Sonida Senior Living

Waterford went thru a big staff turnover in the 6 weeks my dad was there. The setup of having the little houses for the residents SOUNDS like a good idea but... there is only 1 fulltime staff member per house to look after the residents (with maybe the nurse or a part-time staff member cycling in occasionally.) So, the residents spend a lot of time in the center area sleeping or watching tv without much interaction or planned activities. (The 1 full time staff member does house keeping, serves meals, etc.)

Inconsistent staffing, 3 different directors in a year, untrained staff on memory care. Unable to care for someone with enhanced needs like memory care.

Bad: insufficient parking, food leaves a lot to be desired; many meals kitchen runs out of food in menu. Rigid rules in dining room; cannot get an appointment with powers that be regarding billing. We're been here almost two months & still do not haveaccess as to what our monthly charges are. Took two weeks to get the lock on our front door even looked & it still isn't working properly. Actually I could go on, but why bother. I'm sure we will be looking for another assisted living in the near future.

Have had a leak in the apartment above that they are not fixing. Water both in the ceilings and the floor. Food come to the tables cold. The staff for the most part just tells you what they believe you want to hear, then they ignore you. Their maintenance department is not qualified. Neither is their cook. My mother will only eat the salad. Food is cold and tasteless.

The first day she was there, she was outside unsupervised and fell and broke her wrist and had a large goose egg on her forehead. She had 3 more falls, fortunately minor. They were not the best about changing her pull ups. One of our visits she had soiled herself and my daughter asked them to change her and the attendant rolled her eyes. Someone in the facility stole my mom's engagement ring. We filed an official police report, not expecting it to be found. That was our final straw and we found another place for her.

Our 85 year-old family member was a Memory Care resident of The Mansions from [dates removed]. One of the reasons we selected The Mansions (after visiting 9 other communities in Buckhead and northeast Atlanta) was because the appearance of the facility (large, open common areas that were well lit and decorated, wide hallways, residents' rooms with high ceilings) greatly resembled our loved one's current residence and we thought it would help facilitate the transition. The ratings for The Mansions were positive overall and during our visits and tours (prior to signing the lease) the staff were cordial and welcoming. The dining area in Memory Care appeared to be well maintained with excellent natural light. Well, after our loved one moved in and I had the chance to speak with family members of residents who had been in Memory Care for an extended period of time, I quickly realized that operationally, there were some major issues. The first was that there was a significant difference in the quality of facilities and service between Assisted Living and Memory Care, the latter consistently receiving lower marks across all categories of comparison. Even though Memory Care residents paid more, they received far less, especially in the area of food service (quality of the food (fair at best), inconsistent service (often late or lacking vegetables) and overall cleanliness of the Memory Care kitchen where food was served to residents [NOTE-all cooking took place in the main kitchen in the Assisted Living section and was brought by cart to Memory Care for each meal]). Weekends were the worst in terms of food quality and food service. We resorted to supplementing meals with items kept in a refrigerator in our loved one's room. In spite of frequent and repeated complaints to management of Memory Care and the Executive Director of the entire community, no changes were made. In addition, Memory Care was significantly understaffed and the quality of caregivers varied from "unacceptable and should not be working as caregivers" to "outstanding, consistently showing concern for the residents." Overall, 20% of the caregivers were "unacceptable"; 40% were "average" (performed their duties reasonably well) , 10% were good with potential to be great and 30% were "excellent". All of the workers with the highest two ratings worked very hard (often double shifts) and were reliable. Caregiving in such an environment is extremely stressful and difficult work!! Not many are qualified to do this work. Speaking of which... The 11pm to 7am shift was the worst! Severely understaffed and unsupervised, the majority of "caregivers" should not have been working in those roles (displaying a lack of respect for the residents, visiting family members and an overall lack of professionalism). Several incidents were captured on cameras we had installed in our loved one's room and we were appalled. When brought to the attention of Memory Care management, nothing was done to the offending "caregivers" for several months! Only after escalating the matter to the Executive Director of the community, were those individuals eventually and reluctantly, terminated. The manager of Memory Care began to hire more qualified 3rd shift caregivers after receiving complaints from several family members. However, by then I had lost much of my respect and confidence... The staff responsible for maintenance and cleaning services were exceptional! They were all responsive, dedicated, cooperative and caring individuals! We moved out due to a sudden decline in our loved one's health which required an extended hospital stay and opted not to return. It was also obvious to me that with the change in ownership in November 2024 and re-branding as The Addison, the operational issues would likely get worse due to the "bottom line orientation" of the new corporate owners which was reflected in the new lease agreements that were blatantly "lessor friendly".

Food is not too good! Serve French fries way too often. At least half the care givers are not very friendly at all! Takes them too long to respond when my folks need help. Don’t really clean too good in my folks apartment.

My sister was the patient and was admitted for 30-60 days to get PT and OT. She was in the assisted living area. We were told it was a certain price if we signed up by a certain day. So we signed up for a special offer they supposedly had. Well it didn’t work out that way. Then after we were told my sister’s insurance would cover the therapy she needed, It did not cover and actually was not in network. This is after we moved her in with her own furniture. She was miserable there! The “assisted” part wasn’t what we told it would be. The medical staff were not warm and friendly except a few. She got depressed there and cried to go home. She didn’t make a full month. They tried to charge her for 2 months. So be very careful with this place. It is a beautiful facility and the food was not consistently appealing to her and others in the dining hall agreed with her. The front desk staff were nice but they told you what you wanted to hear!

When she was at The Harrison they gave her medication that was not approved for her. Filed a complaint to the state for investigation.

My father experienced Sundowning, and refused medicine, so the staff didn't give him any. So he had a violent event and they called the police and he went to the hospital, where he experienced hospital delirium. After 4 days, he was moved to a Behavioral Hospital where they worked on evening meds, but they had extremely limited visitation so we were only able to visit twice a week. After a month, he was moved to a SNF where he refused to eat, and he passed away after 2 weeks. So he made it 8 weeks after being removed from his home. I think if things could have been handled a bit differently by Waterford, he would have made it longer.... 1. Be aware of their medical restrictions 2. Understand that they are a maximum of a 1 person assist. 3. They were not responsive to the Behavioral Health Hospital, and I had to be the go between I ended up paying $[removed] for 4 days. I'm hoping to get maybe $[removed] back. That just stinks.

Waterford is an RCAC. We did not understand that the level of care we needed, they were not able to provide. We trusted that they wouldn't have accepted them ( our parents) if this was so. Said they could do hand over mouth feeding but that wasn't possible for breakfast. Turning and checking for incontinence every 2 hours was too much for the staff to do. Developed multiple ulcers. Coccyx, heels ankles. We had hospice involved from the beginning but that was just weekly visits. Staff friendly, but there was communication barrier. I'm not sure they understood much English when we spoke to the caregivers. Parents had trouble understanding them. After a year we wanted to increase care for the independent parent we were told they could not go to a level of assistance ( administer meds and give her a pendant to call for help) because her POAHC was activated. The dependent parent totally blind, needed to be feed. Could walk with walker with a sighted person assisting. Waterford could not provide this care and soon became immobile, developed ulcers which got worse with his incontinence. ( Unable to provide a toileting schedule.) They were never able to give the dependent parent a shower. The shower chair could not get over the lip of the shower. Waterford was a condo prior to being an RCAC and therefore not equipped. Once again we figured out what an RCAC is not able to do even though they say on the paperwork they can provide those services. It's a place you press your call light and are able to tell the staff what you need. There is no RN so they. are unable to anticipate your needs as your condition changes.

I would now rate our overall experience as a 2. The food service has been drastically reduced and I feel like we were given a bait and switch. We had lunch at the facility prior to deciding to sign the lease and the meals were all at a set time and we received full waitstaff service. Since my dad has moved in the service has been reduced. Meals are now served during a time window which erodes opportunity for community, petty changes have been made like removing soup spoons and saucers, there are less food choices and a more difficult process for making alternate choices. The meals used to last one hour and now last 20 minutes. We would not have picked Middleton Crossing if we knew these changes would be made.

I signed a contract the [date removed]. My mom moved in on [date removed]. She was evaluated with no level of extra care. 11 days after she moved in, unbeknownst to me they moved her up to a level 3, the highest level of care, at $[removed] extra dollars per month. I just found this out this month when her bank account showed $[removed] deducted from it. The facility enabled a new payment system so this amount was for two months. The contract was for $[removed] per month. I was also informed that as of [date removed] the rent is going up $[removed] per month. That means within two months of my mom moving in the cost is up $[removed]! Also note the food is terrible!! Always cold, often dry and not everyone at a table is served within a reasonable time. The nurses and aids seem very nice, I'll give them that. The room isn't cleaned very well and every time I visit, which is often, I end up cleaning and straightening my mom's clothes and linen closet. No one answers my calls or calls back.

We left just as the new company took over (they kicked us out because [name removed] needed a "2-person assist.") so these ratings are basically for the previous management company. Everything could be better now. It was pretty awful before.

Residents routinely complain about the food. It is not cooked well, and it is often too tough for them to eat. Many times, there are not enough servers, and the wait time for meals is excessive. Many weeks there is no housekeeping service because they cannot retain staff. Hot water is not reliable and maintenance requests are not addressed in a timely manner.

During a tour, of course things look wonderful! Sales bribes the Care staff to "perform " a staff member told me [phone number removed] Their corporate VP closed the "men's cottage" and thereby, all of the dangerous and bad behavior residents are all over the community now. They are ridiculously low on staff and they lost great nurses due to corporate. I will never recommend this place. Give me a building where all staff and residents are in one place and can be monitored properly. Cottages are great in theory but administrators are too far from where the harm is being done. The food WAS good but even the chef couldn't take it there, he left. Activities is a joke.

They need to hire more help at night. And have an active supervisor all night. My mom is aging in place and is bed bound. Staff ignores her at night and several times (11 so far) she is found drenched in urine and feces in morning. I have met with staff but has not helped much. I would move her but it would be hard for her to adjust to a new environment at her age.

Cleanliness not, they had bedbugs several times, only [name removed]who left was friendly, aides laughed at residents, care2 aides sat behind desk on desk left floor, 3 meals were not tasty, lacked in silverware and coffee cups, limited the drinks they sent down two pictures of whatever they were drinking that night for 15 residents they were supposed to have a time when they encourage the residence to drink. They never did that. They had few actual activities but they were good when it happened, it was cheaper but terrible.

By a family member and RN of 35 years Charged $5 extra per meal every day to be brought to their room, even if they were having health issues or on hospice care. Weekends are terrible staffed. Call light response time was terrible even the call light in the bathroom, where residents would need immediate assistance if there were a fall or issue. Facility is operated for financial gain only- no caring or concern as a healthcare facility. Our family member was within a couple of months of dying and on hospice, we were issued a move out notice. since it is against DEHEC (SC state health department) rules to have a person in assisted living if they cannot use the call light. Admin/Director blamed DEHEC saying the Benton House would be in ‘violation’ if they kept her. We worked with the SC Ombudsman who informed us the Benton House could fill out a waiver for DEHEC giving them the option to have our family member be able to stay in their apartment/home and Benton House denied signing it.

Not a good place. My mother was there for 5 months before moved into hospice care. Facilities were fine but management was very poor. Lied in initial interview about having wheel chair transportation. In the interview we went through the care she was going to need and they quoted a cost for nursing care, after 3 months the rate was doubled even though she required significantly less care than earlier due to PT. When we moved [name removed] to hospice in late [date removed], gave written notice as required and they said she would owe for 15 days rent from date of notice. Full month of rent charged for [date removed] and [name removed] has a [fee removed] credit on her account, but no refund has been made after numerous emails and calls. They twice said refund was being processed but never received.