Watermark Retirement Communities

It was clean and everyone was really nice, they have a lot of amenities for their guests. Cost was a little more than the first place we looked. Dad liked this one because it is so close to home. In fact he has decided to move in with Mom so he is looking for a one bedroom.

shuttle to Nativity BVM parish; furnished apts available; dog friendly; updated living space; housekeeping once per week; self-service laundry on each floor; full kitchen and separate bedroom; requires price includes meals but not cable and telephone. Respite care is limited to 90 days, then Mom would move to an apt

Assisted Living; 1 & 2 BR. CATS allowed. Communal Dining, First Alert wristband w/ checks multiple times daily. Light gold walls in hallways. Washer/dryers; full service beauty shop on site; Watermark University; can have own PC or use theirs. Focus on stimulation/learning/ socialization.3 nurses daily until 9 pm. Basic is weekly housekeeping and linen changes; assist with hygiene prn; transportation to shopping, MD, etc. Tues & ThursCoumadin blood work done on site. Clean; fresh smelling; 30 day trial available. Apts unfurnished. Not much staff around. one at desk, one w/games, one in empty exercise room. ~600 sq ft apt. country kitchen to cook if desired. chef's club. art classes,etc. pvt pay; no aset reqrmnt. one time community fee. 12 month lease. 60 day notice to move out. cable and phone ready. internet hookup available. Apts have no cooking facilities. apt size fridge.

Was very impressed with facility but not the shared bedrooms..want a private room.

hotel like... high community fee! residents looked good... alert

So far it is a good fit and going well. However, they need to improve on everything. I ask them to do things and they don't follow up with the requests. They promise things and don't do it, we have to go there all the time to make sure they do the basics like showers and changing the sheets weekly. It seems like nothing changes even after we talk to the administration.

The problem with the place is they don't have enough help for meals, You have to wait an hour to be seated, 15 minutes to get a drink, and 15 minutes to place an order. I was in the hospital recently they have better food. For my apartment, I have to housekeep every 2 weeks. Monday nights are laundry nights, they give you a bag where you could put your sheets and towels. They wash them and return them the same day. They will also do personal laundry for a fee. They have activities such as bingo and cards, also a lot of outings. They will take you to the grocery store but you have to ready to go by 9am. Before I moved in, I was told they can take you to appointments, but they want a notice a long time before. They have a gym on site.

My tour of this community was a decent. I was very impressed overall. The community looked decent, it did have a homey feeling. The community does need some updating. It was decent tour, but not a community I would had felt comfortable placing my father in.

When she was in there they had night nurses but she got hurt one night and they didn't even know about it because the aide didn't report the incident. She had to call me herself. They are constantly changing management and help, their turnover is amazing. She needed help getting up and they would bring more people than they needed and the extras would be standing around talking about their boyfriends. This was not a great experience.

it was too crowded, I noticed some of the staff pushing people in wheelchairs kind of aggressively, 1 lady was lost on the wrong floor and couldn't find her way home. it is too expensive to be this chaotic.

MEDICATION ADMINISTRATION: Seems to be a systemic issue + lack of proper channels of communication between Doctors, Assisted Living Facilities, Caregivers (and what they can / cannot do by law--i.e. the rules they are bound to + restricted by). Example: My Mom’s neurologist had her on Parkinson’s meds since she was exhibiting some symptoms; the thinking behind this was that—since there’s not a test for Parkinson’s, if the medication alleviated her symptoms, it would (could) indicate that she had Parkinson’s. In his office, he said he would start her on 1/2 tablet 3x/day for 3 weeks, then reassess. At the end of the first 3 weeks, we had seen no changes. So the neurologist increased the dosage to 1 tablet 3x/day for another 3 weeks, then reassess. Again, no change… so the last trial was 1.5 tabs 3x/day. The issue with this—with regard to being at an assisted living facility—is that the medical staff + caregivers at the facility can legally only give guests the dosages listed on the actual medication bottle. The disconnect is that the neurologist gave US instructions regarding upping the dosage every 3 weeks (verbally), but those changes were never updated with a doctor-signed prescription each time and therefore there were never any updated electronic instructions viewable on their computers indicating the dosage change, and therefore the caregivers at Watermark could not legally make changes to how many pills they were giving my Mom’s each day. In this case, I had to coordinate with her neurologist’s office, the nurse @ Watermark, the NP who was treating my Mom @ Watermark, and the caregivers and finally got the neurologist to send in a signed Rx change so it would show up on the electronic medical records and therefore allow the caregivers to increase the dosage. In this case, it was a matter of my Mom not getting prescribed increased dosages. The opposite situation happened with her being over-medicated with 3 of her blood pressure medications because instructions and subsequent changes in administration of those pills were not explicitly detailed in the electronic medical records—the information had only been given to us verbally in the doctor’s office during my Mom’s follow-up visits. Even though I provided a detailed chart upon arriving at Watermark (which was requested by them) listing the parameters for administering these 3 supplemental meds, spoke with medical staff + caregivers on numerous occasions, made calls to doctors’ offices requesting official changes, nothing was resolved. So unless I was there to intercept med administration, my Mom was given 3 additional BP meds without determining if they were actually necessary. In short, the correct information only existed in my written notes during those in-person visits, and the doctor never made official signed changes in the electronic medical records files that could be seen by the caregivers.

This is a new facility and has already been through three memory care directors, showing a real fracture in leadership. Communication between leadership, staff and the families is poor at every level. There is a lack of transparency regarding the care of your loved one and whether the service plans are being followed by staff. Many of the direct care staff go above and beyond to care for residents, but it is clear that they are intrinsically motivated and not being consistently trained or educated in nuanced dementia care. There is high staff turnover, causing a lack of continuity of care and abundance of agency staff is utilized - it's clear the unit is not staffed for the current needs of the residents. The food is mediocre, there are often housekeeping and laundry missteps. There is a lack of engagement and activities for residents. Our loved ones deserve a lot better!

I lived at Watermark twice. The director of nursing called my pain management doctor and canceled my doctor's appointment without discussing her intentions, or reasoning. The result of her actions would have left me without medication with a detached leg from my pelvis. IT WAS Debilitating pain I lived with hour after hour and without my medication the pain brought me to my knees. I called Ombudsman and was quickly told this action was against the law. Ombudsman called Watermark and my appointment with pain management was reinstated. My pain management was very irritated at the time and made it clear to me this action was without concern for me. Then HR and the director of nursing came to my room and blasted me without a care about my feelings, or concerns or solutions for my resolution to the pain. I was ridiculed for at least 30 minutes. They did not have another doctor for me to see and it was clear they just wanted to control me. I have moved out of Watermark.

Our family had an in person tour and the tour guide was absolutely wonderful but the facility itself was just old, outdated and rundown

Always short staffed. Food and service is not good. Front desk clerk acts like does not want to be there and housekeeping heard complaining about management at front desk to other staff. Staff aren’t happy since other staff quitting all the time. Communication is very poor. Staff don’t know what is going on because management don’t communicate to them.

I can’t speak for the assisted living, but the memory care residence is understaffed and poorly managed as of [date removed]. My mom lived there for 9 months and after much debate, we moved her. The food was good, the few staff there were lovely, but the good ones kept leaving or being placed elsewhere within the larger facility. They could not attract new residents because they priced themselves out. With so few residents, the place had no energy.

Due to COVID the residents have been in lock down. The food would be about a two our of five, they have changes chefs twice now. Sometimes you get food that you did not order and it may be cold. The rooms are pretty nice, i would say a four out of five.

Went to rockland for 2 week respite very disappointed. Since they did not have memory care available they required a outside care-giver for 16 hours a day. My husband was in his room most of the time did not seem to participate in activities. Meals were disappointing. I had two meals and observed 2 other meals.Salad was not offered I later found that it could be ordered off a different menu. Two residents at a different table could not order until a friend found a staff member 45 minutes later. They said this was not the first time they waited. Other residents were leaving by the time their dinner arrived. we left a day early and were told we signed for 14 days so no refund for the day. Would not recommend. I found the lobby depressing and am sorry we had a very expensive negative experience. Years ago we visited and found this a great place. Sorry to say it has changed significantly.

Too far. Roads too dark. Nice deluxe appts. Felt trumpish. Lacked diversity. Price was right.

Rates go up annually 2-4% which means we could pay as much as $2700 more annually. The memory care floor was newly built, decor beautiful and contemporary but quite sterile. One main gathering area only. Rooms small with no closets only one small armoire provided.