Emeritus at Bellevue Manor

I visited this facility

I was checking this location for my mom. Very clean and bright. Lots of things going on. The marketing person and head nursing supervisor met with me. I was impressed with the facility. I am hesitating because they were very anxious and it is really a way from me.
I read reviews so am a little weary.

I am a friend or relative of a resident

The one thing we're disappointed in that facility is the doctor came in and there were restrictions to what food my mother was given, like the orange limes or the stuff that you really can't eat. You should've known not to eat it and the people there just don't seem to understand and how their nurse come in and said "yeah, yeah" but a few days later it was back to not as being good as it could be.

Mom is fine. She understands what some people are saying and that seems to work all right. Her room is okay. One thing that is really decent with this place, is when I moved her in there, we set up her room exactly how her bedroom was at home including all her furnishings and fixtures, and they had no problem that I put up all kinds of shelves. Then we had to change rooms because she had to go to lock section for memory care.

I basically didn't move everything over there and rehung up the shelves and stuff, and they were fine with it. Cleanliness is poor there though. They don't keep the place cleaned up. We had complaints on and off with them. We talked to them about it. They should improve on cleanliness and about the residents' food.

The food is an issue because sometimes they give people in the memory care section like a whole piece of chicken breast to somebody that's so frail. They can't cut it up and it's a problem. They should prepare foods that are suitable for these people.

There are some issues I have had with this community - issues with the staff members, the way they residents are cared for and treated, the living conditions, and about a lot of the ways that this facility is ran in general.

This community is one that offers Independent and Assisted Living, Memory Care, Short-Term/Respite Care and Rehab Services, I think is a large way they bit off more than they could chew because some of these care levels are not properly staffed, they are ran in a very chaotic and unorganized way, which I can tell stresses out the residents, and most importantly the residents in these service levels are not receiving the proper care or treatment. Now I can see that the director of the building works very, very hard - the director is always there, always hard at work, and works in all different areas - if a staff member doesn't show up for the shift then the director has no issue with working their shift and does it better than the staff members ever could - the executive director of this building is the ONLY thing that I think is holding this facility together - but only one person can do so much, it takes a TEAM to run a senior living residence successfully and to treat and care for the residents in the correct way.

I do love the location - it's all very woodsy and beautiful, there are nice sitting and walking areas, many areas to socialize and to enjoy the fresh air and outdoors . The residents are always telling me about the animals and deer and other woodland animals. They really enjoy seeing them.

There have been some serious (I at least think they are serious - the staff members act like these things aren't that big of a deal - which also worries me). The staff members have ways they do thinks that I do not agree with AT ALL. For one example, in different levels I have seen the staff members, when escorting the residents to different areas, grab the residents by the back of the pants (by the waist band) and hold on the pants as a way to stabilize the residents - now, I see this technique used all the time in different communities and if done right than it is a good way to help support the resident but when staff members use this technigue they have to remain aware of: one- making sure they grab a hold of just the pants and NOT the residents undergarments, two - making sure they are pulling out and NOT up, which could be very painful for the residents, and 3- making sure that the resident is comfortable. If done correctly, the staff members can help the residents walk from Point A to Point B safely and comfortable however, in this community the staff members seem to either not pay attention or just not care about how they are holding on the residents. I have heard the residents tell the staff members that they are hurting them and they still don't let up - it's awful to see a resident in pain and a staff member causing it - if a resident says something hurts - stop doing it!

Another resident care issue I saw was during a couple visits ago - a memory care resident bumped her head and it began to bleed and bled on to her shirt, I was there at the time and her husband was also there visiting - there were 2 staff members in the vicinity and not one of them came over to help the resident. I grabbed a towel and placed it on the head wound. You could tell it was a minor wound so 911 did not need to be called but she nonetheless needed medical attention just to be safe. I asked the staff members what there community's specific procedure was in an incident like this (I know that every Emeritus community can be a bit different) and both of the staff members looked at me like I was speaking a different language so the husband said that he was just going to take the resident to the emergency room to be checked out. We weren't getting any help from the staff members so - he left with the residents. I was really upset with the way the staff members handled that situation, especially how they handled it in front of the resident's husband - I could tell that he was upset, but this happens ALL of the time. You have an elderly married couple, one living in a community and one still living out on their own - the one living on their own may see something happen in the community or someway that their loved one is treated that upsets them, but they are older and they are not sure what to do - they are doing the best they can to take care of themselves and they are just thankful that someone is taking care of their loved one so they don't want to make too much noise about their concerns. I have seen this more times than I can count. It really breaks my heart. And here, again, during this visit I was see it happening again. So, being as disgusted as I was I cut my visit short and went back to my hotel. I tossed and turned all night - I was that upset with the situation. I had found out that the resident had been checked out and released and got home only a few hours after she left so at least her and her husband did not have to spend hours in the emergency room, small blessings I suppose. The next morning I decided to take the resident some flowers to check her and make sure she was feeling okay. I was told by a staff member that the resident was PROBABLY in her apartment (She is a memory care resident, mind you, so the staff member should have known EXACTLY where she was - not just guess to her whereabouts. I knocked on her apartment door and after a few seconds she answered the door...wearing the same bloody shirt that she had on when she bumped her head 18 hours earlier (???!!!) I, at that point, was toppling over with fury. The staff members did NOTHING for her when she hit her head, so the least that they could have done was help her change in to a clean shirt!!! I have been back to the community a few time since then and while I haven't seen those particular staff members, I am not sure if they even work there anymore, there are still staff members who care for and treat the residents just as those two did - very poorly.

All I want is for the residents to receive proper care and treatment - I think that is a very simple request and it shouldn't even have to be asked for - it should be a given.

I hope that they will be able to one day get this building turned around and functioning properly so that the residents will have a happy, safe, and comfortable home to live in. It has been quite some time now since the incident above happened and I CAN say that I have seen some positive changes since then - I mean I still would not recommend this community yet, but I at least see that they are trying. That counts for so much that they are trying to be better for the residents