Watermark Retirement Communities

Let me start by saying that [name removed] and [name removed] who are the marketing employees at Elan Santa Monica are great and awesome to work with, and they will definitely answer all your questions and win you over. (Since I can't give zero stars to this facility, my one star is given entirely to [name removed] and [name removed].) The facility itself looks good from the outside, however when we viewed rooms there were dead cockroaches in two of the three rooms we viewed. Granted, they were dead, but still scattered all over. The shower never got warm and was cold whenever we tried to test it. The food was terrible. Extremely bland and even my elderly loved one said they disliked it. Now, to the important aspects of my post. I DO NOT recommend Elan in any way shape or form and I DO NOT recommend you put your loved one at this facility. We went to Elan because my family member needed memory care. We met with [name removed] and [name removed] who were wonderful and completely won us over in choosing their facility. As this was a very stressful situation for me and my family, they answered our millions of questions and addressed any concerns we had. However, we quickly came to learn that things on the front side of Elan, are perfect, and way too good to be true. Once my family member was actually at Elan, that's when things drastically changed. The care my family member received by the head "nurse" [name removed], was terrible, in that she did not provide care at all. We were told our family member would be checked on every 30 minutes around the clock and any instance that happened would be reported to us immediately, such as any falls, behavior issues. Anything. And we were adamant that we wanted to know what was happening as this was our loved one and this was a very difficult decision for us. Not only did we have family visiting the center daily, we called to check on our loved one at least 3 times a day to see how things were going. Every time we called or asked in person, we got the same answer, "Oh they're doing great! We love them! Nothing bad to report." Come to find out a week later that they were kicking my family member out of their facility for "bad behavior" such as walking around too much and going into other people rooms, and incontinence issues. This was absolutely ridiculous! For around $6000 a month, they were NOT doing their job of keeping an eye on my loved one or providing the care they promised. We later came to find out that they only checked on our family member about every two hours, if that, and they had fallen multiple times and we were never told. Unfortunately, my loved ones ankle started to swell up and we later found out they had almost broken a bone at Elan and no one there knew what had happened. The "nurse" [name removed] had horrible things to say about our family member's behavior, but when we asked why we weren't told about things as they were happening she couldn't give us a straight answer and eventually stopped answering or returning calls. I don't believe she ever actually worked directly with my loved one. She manages the techs and aids at the facility but never interacts with the residents herself. The director of the facility is just as bad. She stated Elan would give us $500 back and another $1000 since they kicked him out and couldn't provide adequate care on their part. We received the $500 however we NEVER received the other portion. She stopped returning our calls after we tried multiple times to reach her. They ended up pocketing thousands of our dollars after having our family member for barely over a week. Obviously they care more about money then their residents. Overall, Elan seems great in the beginning, but the care your loved one will receive once there is terrible. They don't keep to their word, the head nurse really only manages people, and the overall director has horrible customer service skills. And if that's how the director is, then to me that's a reflection of how the place is as a whole. Again, I DO NOT recommend this facility and instead they exceedingly disappointing us. (I do however recommend [name removed] located in [location removed] if you're looking for a facility that truly cares about your loved one and keeps their word. Look them up as they truly deserve your business.)

The grounds are gorgeous. It's WAY out in the country so best for someone who likes living that lifestyle. If only the rest of the property was as nice as what mother nature provided. We did the complete tour of the facilities and one thing I will note is this place is very old and run down. The cottages they showed us had chipped and peeling paint on the outside brick. Not just a little bit, the entire sides of buildings were peeled off. Just pressure wash the brick and be done with it. Stop painting it. The interior layouts all differ but the kitchens are so outdated (like from the 1960s), have a salmon colored or odd mustard colored formica countertops, linoleum floors, outdated appliances. This could be a beautiful community if Watermark would invest in updating the places when they are no longer occupied. Instead they offer "specials" to try to fill the out of date places without having to renovate. Upgrade your kitchens with granite, put in engineered hardwood floors instead of pergo or linoleum. It is ridiculous to have carpeting in a retirement home where seniors are prone to using canes and walkers or have drink or food spills. Carpet is not maintenance free. Some of the cottages had an air conditioner in one room and no where else. The gym is more of a personal gym setup. Just one of each type of equipment. There is no sauna, pool or any type of water aerobics available. The photos on the website make the dining room and the cafe look a lot better than they do in real life. The dining room has zero ambiance, it truly looks like a nursing home dining room. The little cafe isn't the quaint little country market it appears in the photo, it looks more like a truck stop cafe/7-Eleven. It is also a good 20 miles to the nearest hospital in Poughkeepsie. The sales/marketing staff from what I could tell consists of one person - Ruthie. Once you do the initial visit, she is incredibly difficult to get in touch with by phone or email and even though she says, "send me any questions", she doesn't respond. She doesn't see the rundown places as an issue because, as she will proudly tell you, she lives in a large trailer with formica countertops and linoleum floors.

Unfortunately we had a fairly negative experience at Rockland Place. My mom broke her femur and nothing was done about it for a good while. They can definitely improve. It is scary quiet. What I fear is that there was no good real help up where mom was, and there was no way for us to know that until what happened to mom. Had we known beforehand, we would have gone somewhere else. They need to do a lot more understanding of how important it is to keep these people socialized. Their help on the weekends especially was very weak.

gave low rating for not able to meet demands. did not meet moms needs, only needed a 7 day stay, facility only accepts 3 weeks or more for repite. dont understand, why facilities think that caregivers need 3 or more weeks break. huge mistake on thier part. Mr. Rasmussen was upfront about it, appreciated that, did not waste my time or his on this matter.

The staff were very nice. We were half way through our tour and they had to get the wheelchair from my wife and put her in a transporter. We were touring the facility and all of the residents were just sitting around and there were not staff. Based on our tour I would not recommend them.

This community presents very well when you first walk into the community. My sister and I were looking for a community for our Mom. We wanted to see both the assisted living and memory living. We set an appointment ahead of time and when we got there on a weekday in the middle of the afternoon, no body was available to tour us. Waited for 45 minutes until the Executive Director who didn't seem happy that she had to tour us, toured us. She was in a rush during our tour, we asked about seeing the memory living and the Executive Director said that we need an advance appointment before they let us see that part of the community. (Which we had, and express that to the Executive Director). Which didn't make any sense, we also notice that a lot of nursing staff around the station on their cell phones and cursing during our tour. Executive Director addressed this with the nursing staff, but when we left the nursing station and looked back at the station, 2 of the nurses were giving the Executive Director the middle finger. If that is how they act towards their boss, I can't image what they would do with my Mom in this community. Also, their prices were really high, the Executive Director asked if we had a long term care policy and that policy would cover the cost. That didn't make sense of why the prices were so high, plus the attitude of the nursing staff, we are going to be looking for another community.

Best to run, not walk, from Elan Santa Monica.

PLEASE READ. I would never recommend a loved one or family friend to live at Rockland. I was once told by the nursing supervisor [Removed], and I quote "make no doubt about it, this is a nursing home not assisted living". They simply do not staff with registered nurses around the clock and many of the residents need a level of care by staff that have enough education and skill to care for them. They deserve the best and unfortunately WATERMARK is more about the almighty dollar. Severe lack of staff and skill leads to poor care.

Least expensive, independent living, may be too far for family.