Priority Life Care

My experience was with Respite Care for my mother for three weeks in June 2017 at the Jensen Beach location of Brookdale. The sales rep [Removed] was very helpful and answered all my questions even when she had to find out the answer. She had not been with Brookdale long(6 months +/-) and was no long working there by the time I returned. The room was serviceable but sparse even for respite care. The following items were missing and in my opinion should have been provided: Table - (there is an alcove where one should have been) Dishes/silverware - (at least one set)I understand most meals are eaten in the dining room however, tea or a snack may be taken in the room - why would you provide a stove & refrigerator but no dishes? Microwave - this would be far more appropriate than a stove End table - a small table next to the recliner just makes logical sense - I had to bring my own The day she took up residence it took at least 24 hours for Brookdale to provide the call button she was to carry with her - the first day is the day she probably needed it the most for questions. During her stay she misplaced her cell phone(and forgot how to charge it) and I had extreme difficulty getting help for her. Brookdale does not encourage talking to the girls who clean the rooms and usually they are the most knowledgeable and helpful when it comes to helping the residents. I also left several messages during her stay with questions I needed answered and rarely, if ever was my call returned - I had to keep calling back until I could find someone who was available. Based on what I was told by the sales rep and the office manager, I am under the impression that Brookdale Jensen Beach has very little experience leasing respite care rooms. The three weeks my mother was a resident were relatively uneventful and therefore acceptable however, I am not confident they would be able to handle a difficult or unusual situation in a prompt, professional manner. The premises were impressive and clean. My mother said the meals were excellent. I think she would have joined in with more of the activities with a little encouragement. If there was an activities director I never saw nor heard from them. It is my impression that they were very understaffed, at least in the management area. My mother was a resident at another facility for several years so I have some experience for comparison. Hope this helps.

My parents have been there for a month and have not been happy with the place yet. The apartment was not ready when it was supposed to be and they had an extra few weeks. They had no hot water. It was just almost warm, They get their breakfast late and my mom is diabetic. They have mentioned this a few times. Brentwood new about her diabetes before they even got there. The air conditioner does not work in the living room and if they use the ones in the bedrooms to cool off the living room than the bedrooms get way to cold. The maintenance guy knows about it. He told them it probably needed Freon and he would have someone in Monday to take care of it. That was 2 weeks ago and they are still waiting. They limit the amount the windows can be opened so that does not help. Communication amongst the staff is awful. My parents will tell them they will not be down for a meal the day before and instead of checking that it was written on the menu paper they come up and knock on the door to see if they are coming down for the meal. They had no cable when they moved in. It was not set up for them, They went the whole weekend without TV, so they were bored. Luckily I had some movies they would like and brought them over. They really have not had a good experience here.

I have a parent living at Brentwood. Initially I felt very good about Brentwood and the services, the well-trained staff, the skilled nurses, and the administration. Over the past 4 years I have seen all of this go down hill. After being bought out twice by other companies the older skilled staff is gone and has been replaced by young people. The original nurses have gone, the administrator is always in her office, the one superb employee is now gone and I'm hoping the activities don't become status quo and childish. The list of amenities that are listed are quite embellished. There is no place for outside activity at Brentwood and others that are stated as being there are not. All in all my parent is safe, it is clean, allows pets, and she is fed.

The staff is pretty good. The community itself can use a remodel. It is very out dated and the dining room chairs are used and old. Also they do not do a good job of cleaning the community up. Only the dining room. They have activities, but none that appeal to me and my husband. We thought this was independent living and it turned out to be assisted. Just not a good fit for us.

My loved one seems to be gaining weight with the food they are providing her so they defiantly have some nutritious meals at this community. As far as the staff goes I am very pleased with the marketing director and a lady named [Removed], however I am very disappointing with the overall care my loved one has been receiving. They have been providing her basic needs but other than that they do not do much. I have found my aunt in bed before seven which is way to early for her and have many times caught the aids just lounging around on there phones. I hope some improvements will be made in the future as I am very concerned with this facility.

My tour of this community was a decent one, but I was not very impressed. The community seemed a bit outdated. I would say there is some updating that this community needs to make. The staff was kind and friendly. Overall It was not community for my parents.

My parents are back home with me now. The community looks great, everything was very nice and clean. The meals were nice, the food is good. The staff was kind and very nice. My issue was with the head nurse, she was not good at medication management. My parents medication was mishandled many times. It is a nice community. I would only recommend it if you don't need much medication management.

My mother has been in the Memory Care Unit for about 16 months now. We are growing more and more disappointed in the service here. It was still under the Emeritus Corp when we first moved her in and overall seemed like it would work out. There was always SOME level of frustration trying to reach and get calls back from key staff... but there had been activities, decent food and living space and overall it was decent. And affordable as Mom has a budged limited to Social Security and some other Financial Aid. Since Brookdale Corp took over there has been a lot of changes and instability in the senior exec staff e.g. Exec Directors have changed 3 times, Senior Nursing Staff fired , Memory Care Director let go more than 6 months ago and still not replaced...and new Nursing Director gone after 4-5 months. My family members that have come on visits have sometimes found her or other residents unkempt, in unchanged Depends. Not all of the time. 25% of their visits seemed to bring reports of such nature. Other times reports were OK. Long term problem: Of all her belongings, like clothes and shoes and bedding... over 80% of her stuff is missing and what is in her closet is not hers! New stuff family buys and brings, even labelled with her name and room number were found to be missing a few weeks later! I am working on seeing if the Facility will be accountable for these losses. Food is one area that we do NOT have complaints about. Unlike other reviewers Mom enjoys their meals. And it seemed OK the week I stayed in the area visiting her daily. The facility WAS having periodic entertainment, parties for the residents, playing memory games, medicine ball, taking them out on field trips etc. That was a year ago May. As of now, I have found there to be a drop in many activities offered, no field trips, etc. More aides have reportedly been hired, but, yes, the language barrier speaking directly to aides is a problem , as is general communication with staff. One of the persons fired when Brookdale took over was the Director of the Memory Care Unit and while there was some areas I had been trying to improve in my dealings with that Director, at least there was someone who cared about the residents and was there as a go-to person. I am 3000 miles away and financially cannot afford to visit as often as I'd want, and having fast reliable communication is a MUST! The new Director seems eager to improve the situation, but so had the other New Director who was there just a few weeks before leaving, and I had promises of well-intended improvements by the District Director. Now there is a New Exec. Director and I am in the process of seeing what he can/will do about all this. He's just been there a short while and I do not yet know what things will actually be DONE (rather than just talked about) to improve and rectify the problems. I will update my review as more developments occur. I am in the process of seeing what other options I have; we are hampered by having a rather low budget to work with.

Magnolias is a quaint quite place to stay on a short term basis, less than 25 residents live there. However, Magnolias is very very short handed when it comes to staff. Many of the persons working there carry multiple task that it appears they could not take care of the residents in a timely manner. After placing my father there for recovery after a broken foot that caused him to be wheel chair bound for 8 weeks, I must say that I would not use the facility again.

Sales staff could have been more informative. They were friendly, young, smiled, but weren't all too informative. Gave me a stack of papers to sign at that was just about it. My Uncle is 84, had to go to rehab, at the same time his wife died of brain cancer. Anyway after he was released from rehab I got him into Tanglewood. They didn't tell us about the 1,500.00 "Community Fee" up front, said it was for cleaning, painting, new carpeting, and administration costs. Well I moved him in and there was no new paint, no new carpeting, and no cable hook up. The general housekeeping appears to be cosmetic. I had to pitch a fit to get his cable hooked up. I talked to a family and it took them three weeks to get cable. They also want a months notice to move out. You don't know what your loved ones body is going to do. Well my uncle fell And broke his hip So back to rehab as they dont provide that service. So we had to give a months notice and had to pay 2,000.00 for an empty room. I'm 57 years old and had to move his furniture out by myself. I left an old chair and got a call from the business agent saying they couldn't release the room till I removed the chair. What did I pay 1,500.00 for? As far as my uncles care I'll give them 8 out of 10. The administration I'll give a 4. Good riddance.

My step father is a resident of Brentwood. He has often told me someone (staff?) enters his apartment when he is not there. It is evident his things have been moved around as if searching for things, lights turned off he knows he has left on. He voiced his concern, was not taken seriously, and the uninvited entering continues. I feel this is a personal safety problem and he should be able to leave his apartment without worrying who and why (someone) has been in his apartment. It is also an invasion of privacy. Another problem that has come up is at times no one comes to assist him to meals. When he mentioned this, one excuse was they heard him talking on the the phone and didn't want to bother him. He takes insulin daily for diabetes and it is dangerous for him to miss meals. I do not live in Niles and am not able to bring his concerns to your administration. Please look into these issues so there is resolution. He very much enjoys the food served and activities that are scheduled.

It didn't seem like they were ready for us when we moved in. The room was kept pretty clean, and a couple of times the room was rather a mess. The nurse Linda, I was not too happy with her. There were medical procedures that were conducted without my permission, or even notification. Michelle was most helpful and cooperative, Celeste was outstanding, I can't compliment her enough. A few others did well, if you are somewhat healthy, you are probably fine. They have great activities, the activities director is wonderful. Calvin is an outstanding young man, what a great C.N.A. Todd is a terrific director of food services, the food was delicious. The maintenance was good. Stephanie was always concerned about me. Brenda did a fine job. The receptionist was wonderful. The rooms were nice, I liked the accommodation and size. The doctor they have on staff there is outstanding, very proactive. It's a beautiful facility.

So far Emeritus has been fairly good for my mother. There are two items, however, that could be improved for her. First she says the food isn't very good. I'm not sure what is likely to be done about that. From my experience, my mother is more likely to eat because the food is delicious, not because she "needs to eat something". In her active, earlier life my mother was an extremely good cook and baker. The other problem I feel could be solved without inconvenience to the staff: She could be given her evening sleeping pill at a more favorable time for her. At first it was given to her just about every night about 8 pm which meant she must be ready to turn off the TV (and miss her favorite shows) and go to sleep much earlier than normal for her. Now she is given the pill anywhere between 8 pm and midnight! When she receives it so late in the evening, Mom still must rise early for breakfast when she's not had a long night's sleep; consequently, she falls asleep after breakfast during daylight hours. This is all my mom wants: TV, reading, good food, and a quiet, safe life. For someone who is 95, I don't think these are unreasonable requests. I feel very confident she is being cared for and help is only a push of the button away, but I am concerned for the other creature comforts she most desires. So far, better food and a more definite evening time for her sleeping pill is all she would like. I realize that people in the same situation (assisted living, nursing homes, etc.) are probably prone to wanting and yearning for their past situations and tend to complain-- at least this is what I have heard from families and neighbors with whom I've talked since we began the search for "a place for Mom". But can't each person be treated a little more personally? What would YOU want if you were in my mother's place? What would YOU expect? What would make YOU a little happier?

Dining in main clubhouse is different than what they serve residents in Assistant Living, very disappointing. Have addressed issues but with no resolve. When you tour facilities they sell you on the idea that assisted living residents can dine in their building dining room from same menu as clubhouse dining room. Not true. The food is terrible in the 2 AL buildings. Very sad to see your parent be unsatisfied with their dining experience.

This is all coming from my Mom: The staff are unfriendly, especially in the dining room. She eats in her room now, and avoids the cafeteria. The call button for emergencies are ignored. She has waited up to 30 minutes for staff to come check on her. The rent has increased $[removed]more a month. She can barely afford it. She does not like living there.

The apartment and size was perfect. It was super clean. The food was very good. The activities planned were good, but they weren't always fulfilled or no one bothered to get everyone there. My mom missed most of them unless one of her family members were there. The staff was friendly and kind but very understaffed. They were always on their phones too. For some, it seemed just a job for a paycheck. The front door was never locked or guarded past 6pm. The evening shift was very understaffed and not supervised. At times, my mom was left unattended to for several hours, until 10:30 pm. Other times, they put patients to bed at 6pm-7pm so they didn't have to bother with them. My mom suffered physically & medically because her meds were not given to her properly or sometimes not at all. The said she refused to take them. They didn't try creative ways to put the meds in applesauce or ice cream in order for them to take their pills. These patients have dementia and don't know what they're saying when they say they don't want to take their pills. Therefore, my mother ended up in the hospital two times with TIAs, and very low potassium. Since she's been in my care at home, she is 100% better.

This was a return visit. We had already been given a price that was supposed to be 'locked in' for a year. When we got there, the person we had met on the first visit was no longer there, but the new person said they would honor all pricing we received. Two days later we were told they would not honor any of the pricing and the new cost was approximately [removed] more per year. On top of that, they sent an e-mail that said we had to decide by the end of the day, or we would lose the room we had looked at. No return calls, no follow ups, and no effort to work with us to help get our mom into this facility. We wasted several months and lost out on other possible facilities as a result. As a place that is supposed to have the best long term interests of the elderly in mind, clearly money is the main priority for Eagle View Landing. We did not have a positive experience.

Everything was great in the beginning. Once my uncle was moved in, we didn't get the $500 move in credit, rent is taken out on random days throughout the month and the finance department is IMPOSSIBLE to reach despite numerous voicemails. My uncle was recently admitted to the hospital after a heart attack and no one from Celebration Villa even contacted us.

The food was not appetizing or very healthy. Lots of cold tater tots. They sit the patients in front of the TV all day long. I didn't like that at all. On a positive note, the attendants were very good with [name removed], at least when I was there so I'd go visit her everyday when I was in town. I also tried to stay as long as I was able. An attendant took her to the bathroom and took her eyes off her and [name removed]fell in the bathroom. Again, nobody knew anything a except that she fell.

It is independent living only safety feature is a cord you pull in the morning so that office staff know you are alright. Other than that no other assistance is provided to check on the resident in their room. The residents do have transportation for doctor's appointments and shopping on certain days.