The Oaks on Parkwood

The Oaks on Parkwood is pretty expensive, but it is one of the best. They have activities. They even have a heated pool. Their heated pool is better. They have just about everything. You can have your own TV, but you cannot have an electric wheelchair. The food looked good.

My mom lived at The Oaks on Parkwood and it was below par. There were problems with housekeeping, mold on the carpet, the bathroom, her room was not being cleaned properly, and drinking glasses with mold on them were just left in the room and were not picked up by the staff. The room has been flooded a couple of times and they were slow to repair things. You had to jump on them to get them to do it. The residents don't like the food and complain about it, and rightfully so. They have Bingo and the activities are geared more toward children than adults with cognitive problems. They're very childish and not interesting. I really loved most of the staff and they were really nice. The staff that was not really effective was the activity director and the management was very poor. The nursing staff was good and the housekeeping staff was poor, but they were nice. The kitchen staff shouldn't be cooking, but they're nice. Don’t be fooled by the outside because it's very pretty, but you don't want your loved one to live there. They're not attentive to the families and they do not inform family members what they're doing. They quarantined all of the residents because of the flu, but they didn't tell the families that. They also switched pharmacies and they didn't inform us.

I was very impressed with Oaks on Parkwood. They had six or seven buildings that housed so many apartments. They had little individual dining rooms for each building where they can do things that just involve their building, and then they had the big overall dining room. They had a special breakfast on Wednesdays for everybody in the complex and Bible study afterwards. They had an exercise room, an activity room, a fitness center, and an indoor swimming pool.

Our mother lived in the SCALF unit here for a couple of years. Also known as The Orchard. The staff turn over is horrendous. All was well for a time. The women who actually took care of Mother seemed to like her and were sympathetic to her plight. There was one "nurse" that mother felt like was out to get her. There was also a disagreement concerning Mother's behavior. She has dementia. Ultimately, we found another place for our mother. After we moved her , employees agreed (most of which no longer work there) there was one nurse who in their words, pursued a war of wills with our Mother and was sometimes unfair. I loved most of the people there...The new facility, is older and much smaller with a very home like feel to it. There is still a lot of turn over in staff but the administrator is awesome, kind and caring. The nurse Mother had the personality conflict with is no longer there. I can't help but compare this situation to children in school. Teachers and nurses should not be having personality conflict with their students/residents. This facility has a cold feel to it. Mother's new home feels like home.

My mom is in Oaks On Parkwood, and she's doing really well. She had been there 4 years ago for rehab, and she liked the facility, so she chose to go back there. She has dementia, so she has her own room there, and they help her with everything. They provide her meals and all the comforts of life for her.

We had a good experience at the Oaks. They had a lot of staff turnover, but they were honest and apologetic about it. It wasn't quite well organized. The property was very spread out, and we didn't feel that would be best for my father-in law. The cleanliness was very good. My biggest concern was they didn't have any sort of security in the independent living and the assisted living. The had little dining areas where they bring the food in each of the individual homes in the independent living side.

My dad stayed at The Oaks for about a month altogether. It is very attractive, and they have several levels of care, so all that is very good. The only problem was there really was no communication between the doctors, the nurses, and the staff. My dad did occupational, physical, and speech therapies. They really did not communicate with each other. He ended up with an infection and was dismissed with an infection in his arm. He still is having off and on problems because of that. They had put him on a restricted thickened liquid and mechanical soft diet, so he lost weight and became dehydrated, and we finally convinced them to take it off of that. Once he got regular food, it was very good. As for the physical appearance and cleanliness, it didn’t smell like a nursing home, and the food has always been very good. It was just the lack of communication between the staff that was the problem.