Robison Jewish Health Center

Admittedly, this nursing home has a good reputation. The question is why?

First, the food here is good, don't get me wrong. It's not as bad as most nursing homes, which is a start. That is the best this nursing home has going for it.

What this nursing home is good at is "perception management", making you think they are doing a good job when their care of the elderly is actually quite horrible.

They major in the minors, and do every little thing that many nursing homes don't. For example, they will make sure everyone has a clean wheel chair, and fresh water, the rooms will look oh so tidy. The other residents look rested and refreshed, and their outfits look nice and clean. But beneath that shiny exterior lurks a darker underbelly.

How do they achieve the "appearance" of good care towards our elderly? Let me tell you. One of the first things you will notice is that they won't yank you out of bed in the morning, like some nursing homes do. This is all well and good until you realize it is part of an overall "philosophy" of care that puts sleep ahead of almost anything, including changing you regularly, which is why this nursing home has such a horrible problem with bed sores. If you make a fuss, they will change you, but if you are like most residents and don't, they don't change you nearly enough. They have this problem bad. You will find someone with a bedsore in nearly every nursing home, but the frequency or rate at which you will find them here seem to be greatly increased.

Another problem it seems to me that this nursing home has is with falls, the number of people or rate at which residents fall down. They don't use those alarms I've seen at other nursing homes which would notify you that someone is trying to walk who shouldn't. So instead, people fall. They also are so anal about keeping the aides busy that they won't be able, most parts of the day, to keep an adequate eye on you.

Two nursing home threats, bed sores, and falls, not managed well at all.

The last thing I noticed about this nursing home, is that they have a huge turnover rate among employees. An abnormally high rate. You would think that this doesn't matter much, as anybody can comb your hair, right? But it does matter. There is a huge emphasis on the "dignity" and "rights" of the resident, that they don't implement very well, but no emphasis on the dignity and rights of the worker, at least as far as I could tell. I prefer when it comes to my family that we don't have new people dealing with my grandparent everyday because they fired yet another worker, because forming relationships with the workers makes a difference in my grandmas day, and improves the care. My grandma is not just an "anybody", she has unique wants and needs that only a long term regular worker who has gotten to know grandmother can satisfy and satisfy well in my opinion.

It is for these reasons, and more that I have not named, that I would not recommend Robison Jewish Nursing Home to anyone.

Great Food and the employees here actually seem motivated to motivate those they care for; which is important for residents trying to regain their sense of self. Relative that was in here was recuperating from brain trauma and was afraid of both staff and residents for several weeks. They gradually won him over and he began to enjoy his stay immensely. They have a large community room that is in frequent use by those that stay here. The only negative I can think of happened when someone who was taking care of my relative stopped by to pick him up off the bed and move him to a separate bed. They made the move work, but they were attempting to show everyone how they should position themselves for such a move while they did it. Unfortunately, they forgot to bend their knees and keep their back straight. I was amazed they didn't wrench anything. Otherwise a great, positive spirit exists here. I was fortunate enough to visit around Hanukah time, a time where many families made a special effort to go visit those who stayed there. The food menu choices were much greater than we had expected, as well.

We are in the process of finding residential nursing care for my Mother-in-Law which will be needed soon. We have visited Robison center twice and are very impressed. The facility and grounds are beautiful and everything is maintained beautifully; far nicer than nearly any we've visited. The rooms are sizable and nicely decorated. The synagogue is beautiful and comforting. I met one of the Rabbis and loved him immediately, as did my Mother in Law. The staff is warm and kind - everyone we encountered has been great. This is a very difficult decision to make, and we have been hesitant to move her into nursing care. We have chosen to place her here when the time comes, and after the time I've spend there, I feel much better about making this step. I truly believe she will be happy there, and I am sure this is the best decision for everyone, especially her.