Gayton Terrace

They had issues in the past but the community has improved " Theo, marketing, is excellent !! They just hired a great excutive director and they are filling up! This community is worth touring!

I feel as though occasionally, my grandmother's questions and concerns about her living areas fall on deaf ears. She feels as though the quality of the food, and the quality of the way that it is prepared is very much below par. My grandmother comes over to my house for dinner, and exclaims how wonderful it is to have real food, and I do not appreciate paying such a premium to have my grandmother worship other's food. On the other hand, she does very much enjoy her living area and neighbors.

My parents have lived at GT since early 2007, except for a move to another facility for about 6 months, after which they moved back to GT. GT is fine if you are independent and do not need care. It is pretty and clean. If your loved one needs care, reconsider putting them at GT. New ownership with very poor transition, and recent designation by Va Dept. of Social Services as an assisted living facility, has put GT in a state of crisis. They do not have the staff to provide the assisted living levels that they sell, and they are expensive. There is only one nursing station for the 2 buildings. There should be one on each floor, with med carts on each floor and aides/nurse on each floor, in my opinion. Residents are supposed to be checked on every 2 hours, but there is not enough staff to do that. My father has been overmedicated, undermedicated and not received the AL plan of care that we signed him up for after a recent hospitalization. The staff & administration have lots of excuses. There is no Director of Nursing there at this time. Reportedly, one has been hired, but not there yet. The nursing office does not have a computer in it. Very old-fashioned record keeping. Loosey-goosey place. Did not give me peace of mind to get AL services for my parents. In fact, made things worse, because I feel like I have to check up on the staff to see if AL is actually being delivered. They have a good physical therapist who is on the premises. There is no nursing home care, if your loved one needs temporary nursing home care after a hospitalization. I check the movie room and exercise room when I'm walking by them, and never see anyone in there. The food got better recently, I will say that.

Gayton Terrace is a decent assisted living facility that my grandmother currently resides in. The rooms are fairly large and are big enough to have a power chair move around in the rooms. They just built a new wing of the facility and the new rooms are very nice. They also have happy hours once a week and a very nice theater where they play both current and old movies. They also have a nice court yard where the residents can sit on nice days. The residents seem to really enjoy these amenities. They do a good job at serving the food in the facility and it is actually pretty good for an assisted living facility. Most of the staff is good and competent. Some of the staff can be rude and really shouldn't be working in the facility. They also can't always help as much as the residents need.

Gayton Terrace was on my list of assisted living facilities to visit when I was searching for a place for my mother. Located in the fashionable West End of Richmond, Gayton Terrace looks and feels like a sophisticated multi-story apartment building. With the exception of the numerous wheelchairs and walkers in the halls, it bears little resemblanace to a typical assisted living facility. And perhaps that is one of the reasons that I felt it was not the right environment for my mother.

That isn't to say it isn't a good community. I think it it is a well-designed building that provides very spacious apartments at reasonable rates. In fact, when I was checking out facilities, Gayton Terrace offered me a one-bedroom apartment for the same price as a studio. (A one-bedroom apartment includes a living room and a regular size kitchen, in addition to a bathroom.) Unfortunately, my mother would not have been able to use the kitchen and the bathrooms were not large enough to comfortably handle a wheelchair.

The main nursing station was located on the second floor, so residents living on other floors would have to wait until a staff member went up or down to meet their needs. This was a problem for me, since I wanted the nurses and aides to be closer to my mother. However, for residents who are more self-sufficient, it might not make a difference.

Gayton Terrace has two dining areas and a number of spacious gathering rooms where social events are held. Again, the location of the dining areas and activity rooms was a bit too far away from the living quarters, and this was another reason I did not think Gayton Terrace was the right place for my mother.

I did find the staff friendly and accommodating; the rooms were large and bright; the location was ideal -- it was close to shopping and medical facilities; and family and friends were always welcome to join their loved ones in activities and for meals (which are included in the monthly fee).

When touring the facility, I did not see any of the nursing staff or health care aides and this did not make me feel comfortable. The admissions director said they usually keep a low profile, so as not to make it look like an assisted living facility. This might be good for the psychological acceptance of some of the residents, but I wanted to know that someone was available the moment my mother might use her call button.

Ultimately, Gayton Terrace was not the right facility for my mother, but it is a very good option for someone who only needs minimum support and supervision. Plus, it is afforable and you get a lot of bang for your buck. It is definitely work checking out.