Westmont Living

I liked the Garden one because it has a studio instead of shared living. It has all inclusive personal care.

At the beginning, when I was still "looking" for a place, I always received responses to my emails or voicemail messages I left. Now that I have placed my father in this facility, I can't seem to get any responses to my emails or voicemails that I have left. It is regarding billing and [Removed], the office manager doesn't return my calls. I have even sent emails to Shelly, the person I had signed up with, even though this I not her area and have not received a response. The bill was due on July 1st and there is a 5 day grace period then you pay a late fee. Today is day 5. I started leaving messages on June 19th or 20th. I spoke to the nurse that does the assessment for the assistance needed on Sat., July 1st. She said she would have [Removed] get back to me. Still no response! I am not happy with this lack of response to my questions about their charges which are much higher than what I was told I would be paying.

This was just a short respite stay and I wasn't there much. The most frustrating part was that we didn't get the approval until the last minute. I felt like it could have been handled more expeditiously. When we got there, and being a Sunday, they weren't really ready for her. It's a young group of caregivers, but I do like that they have a low income tier. They have a great group of Seniors living there, really friendly, and funny too. It's a small place, they were very open and accepting. The only thing that was kind of scary was that they happened to have two people with with similar names, that resulted in medication mix-ups.

They said they had a security guard walk the perimeter every night. That didn't seem to be the case. We had an incident that indicated to us that whoever is supposed to be doing that, isn't doing it. Other than that they are clean, and they were cooperative when we moved.

Food is average to slightly above average, then they have a standard every day menu with good enough burgers etc. Staff. Seems a high turnover, that's a negative cause relationship building, etc. though there are some staff that have been there steady. The med techs do a great job communicating with me when there's a low supply of her prescriptions. Maintenance took a long time to deal with an ant infestation and my mom had ants on her in the morning several times. Communication is great generally, has my mom ready for our outings has her meds ready for me to take her. And they do make good effort to have my mom all ready to go when I give them notice. There are creeping unprojected costs however. There are extra fees on top of the cost for "care level". Bingo activities and decent exercise facilities, but I have to pay for a part-time outside caregiver to facilitate her participation in those activities. There's not time for individual staff to develop a decent relationship and encourage My Mom to go to these activities. If it wasn't for my outside caregiver she would lay around not doing anything. And when we first started there and I was asking about caregivers, etc., because I don't know anything about the way this works. They only recommend one from their preferred service provider. There must be something going on with the cahoots there because I have to pay like 50 bucks an hour for that but I get an outside caregiver. A better quality will be the same person every day for 35 bucks an hour or so… They leave you to figure things out on your own quite a bit.

Well the front desk person [name removed]; the medication tech [name removed] & the placement director [name removed] were Stellar in their assistance and communication. However - the executive directors, billing office and wait staff in the restaurant were Horrible in their communications and I'm still waiting for responses to my calls & emails even after my parents moved out of there last week.

The facility is clean. The memory care unit is short staffed. The bistro is rarely full of snacks. Memory care activities. Are weak. Yet they try. Food could be better. The med tech staff does a great job. The marketing director. Is top rated. Never saw the top management or head director. Seemed to not engage much with residents . Possibly a numbers person only.

I love my apartment. I feel the staff is on their side and not ours. Communication is not their strong point. I would not move.

Memory care unit & dad's room had bad smell more often than not. Dad was messy, but staff should have kept the place and room cleaner. . Good. Liked the fact that a Spanish speaking caregiver would sometimes converse with him in Spanish even though he was bilingual. Rest of staff were cordial & friendly. pretty good except his last month when he had too many falls. Good. Responsive (with occasional reminders). Typical institutional food. Dad ate pretty well, but when I visited, we'd go out for lunch or dinner. Liked that they would save his leftovers from our outings for him to eat later. One of the big reasons we chose this facility was how much we liked the activities Director and how well she interacted with my dad on our visit. Unfortunately, she left for a new job at a different company before my dad got placed. (I don't think they ever replaced her while dad was there). Did like the availability of bus outings to park concerts. Had greater expectations for this facility given the expense, but overall it was a pretty good fit for my dad, so I do recommend it. Just be clear about your own expectations and monitor you loved one's progress by communicating with the administrators often

I would not recommend Westmont. We have had nothing but issues since we arrived. While this move has been successful from the standpoint of getting my mom involved with activities/ therapy, every other aspect has been below our expectations. Disappointed in my choice. the administrative group is the problem. Horrible communicators, dysfunctional, no onboarding process for new residents. Other aspects have been a 5 (our work with empowerment, meals, and other lower level staff have been wonderful) which is why I gave them a 3.

My aunt was assessed at a high level of care (I think it was a 5, 6 being the highest). She was coming from rehab from hip surgery and a mild stroke. As one knows the higher your level the more expensive. Her first day there she fell and fractured her pelvis. She was not able to get assistance right away. She was finally brought to ER. When she returned to Westmont she should have been re-evaluated. Regardless the next few days she was barely checked on. My family had to intervene and we were not impressed by their care. My aunt has since recovered more and we have outside help come in on the weekends. Also, my aunt, is vegan and has had to give that up as there are not enough options in the dining hall. Westmont needs to be careful what they promise their incoming residence. At this point I’d say it’s a better facility for independent seniors who don’t need much assistance.

Friendly staff, beautiful courtyard and nice refurbished dining hall. Their staff is attentive. But it is an old building and not in the best neighborhood.

Don't fall for the sales pitch. After all, the only reason these places exist is to make Money. For instance, if one wished to dine in one's room, to have the meal delivered is $[removed]. To pick it up YOURSELF, is $[removed].

When my mother first got to Westmont it was great. When her level of care she needed changed so did the care from Westmont changed. We went through 3 major staff changes in 6 mo. That's how long my mother was there before she passed away. They were understaffed, could not connect with directors or asst directors. Cleaning went down and the aides taking care of residents had definitely changed due understaffing. It's a shame because it was so nice when she got there.

Everything is good when you go in for the first visit. The people and rooms are nice. They are disorganized from there. The intake was disorganized. The food quality is terrible as well as the service to get the food… 45 minutes to an hour and 30 minute long wait. There have been multiple times where a staff member has just walked into my grandmother's room at all hours of the night. There has just been a lot of unacceptable things out that happened. Really nice people who work there however. They are just missing the mark on most important parts.

As far as the facility. It's beautiful! I just wish that they would clean the common area a bit more. Unfortunately the residents have no control of certain things but if the cleaning staff kept up a bit more it would not smell so bad. Sometimes when I visit it takes a long time after I leave to not smell that scent. It's like it lingers. I feel that the staff that takes care of my mom is very friendly and welcoming. They always have stories to tell about my mom between visits. Makes me feel like they really care about her and enjoy taking care of her.

I pay extra for comfort keeper to come assist for daily activities with my mom. I also being charged for medication administration, that's an extra [fee removed] a month and they don't have staff to administer her insulin so I go everyday to give her insulin. I have found her morning medication at the bedside several times and have expressed my concerns about this to the staff.

Overall staff is very friendly and kind. When mom moved in yr ago meal excellent! Chef relocated, now quality has declined. Initial care excellent! Now mom cleanliness (1x a week cleaning) is either not happening or not being done well. On-site OT/PT (not the Oaks) is top notch. The facility is beautiful but care staff and housekeeping struggling.

I was surprised to find that even those with a title of "director" of such and such are paid hourly, and not so well as I understand. Maybe because of that personnel turn-over at the "directors" level seem to be rather frequent, especially at the kitchen. The current chef is the third or fourth since my husband came there at the end of [fee removed] . The quality of meals seem to have declined recently. But the front-line employees seem to be all very kind and pleasant as far as we have experienced. Also, at the assisted living level, there are a lot of freedom, and we are allowed to take [name removed] to restaurant outings as we please. The fact that there are a heated indoor pool and a fully-equipped gym is very nice. Once or twice a month entertainment sessions are also great, and family members are also welcome. So, I try to accompany [name removed] to these events as often as I can. I forgot to mention that there are 300+ "active living" retirement homes, and some of the residents volunteer to conduct painting classes, sewing classes, etc

Clothes are not returned correctly, stool in toilets and smell bad if walking by open room)/Medicines not ordered timely, can't produce record of meds taking and time. never seen or heard of any activities. Too expensive for the level of service. They are priced as a 5 star but clearly a 3 star.