Weekends were like a ghost town. When Mom needed help, we would search the whole building and not see any staff. We had to beg them to clean Mom's room. One time a staff member spilled a drink and only wiped it up. It stayed sticky for 3 weeks until someone finally cleaned her room. There needs to be better communication between management and staff.

I have a family member currently here, the staff does their best with the resources they are given. They pull double shifts etc. Luckily my family member is still able to communicate. There have been 3 issues with their medication running out on the weekend. Missing more than 4 doses of a much needed medication for their condition. I worry about the ones who cannot speak, there really needs to be a medicine audit for these people. The administration ([name removed])wants to blame the techs, but the techs are barely taught(high turnover rate), no certifications, yet they have so many residents with varying meds to keep track of. So please pay attention if you put your loved ones here, believe them when they talk.

I was not happy with the experience.

I had to move my Mom out of the Oaks after she ended up in the Hospital due to lack of care! She didn't even last a month at this place and no one communicated that there were any problems or issues! I lost $[fee removed]k in community fee and paid a whole month that Mom wasn't even there for a whole month while in the hospital! I would steer clear of this place- promises made for care were not kept! Just to clarify: Mom went to hospital [date removed] after a week of Delerium starting the 2nd, she discharged from hospital on [date removed] and I had to move her belongings out of Oaks into the new place right before discharge so she didn't have to go back to Oaks. I had ZERO confidence that they would care for her! I live out of State and needed to know she was being cared for. I was constantly following up with the Oaks to make sure her care was being tended to and they claimed everything was great- but it wasn't!

Turnover of quality of staff at the oaks is an ongoing challenge, especially for the oaks at Charleston. However, these roles (the general staff) are demanding. Not sure I could do it. I am no nurse But the social interaction is really important. The physical and occupational therapy, access to physicians, etc... was a plus. Adhering to a schedule (meals, etc.) is important. Both locations provide those elements.