Watermark Retirement Communities

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.

Absolutely, this Skybridge is a beautiful facility with many amenities, daily activities with a monthly calendar. The issues our family have with the Skybridge is the charges of Care is not explained. We requested a care plan from the assistant living director with questions that arouse about the increase of care Without explanation. We are Still awaiting that meeting that was over 30 days ago.

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.

Very nice people. The independent living apartment we saw was lovely. The grounds are very nice. The apartments are spacious. It's unfortunate the views from the apartments either face an old brick building that is located in the courtyard or a parking lot. The property is a bit run down. We noticed quite a bit of chipped paint, cracks, rust and a general need of maintenance, especially around the cottages. There were quite a bit of weeds and a lack of landscaping around the cottages as well. Except where the residents have made the effort. Most of the cottages look like they are empty so that may explain the need of landscaping and maintenance around them. The cottages have shared laundry room that are very old and outdated and in need of new appliances and a coat of paint. The two we looked at had cobwebs and dead flies in them. The machines were mismatched and there was no place to fold your clothes. I don't think the laundry rooms were heated either. That would be a concern. The food was excellent even if the photos of the dining room and cafe are misleading. The furniture is quite chipped in both of those areas. The property is large but there aren't any activities offered onsite to do outside which was surprising given all the space they have. There wasn't even a walking trail on their 200 acres. The biggest disappointment was they don't have a pool which is a shame since my mother likes to do water aerobics. We were told they had a greenhouse for gardening but that didn't turn out to be the case. It looks like they have turned what once was a greenhouse, if there ever was one, into a storage shed. That would have been a nice feature especially since this is located in farm country and most of the residents are from the area. The gym was small as well. I would recommend this if you wanted to be in the apartments and not the cottages and aren't active. The transportation options seemed adequate for going to the pharmacy, grocery store, shopping.

I wasn't particularly impressed. It's an awfully old place. My impression is based strictly on the cottages because that's what we looked at. We visited the cottages and the first thing we noticed was the chipped paint, cracks, rust on the doors and bad landscaping behind them. Then we saw the shared washer and dryers that you have to go outside to get to were mismatched and very old. They were inside a very dirty room. Granted a laundry room doesn't have to be a decorators dream, but these were simply dreadful. The cottages weren't in much better shape. Chipped formica countertops, old appliances. Completely out of date. The outsides were in need of alot of maintenance and landscaping help. It's a small thing but if you are going to have garages in a retirement community, make them remote controlled. You really expect someone over 70 to get out of their car and manually pull up a garage door in the snow? The 24 hr. security we found out isn't exactly that. They staff someone until 11pm and then you have to ring the reception desk (that no one is sitting at) until it finally rings (10 rings until it even rolls over) and a security guard that we couldn't figure out where he was (onsite? offsite?) finally answers. I couldn't leave my mom someplace that wasn't staffed 24/7. If she calls, it's going to be an emergency and I want someone picking up right away! 10 rings is a full minute. Time a minute while you are lying in pain or having a heart attack and tell me you don't think that's unreasonable. It is. I think that claim is a bit of an overstatement about 24/7 help available. You'd be better off dialing 911 directly. If that's the case, what are you paying The Fountains for that safety feature? The furniture in the dining room and cafe were badly chipped. This place needs a good influx of money and someone who understands the needs of Seniors to make it nice.

Our experience with Blue Bell Place has not been a good one. My loved one is in their dementia care wing, and we've had problems throughout her stay. When I visit her room is often dirty, and the staff just do not seem very attentive or patient oriented in general. They also don't do a great job coordinating with the family, they've started my loved one on medications and the only way I found out was when I saw them on the bill. Based on our experience I wouldn't recommend them for memory care.