Sonida Senior Living

So, I've debated writing this as I was thinking maybe our expectations were out of line for my father, however after about six weeks in his new facility, I have realized that this facility has some significant issues. First of all, it's a new(er) facility and the rooms and facility have a nice layout and is maintained nicely. [name removed], who is the facilities director does a nice job as well as the gentleman who cleans the rooms each week. Unfortunately that's about where it stops. Some questions or things I wish we would have asked or would have done differently: Staff turnover. From the point we looked at the facility to the time we moved dad out, every key position (facility director, nursing director, marketing, dining, etc.) had turned over at least once, most at least two times and one position (marketing) I lost total count of how many people had been in that role. Food. Eat in the dining hall multiple times. Eat what the residents eat and stop by unannounced to see what's for dinner (as well as lunch). Don't just look at the menu; it is not necessarily indicative of what is served or what you might expect a dish to be. While I thought my dad was just picky (and he is to a degree), now that he is settled in his new place, there has not been one complaint about food. When he was it at Heritage, complaints were almost daily. And not just "I don't like the food," on many occasions, it was that they had run out of some of the basics (coffee, orange juice, milk, etc.) There also is some significantn inconsistency between shifts, cooks, etc. I contacted the facility director at least twice regarding this but was met with excuses with little improvement. Care. While we were fortunate that dad didn't have a lot of needs from the nursing staff, the few times that he hit the button for help, were not answered in a timely manner. While we were told during our visit that the button is answered in a specific timeframe, we didn't find this to be the case. The one thing that he needed done once a week was botched to the point that we would work around the director to get it done. Activities. While the activity calendar is plentiful, show up when the activities are supposed to be going on. I believe the calendar is more of a marketing piece than an actual listing of what is actually happening. See if people show up to attend any of the activities and see if they actually happen. Something I wish we would have done. While the Director of the Facility is fairly new and I think her heart is in the right place, I have serious doubts if the place can turn around. I would recommend looking at several facilities and check out the food and activities and even talk to some of the residents and their family to get perspective. While it's never easy making the decision to put your loved one in a facility like this, I would urge you to do your homework and look "behind the curtain." The community fee, which is a couple thousand dollars, is non-refundable, so if you make a mistake, it can a costly one.

Most of the caregivers are wonderful, but they work short staffed frequently and are sometimes required to cook and serve meals, taking away time from residents. Some of the staff could benefit from CNA training or dementia sensitivity training. Seems disorganized. Experience does not match the sales pitch.

My mother was in memory care there at Whitley Place , IN KELLER, for three years. We were told that she could live there until she passed away. As her dementia increased, She became wheelchair-bound. SIX WEEKS BEFORE SHE DIED, she became bedbound. She developed large multiple unstageable BEDSORES and suffered horribly. Her bedsores drained, turned black, and smelled. They were necrotic and infected. They did not have meals appropriate for her condition. Her floors were so sticky, I had to request mopping. Pain was poorly controlled. SHE WAS NOT TURNED FREQUENTLY. Whitley Place should not be taking care of skilled nursing patients they are not trained to do so. When moma died, not even a sympathy card was sent, and she lived there 3 years.

Our father has been a resident at the Amberleigh. The sales pitch was overbearing and the sales director far from genuine but the rest of the staff made up for that. The community is clean, friendly and food generally good. Our move in meeting with the administrator was calming and helpful. The apartment very nice overlooking a rose garden balcony. New management is cause for concern but he is moving to higher level of care.

My mother has lived at the Waterford at Plano since February 13, 2018. Since the day she moved in, the shower in her apartment has not functioned properly. Three months of the Maintenance Staff trying to repair it have been unsuccessful. Three months of luke warm or uncontrollable temperature for the 96 year old. Today I called the City of Plano Neighborhood Service Department (Renters' Advocates) and asked for a city inspector to look into my mother's concerns. He agreed that the shower is malfunctioning and gave Waterford two weeks to bring the shower up to acceptable level of functioning. After the inspector made his inspection, Staff reportedly hired a plumber. But, the plumber didn't show up. Staff now reports that plumber will come tomorrow. Three months without proper shower and it takes an inspector from the city of Plano to begin the formal process of rectifying the situation. And, the Staff appears to still not be particularly interested in providing adequate plumbing for my 96 year old mother. Just a heads up.

My Husband had a short stint at Symphony Manor. He has Alzheimer's....... One weekend he was a little more agitated than usual, Symphony Manor called an ambulance and had him taken to the hospital for behavior stability. When his stay at the hospital was completed and he was calm, we had a patient review with the hospital. To my surprise, Symphony Manor (who was there in attendance) told us he was not allowed to come back. I was in shock, there was no warning whatsoever. I had to start the process all over again to find a new home for him. This is not only a huge set back for the patient, it's also detrimental to family members. I felt so incredibly helpless, we had no one to turn to for help, I now know what it feels like to be homeless. In other words, your loved one had better be totally compliant or they will be tossed to the curb.

My brother and sister in law toured this community while I was looking at others. They felt this was not an option at all for our mother it had too much of a nursing home feel and environment too it. It was not appealing to them.

We moved our mother into Brookfield Meadows independent living in [date removed]. We were told by the executive director at the time that when my mom needed to transfer to assisted living there would not be a problem. In [date removed], my mom ended up in the emergency room from a virus she had picked up at Brookfield Meadows and was admitted to hospital. (we later found out that the new executive director had cut cleaning practices). When my sister inquired about moving my mom to assisted living we were told by the new executive director that she would be evicting my mom immediately because her POA for medical was activated and she would not be able to return to apartment. So while my mom was in the hospital, the family had to find a rehab place for mom, a new apartment, move her furniture and belongings to a new apartment in less than a week all in the coldest month of the year. We have since heard that the facility needed to collect the $1500.00 entrance fee from new residents as we have found out that other people have been evicted. Please do not put your parent(s) into this facility thinking you have found a decent place for them. Quite the opposite is true. We have found a nice place for my mom and she is doing well. She does not understand why she was evicted from her apartment that she thought she would be in for the long term, while in the hospital (and neither does her family), but she is in a much cleaner, caring place where we know she won’t be evicted out of her apartment with no notice.

I'm not very happy with Palmilla after finding out my father in law's apartment has bed bugs. He's been out of it for one week now while they treat for the problem. Only one person called to say what happened and no one seems to want to tell us what is now happening. Even two visits has not fielded answers!

Constant turnover of staff, long waits on call button, it is not infrequent for my parent to wait 30 minutes to be taken to the bathroom. Meds not given as directed. We are looking for another place. In the last year there has been no driver for the bus to take residents on outings. The facility is beautiful, the food is good and the apartment is kept clean by the housekeeping staff

This facility may look nice, but beware of the pretty facade because it is NOT well run. The salesperson promised us the sun, moon and stars for our loved one and acted like she didn't know us once he moved in. The entire upper management team is TERRIBLE and very unprofessional. The Director of Nursing was a nightmare to deal with and regularly used inappropriate language with our family. So tacky. The staff had very little patience or skill to deal with people with dementia. The caregivers were sweet to our loved one, but not very effective overall because upper management did all of the decision making. A few of the nurses were also very good. Cedar Lake should be avoided completely and you should look elsewhere if you do not want to end up moving your loved one again at a later time.

The place is good for seniors that are very ambulatory. I feel if the person needs a little higher level of assistant which they do offer, the assistance is lacking. My father came down with pneumonia and they seemed unaware that he was even sick. When we intervened and got him to the doctor he was immediately admitted to the hospital and he was so septic that it will be almost a month stay in the hospital.

My mother was a resident in the memory care unit for a little over a year. During that time, she fell and broke her hip. Staff found her and put her in her bed where she stayed overnight before they took her to the hospital. They did not take her to the one that we had requested for emergencies. They do not chart incidents. A family friend found a large knot and bruise on her forehead. The staff knew nothing about it and had no record of it. The staff that provides personal care are either poorly trained or simply do not care. I sat with my Mom on many occasions during meals and saw residents who had trouble feeding themselves sit in front of their plates, then the food was taken away. My mother has gained 19 pounds in the year after we moved her out of there. We also had to provide all of her consumable supplies and frequently weren't told they needed replenishing until after they ran out. This place is poorly run and poorly documented.

The place is beautiful, but my father did not eat or was not fed for three (3) days Because he eould not go to the cafeteria ut he was too weak to walk or roll himself I feel somepne was very wrong. When I pulled him out I was threatened, then, I received a bill for medication for over $600. I was not given nor was the ambulance service that picked him up given any of his medications. The medicatoons were for 90 days. He went to Altus hospice and shortly afterwards he passed away. I would not want anyone to ever experience what I experienced. I pray that some common sense iniatives happen sooner than later. .

rent is too expensive. There is alot of gossip with the staff. They think residents and families don't know but we know.

Is a ok place but food is very poor and the Administrator, [removed] does not care at all about the residents. She is [removed] and most residents don't want to be around her.

Loved it at first sight but that changed after a coupe of weeks. Leadership is passive and seems il prepared or unwilling to make improvements. The lice infestation in memory care was awful. Dentures have been lost here. Memory car residents don't get much activity time of any real quality. It's unfortunate that many of the staff don't appear to enjoy their job. Turnover is high and residents are not the priority. The food offerings are questionable. Fr the cost I would not expect my loved on to EVER be offered a sandwich on white bread and some hard chips. These are seniors. They need nutritious food not what's convenient for the kitchen staff. The memory care resident who pay the most don't even get the same food as the assisted living residents. It's a poorly run place. It was great but when they decided to cut corners and were bought by Capitol Senior Living things went down hill.

My father had a stroke three years ago and my step-mother and he moved into this apartment. he needed assistance getting in and out of the shower, and things like that, and they did not do that. The building was converted from an apartment, and there are many things lacking (such as handrails in the bathroom, as just one of many examples) that are lacking. It is not a place made for seniors in need of care, and any special care we asked for they fought us on. We spoke with the director, Dr. Huff about it and he was very blunt in drawing a line in the sand that they would not do certain things that we expected to be done. He was very rude and did not accommodate. All of this is contrary to what we were led to expect. This place was grossly misrepresented, and should not be called "assisted living". I am disgusted with this place, and with Dr. Huff in particular.

Inexperienced at dealing with seniors!

The assisted living side of Whitley Place is nice, staff is friendly and there are nice activities for the residents. The Memory Care side is lacking in care and attention to the residents. The staff were on their cell phones or sitting and not attending to the residents. My mother had anger issues which I know is difficult to deal with but not unexpected for an Alzheimer's patient. The staff was not well trained in diverting her attention and was not at all understanding with family members. I would not recommend the Memory Care side of Whitley Place to anyone.