Carolina House of Smithfield

Carolina House of Smithfield was very nice, clean, and had a heartwarming environment. They had what I wanted in a facility like that. They had good members in staff that gave me a tour of the place and explained each facility to me. They were really hospitable.

My cousin lived there and she loved it to start with . She had her own private room. She didn't have to share it with a another resident. The only thing she didn't like was having to share her bathroom. The meals provided were very planned out and customized to fit the residents health. Overtime I became familiar with the staff and they were very warm and treated the residents as if they were family. If the residents requested that there linens be washed. There linens were washed and returned the same day. It always felt as if i was walking into a home instead of an assisted living facility. Her stay has been great and was very pleased.

My aunt was at this facility for over 12 years. She passed away in May. At the beginning, I was very impressed with the facility and it's employees. They knew each person's name, after a few visits, knew who I was visiting and my name/relationship with my aunt. They were attentive to the patients, spoke to them appropriately, and seemed to genuinely care. Then for a year or two there seemed to be quite a turnover in staff and changes made to the facility. The staff weren't as friendly with me or the patients. They weren't rude though. They got to know me fairly quickly because I would take my dogs twice a week to visit the assisted living side and the "lock down"/Alzheimer's side- where my aunt resided. There was still one CNA, whose name I've forgotten, but she's still there and was always delighted to see us. She was cheerful, upbeat, and involved with the patients. The amenities were nice and appropriate. They had activities such as painting, bingo, sing alongs, arts/crafts, yoga, etc. They also had a closed in patio with benches, swings, and bird feeders. The meals were outstanding, well balanced and a nice variety. You could stay for dinner if you called ahead and many times they'd offer a meal while I was there even if I hadn't called ahead. It was kept up nicely and rarely smelled antiseptic-like in hospitals and other places I went. Overall, I really enjoyed that facility compared to all the others I had taken the dogs to for therapy/visitation. However, with the changes I mentioned before, one was that I could be given the four digit code to enter/exit the lock down area so I wouldn't have to bother a nurse or assistant to let me out when I was ready to go but they changed that policy. There were times when they've got their hands full with bathing, medicating, etc. that I felt I was inconveniencing them by having them let me out, or I'd have to wait so long for someone to be available that I'd be late getting where I'd need to go. The other change was that you were to ring a bell before entering even the assisted living side (which you had to go through to get to the Alzheimer's side)to be let in. Before, you could just walk in, sign in, and go visit. You also had to have someone let you out. There was rarely anyone around to help with this and it was time consuming and no well manned. Residents ended up going around the desk to push the button to release the door! I didn't like these new additions, but I'm sure they were put in place for some sort of safety reason.

Carolina House is a very nice facility, with a very beautiful "Grecian" look to it. The staff, they have a service plan for each patient or resident in the facility. My sister's room is not that small but it's homey and very accessible. It doesn't have cable TV included, but the closets are big and spacious enough for her things. It's also good that the apartment is cleaned everyday. I would say that the food is great, as I have received no complaints from my sister so far. Staff is well organized, and very caring to each resident. They seem very dedicated to their work. Yes, my sister is happy living in that facility.