Sona Senior Living

The Canton Regency overall is a very nice place. The nurses and staff in the community do an excellent job. We did experience a little difficulty in the management. We were not told all of the extra expenses until we were already moved in and signing the papers. We also experience a wait of two days before anyone called us back with an answer to a question. We have learned to just ask someone who works in the community for the help we need.

My greatest advice is family make a habit of visiting twice a week. Doesn't have to be the same person, but it's important....... my mother was a nurse at Aultman and I donated over 1000 hours to volunteer ing and had responsibilities that are not entrusted today for volunteering. The truth is family visits are essential to build rapport and subconsciously give visitors' loved ones better attention and care!!!! Don't tell me that isn't true!!!! I have talked to other clients loved ones and they agree that they spent too much waiting in the dining room. But while waiting for dining the staff is straightening beds, folding clothes , cleaning messes in private rooms. I wish they had one more staff on each shift, but the current staff work hard and treat the clients with respect and affection.

At the time, it suited our needs. We needed a place to move our loved one out of his house. It was fine until Covid hit. It then became very, very restrictive. He was pretty much locked down, with no visitors, and food was brought to the rooms. I know it’s what we all had to do. But I was happy to move him to another community where he could have a little more freeing of an experience. Covid aside, Canton Regency's staff was great, and the facility was beautiful.

Excellent care for mild dementia, staff is not attentive to each patient’s needs as they progress.

Regency meets basic needs, food is pretty good but not much fresh stuff like salads (FRESH, not out of a can). Only one security person on at night, noone at desk; rooms are spacious, clean, new carpet, and they pay for move-in. Fire security system goes off odd times and scares people to death, no generator for power outages. Many people who live here would never be considered independent outside of here. Some on oxygen, (see generator note), many on walkers, some wheelchairs. Nice that they take pets. Activities are good during week, not much on weekends or holidays. People are friendly but don't socialize that much. Monthly meetings for resident concerns. They say they will take care of issues, but don't always. Doors open all day, no sign-in or out, noone pays much attention to who is coming and going. Truly independence! Make sure thats what the person wants or needs.

My grandmother lives here in independent living so I thought I would take a tour. I stepped in human feces on the way from independent living, to the assisted side. UGH! The secure care units are nice; but only studios. Every area we went to (independent, assisted and secured) smelled like pee. the head nurse for the secure area was VERY gentle and kind; however I just don't feel the connection to providing an active lifestyle within the secured section.

My father had been in Assisted Living here for five years and recently, it got so bad that we had to move him, despite how difficult it is to change at age 90. First, there has been a lot of employee turnover. Management got rid of the terrific head nurse which had been there a long time and had a real personal feel for all the residence. The nurse who had been there longest quit then. The head nurse now is a woman who spends a lot of time talking about all [removed]. When families come to consult, she puts her shoes up on the desk in their faces. The long-standing receptionist left when she was required to answer the phone by saying, "How can I make your day?" and some man provided a lewd suggestion. (Employees are still required to answer the phone this way and are written up if they are caught not including it in their greeting.) The Activities Director, who was one of the best and one of the hardest workers is currently on disability leave. She started a choir that performed at least twice a year and had well-planned activities. The choir is gone, and on a recent outing, the residents arrived to find that the director hadn’t checked and the place was closed. Previously, there were two executive directors, but one of them has been disappeared. Now nearly everything seems to be determined by one person, the current executive director. Her degree is in business from a propriety college, and yet, [removed]among others. For example, we had my father in the care of the Gerontology Department of the Cleveland Clinic, which asked the Regency to take my dad off Alzheimer's medication because after three months of testing, it was determined he did not have Alzheimer's. Their doctor doubled the medication, and the nurse informed me they did not have to take orders from the Cleveland Clinic. The Clinic said they had never had a residence refuse to co-operate with them before, but they instructed us in how to get a local doctor to give the orders, which we did. My dad did much better off medication that had nothing to do with his health. The Clinic advised us repeatedly to find another place for my father, and by the time he left, there were at least two rooms empty in every hall. It used to always be full or nearly full capacity. Whereas at the Regency, nearly everyone was in a wheelchair and they kept trying to get my dad on a walker and to keep him from walking outside when his doctors had suggested he walk every day. Now he has 42 acres of nature paths to walk and lots of activities. And he is paying $1000 less a month. I would note that the lowest level staff who did all the real work in cooking, cleaning, and assisting residents were all very sweet to my father and generally cheerful and kind which the nursing staff and administrators by and large were not. Management is the problem here. Since we left, we received a letter telling us that bills are going up 10% immediately in the middle of the year, which suggests financial problems to us. And communication problems. Apparently, they forgot we aren't even on their team any more.

We really liked it at the beginning but after awhile the care was horrible, until they sent my mom out, and would not take her back. I expected a much higher level of memory care.

They were not honest and upfront when we signed up and there was an extra maintenance charge we found out about the day we moved in. I would tell others to do your research and ask about that maintenance fee. We were made many promises that were not kept. I think their communication with families should have been a lot better than it was.

The Memory Care is a joke - it's a glorified daycare center! There is no skilled training required, turn over on staff is very high, they expect the residents in the memory unit to push a button when they need help...umm if you have memory problems you will not remember to push a button for help. The closets are horrible (doors do not open all the way, there is no 'track' in the closet to easily move the clothes around, instead there are one inch wire framed spaces), the sinks in the bathrooms are not wheelchair accessible, the counter in the bathroom is not even accessible by the staff! There is no response to our concerns or complaints. The price continues to go up as they make upgrades to the facility. They need to upgrade the level of care!!! Moving my mom out after a year of horrible experiences.

Please don’t bring your family here. The place is completely understaffed and not safe.

I was told for my mother's safety, she could not stay in independent living and would need to be in their assisted living or memory care. When we walked into assisted living, EVERYONE was in a wheelchair or using a walker. My mother cares for herself and her home, does her laundry and walks 20 minutes each day. I find I cannot put her in this facility as I think her health - mental and physical - would decline more rapidly. I was, however, impressed by the new memory care unit but it is very expensive with lots of add-on costs and very few residients. I am looking for a place where my mom can have conversations with residents and make friends. This may be possible when their capacity increases.

We did not have a good experience at all with Canton Regency. My loved one lived here for quite a while, and although things started out nice enough they started taking quite a downturn and just did not improve. The aides that worked with the residents directly were nice people, but the management was unfriendly and difficult to work with. The food also got worse as things went on, they started serving a lot of pre-cooked and reheated food, which my loved one really did not enjoy.

DON'T GO HERE FOR INDEPENDENT LIVING. We just moved my mother out after only 7 months. It looks nice but they are rapidly cutting corners everywhere. The food is awful and repetitive, not like the demo meal. The few servers are very slow and don't take care of the residents. The staff doesn't even show common courtesy if someone is having trouble reaching a table or coughing, they won't even ask if you are ok. If you are not an early riser, expect to be constantly bothered as they check up on you. They are constantly calling at early hours even if you ask them not to. They have horrible communication so even if you tell them you won't be there, they call anyway. They nickel and dime you for everything. They make a lot of promises and NEVER follow through. They do nothing about complaints so don't bother. They are incredibly nosy and don't honor your wishes about when they can come in your unit, but don't actually make the residents feel safe.

I was not satisfied with the care they provided for my wife when she was residing here at the Canton Regency. I was led to believe they she would be treated with care and compassion and that was not the case. The staff did not seem to be qualified to handle memory care residents. And if you have to move your loved one into another facility make sure you take their furniture out immediately because they will continue to charge you for the full stay. Even if they tell you to take your time and not worry about the furniture, you better worry, you are still being charged!