Atria Marland Place

For Alzheimers, Life Guidance units, level of care is very limited, and you will quickly see the need for alternate placement.

This facility offers assisted living, with a memory care unit that was added later.

The building is a renovated mill, which still looks like a mill, and overlooks the river. It is close to downtown Andover; easy to get to with adequate parking once you arrive.

Among the unique features inside are brick walls and long hallways and an open and airy “main street” with a bank and a café and seating area where residents tend to congregate. It gives the sense of being in a train station—not a cozy feeling, more of a grandiose feeling.

The administrative offices are behind the front reception desk, so the admin staff is not easily accessible to residents or family members.

Because there are often openings here, there is also a big effort to hold down costs. A seasoned executive director was recently recruited to take that position at Marland Place—and most of the other key positions here have changed recently, too. It’s still unclear how these changes will play out.

The living units, 124 apartments, are large with high ceilings. Even the small units have a feeling of space. A drawback is that residents cannot open the heavy old mill windows on their own; their have to call for help.

There are many common areas, and a Wellness Center on the second floor.

The river nearby has overflowed in the past—which has forced an evacuation at least once. The management handled that crisis well, though. They have gone through a few different management companies. The facility is now managed by Atria, which has a good reputation, but is quite corporate, so may not be flexible in dealing with individual problems or issues.

The place is adequately staffed, but the largeness of the building is a challenge for caregivers—just being able to cover the real estate. This affects care by adding to the time it takes to travel and track medications and other such tasks.

A new activities director has just been hired; in the past, the place had a great reputation for activities and encouraging cooperation with community groups.

The dining room here has ample space, which avoids the problem of changing seating and making people feel rushed by keeping to a schedule, so the eating experience is good. The food is contracted out to a service; residents seem to eat and enjoy it—and it is clearly above average.

The memory care unit is on the fourth floor—secure, but without access to outside space. The program director there has remained faithfully on staff for a while—and provides engaging activities. Again, the building is a challenging space, which doesn’t allow for traffic patterns tailored to memory care residents.

The best fit for Marland Place would be a resident who doesn’t have ambulatory limitations and who likes to walk inside and to be in a larger physical environment.

The cost is about $5,500—about average for the area; 20% of the units are set aside for tax credit and foster care.