Elmcroft of Tempe

This facility is unsafe, under-staffed, under-handed, and untruthful. My family moved our elderly parent there based on what we now know to be direct lies to us about the response time for assistance, quality of assistance, experienced staff, etc. It was all lies to simply get us "in". They even had a dementia resident serve as their host reference for new residents - we didn't find out until later that the woman had serious dementia and was not qualified to provide any reference whatsoever. On her first night there, no one even came to say hello to our mother or make her feel remotely welcome. I saw this routinely with new incoming residents, resulting in their ultimate depression and decline. The staff doesn't communicate internally and are disconnected with each other and the residents they are responsible for. The slovenly and unfriendly nurse didn't even show up until a week later for a new reisdent check-in, even though we were told it would be next-day (this is their routine MO; not keeping any promises around anything). I could go on for pages and pages of all the improper care and distasteful things about this place. It is a very (now) smelly and depressing environment and most of the cargivers have no feelings or are poor quality individuals that are hardened to the needs of the elderly and are just there to put in the hours and rush out to go home and get away (this facility has major turn-over problems). My mother scored 98% out of 100% on a recent IQ test provided by her dr. - Elmcroft staff routinely talked "down" to her, or totally ignored her (and most other residents as well), as their normal demeanor (residents are just there to "serve time" so the staff can get a paycheck out of them; they don't seem to realize that without residents they would have no job). DO NOT TAKE YOUR LOVED ONES HERE. The way they operate, they will soon be out of business and also, on top of their many falsehoods, they are secretive and don't openly share information, in spite of what they tell you to get you in. Stay away from this depressing and inflexible prison.

The appearance of the facility is very nice. It is clean and well kept up. They offer larger rooms (square footage) than any other facility we visited before choosing Elmcroft. Of course, the staff is very nice and attentive and make all the promises in the world while trying to sell you on their community. Some major complaints that my grandmother has is that someone will come into her room and tell her that they will return in a few minutes then she does not see them again until much later or sometimes not at all. She does not enjoy when a staff member comes into her room in the middle of the night and wakes her up to see if she is ok. She tells them that she was ok until she was woken up. Also, there is no flexibility when needing to reschedule an event. For instance, bath time is on a certain night between certain hours and if for some reason my grandmother needs to schedule a different time or day she is not able to do so. Also, the phone lines from the rooms to the front desk are not functioning quite a bit which makes my grandmother feel like she does not have a help line to someone in the event of an emergency.

Elmcroft of Tempe is a really nice facility. I love the feeling I get when I walk in, the atmosphere is so inviting and the staff is truly remarkable. One of my favorite things about this facility is how focused they are on making sure each residents wishes are met. I spoke with one resident on my very first visit and she told me that when she moved in to the facility that the kitchen staff and activity staff sat down with her and got a list of the kinds of food she like to eat and the kind of activities and events she would like to see on the schedule. She said that it really meant a lot to her that they wanted to design the types of meals and activities that she would love. She told me that it made her feel very special and that it was a wonderful way of welcoming her to the facility. I spoke with a staff member who informed me that they do that little interview with every new resident. I think that it is a wonderful idea and it is a great way of getting the residents involved in their new home. I would recommend Elmcroft of Tempe to anyone, they are extremely dedicated to offering the highest quality of individualized service to each and every resident.