Sonida Senior Living

My family member is astute and has lived at Riverbend for several years. We have experienced several key staff turnover, including directors and activities folks. Dietary switches too often to count. Meal planning has waned - anyone that is diabetic cannot eat appropriately here. There are a lack of choices and a lack of understanding about nutritional needs for diabetics. The current executive director is unapproachable and had been there for several months before meeting residents. A lack of communication and a perception of an uncaring environment is what we have now. Moving our family member would be difficult on her - however it is much debated and discussed. If you have a chance to go somewhere else, do it. They don’t have WiFi, they have a bus, but residents don’t get to go out (this is even pre-pandemic). Our family member has missed many things and we have had to follow up multiple times on the most basic of needs. The current director is defensive and borderline rude.

Our family had an in person tour and there were still some restrictions and guidelines we did have to follow, but they were flexible and allowed us to see a few different rooms. However it was just not a nice community. We did not want our loved one living there.

I would tell others to keep looking at different communities. At the beginning they were over the top, until I got into the community. Then things weren't the same. I tried to talk to management and nothing has changed. The staff as a whole have changed over a few times. I tried calling the care team for three hours, and still no answer back after several voicemails. It smells like cigarettes, as residents smoke in the community.

I would not recommend for anybody who does not have severe dementia. Our loved one is at the beginning stages and they are totally ignoring our loved one. They are more focused on severe residents, so our loved one is not being looked out after. They are short staffed and it is just not worth the money it is very expensive.

The community is having an issue with staff members wearing their masks. There are maintenance requests that are not being addressed I have open for over two weeks. Communication is not good and I have trouble getting ahold of staff. I would not recommend this community at this time

The community did not provide the care that was needed. When we talked to them about the issues they said they would take care of them but didnt. I asked them to check on my loved one every 2 hours, they did not and several times she fell, and no one checked on her for 5 hours. I would not recommend this community to others

It's a beautiful property, but they just don't have their service levels where they need to be yet. They need to work on their nursing staffing, and not having so much turnover. But they're brand new, so we're trying to give them some leeway. They have a new director, and she's working on these things. I think it's going to be a great property within the next six months.

I would tell others that it has been very difficult during covid because when we moved her in, they did not want us in there so we have not been inside the facility. It is not the normal procedure with all of the covid protocols so it has not been a great experience. I am excited for it to open up so we can really judge how the facility is.

I am very disappointed with the community, The staff did not take the proper precautions to keep the residence safe during covid. I would not recommend this community because of the lack of safety precautions.

We had some concerns with the care services, the community realized our father was a flight risk. With his memory lost there was times he would pop in and out, and when he would pop in he would realize where he was so he would try and brake out. This happened a couple of times, and they finally moved him to a different building that was more secured. There was also another instance we heard about when they brought it in tech to take his vitalized when he pulled her hair, and the cops were called. They then said they could not take care of our loved one, so they released him to our mother. This concerned us because our mother was older and there were times she could not take care of herself, let alone our father. We had a friend go to the community to grab him and all they gave him was a bag of medicine with no instructions on what time he needed the medicine or how many doses. Our other friend took a look at the medicine and realized the doses they were giving him were to high. That made us realize a few times when we spoke with our father when he was in the community that he was just not all there and could possibly of been dehydrated. When our friend when back to the community to grab the rest of this things, some of this new brand and nice clothing items, his bed set and blankets that belonged to him went missing. There was just a lack of concern with them.

The Lodge at White Bear went downhill quickly once covid hit so my mom left the facility not long ago. The residents are paying for 3 meals a day and before the virus it started going down, but then once it hit they had no variety what so ever and the quality was not good. It did seem like they provided a fair amount of activities. The staff here did seem friendly and when I would reach out to the office for help they were great. I do think they need to improve their overall performance and deliver what they promise.

I would tell others not to move your loved ones into this facility. We did not let our mom and dad stay here long at all before breaking the lease. The management was really what turned us off and their lack of communication. I would not recommend to anybody

I don't understand how the residence got a box meal for Thanksgiving instead of a hot meal. For the money paid this should not be an issue. The apts are pretty good sizes and they have multiple floor plans available. I would not recommend this facility to others

The nursing staff was not taking care of her, I found her in bed 2 times with a high fever and had to call the ambulance to have her go to the hospital. I feel like they just don't want to take care of the residence. I would not recommend this community

Mom moved here [date removed] at first the care was good but new administration took over in Jan of 2019 and everything went downhill. Un-reported falls. Lies from staff, had to hire additional caregivers, medicines misplaced, let her sit on couch all day, did not engage her in activities. After returning home from Ohio after being at the home for a week I was called and told I had to move Mom, I suspect because I caught them in a lie and expressed my dissatisfaction. I then had to return to Ohio (1200 mile round trip) and move her out. Shortly after the Director left.

I would say not to go there. I know that we were under COVID; however, I was not able to see my loved one. I would call to check on my loved one, but I got the same response from the staff that everything is ok with my loved one. I received a phone call that my loved one was rushed to the hospital, and the community let me know that my loved one was declining. Once I was able to see my loved one in the hospital, the color of my loved one was gray, they had an urinary infection, and lost a lot of weight. My loved one went back to the community after being in the hospital. I then received a phone call from the community stating my loved one needed to be on hospice. The staff member who takes care of hospice, and because my loved one was declining quickly let me know that I might be able to see my loved one. I wanted to see my loved one, and the community would bring my loved one out on the porch for me to see them. The hospice put a request in to have the community feed my loved one. I had to make soft food for the community to be able to feed my loved one. The community wanted to raise the fees of my loved one, due to the care that the community said my loved one needed. The hospice nurse gave me some options, and I moved my loved one out the community. When I went to move my loved one out of the community, I found the food I made for my loved one. When I questioned why the food was still there. I was told by the community that my loved one refused to eat, even though there was a request from hospice still in place. Once I moved my loved one out of the community to a new community my loved one gained their strength and color back. My loved one is very happy at the new community, compared to this community. The room that my loved one received was much smaller than the room the community showed me.

When I first arrived here it was wonderful. The courtyard was kept up and so pretty. Now it just does not look the same at all. There were a few aids to help with the showers and nobody was quitting. Now in the dining room, so many of the servers have quit. Also the cooks. The dining room chairs are old and very happy. I am small and it is hard for me to move them. Perhaps because of the “virus”, it is difficult to order food? The menu is usually rice, fish, chicken perhaps a pork chop once in a while. It is possible to have hot dogs, hamburgers, “BLT’s” - also coleslaw, macaroni salad, and potato salad. When we do have a baked potato a lot of times it is hard and not cooked. I do not understand why the girls are quitting so much. My daughter lives in Wisconsin. She sends me a case of Ensure, cans of Beefaroni, etc. Now for the hallways - they are so dirty. The sofas need to be cleaned. We do have a “temp” “ed” and she had all the electric units cleaned out!! It was great. As far as my apartment goes, the door is so heavy I have to kick it hard to open it to water my plants I am 81 years old and I should not have to do this. And also the outside of my room is so very dirty. Perhaps it has not been painted in years. We pay a lot of money to live here so I hope so much the new “ed” will be strict and get things done. Honestly, if it was not for [name removed] I would pray to move out. Thank you for listening to me. Be safe.

Lost packages, run out of food, no place for dogs to play but a grand place for smoker's. Picked this place for help with doctor appointment s. Then told we don't do that anymore.

I would say don't do it. My loved one went there in the midst of COVID, and they were very unorganized about the paperwork with a lot confusion. My loved one was being moved around several times. This caused her anxiety. The Mansions at Gwinnett Park had her quarantined since she was new in the community. They left her in a room and tried to check on her and didn't do any activities. My loved one was sent to the hospital for three times in the week of being there. My loved one freaked out. My loved one didn't like it, and they weren't able to handle her. I feel they had the residents sitting there. I ended up getting a bill for insurance due to the community not following up with the paperwork. I shouldn't have had to pay for this, as the insurance could have been covering her medications. My loved one hasn't been the same since. This was the worst decision I could've made.

Staff The administration continually changes. In the 6 months that I had my dad there the facility has had 3 different directors. This signals internal turmoil management wise or a facility that is impossible to run. It is clear that the greater organization that Woodholme is a part of is for profits and not it's residents. You pay top dollar, but get the bare bones. The nursing staff is quite good, but once again it changes often, however the aides and other support staff is another story. I will first say that there are some aides that are pretty amazing and they want to be there and want to help. However many are down right nasty. When my mother wasn't moving fast enough with their requests, they would talk to her as if she were stupid or just be downright snappy. This happened with more than several aides and the nurse tech is just awful. All she does is dispense medication. If you ask her something as simple as "Who is responsible for cleaning the bathroom", She will be quick to say that she isn't house keeping. My point is that the nurses tech will do nothing outside of her job, not even point you in the direction of something and then she acts as if she doesn't even want to be there. This isn't a one time instance, this happened on 2 or more occasions. The rude staff behavior is constant. They act as if you are bothering them, when help is requested. I have had staff roll their eyes at me when asked to drop something off in a room during a pandemic. Again this is not all staff, but several of the staff members have these qualities and it happens often enough to point out. Answering the call light. It does not happen in a timely manner. They claim someone comes within 7 minutes, but this simply is not true. My mother fell many times trying to get to the bathroom, because she was waiting for over 30 minutes for them to come and assist her. This tells me the facility does not have the personnel to meet the demands of the residents. Medication Doses were missed of crucial medicine under the guise of "the pharmacy didn't send it." I actually called behind to check and the pharmacy assured me their courier dropped the meds off producing actual documentation of such. Their medication management is quite poor. No resident should ever be without their medication. Cleanliness The common areas are quite clean and bright. The dining area is lovely and the common bathrooms are very clean and without odor. When it comes to keeping the residents rooms clean, it is horrible. My parents bathroom stayed filthy and so did the floor, countertops, and their refrigerator. These are tasks that they can not do, and the facility knew this. As a family, we didn't even bother to fight that fight with this facility as we were so busy advocating for other things for our parents. I had to hire an outside service to come and clean their room. Transportation The transport is in bad need of repair and it is quite a rough ride. It would be OK for a healthy person, but not the elderly with fragile systems. Pricing You are basically paying for an overpriced apartment for your loved one. If you are going to pay a high price such as this, then really do your due diligence or even see if you can upgrade into another tier of assisted living facilities. We kept our parents home many years before placing them here. We didn't just dump them there. The only reason they got half way decent, and I stress half way...is because we were there and present all of the time. Look elsewhere. This company does not deserve your money.