Brookdale Fort Smith

Jason

I toured Brookdale Fort Smith and it was very clean. All the people who work there are very friendly, and it seems well organized. They were very friendly, very nice, and very professional. The rooms and apartments were also clean. When we visited, we went and saw a model room, they had the furniture in it, and everything looked really nice in there. Then we went to the one that wasn't furnished, just an empty room, and it was very clean. It was a nice room. They have Bible study there, and they have a library.

Gerald

I toured Brookdale Fort Smith. It was a great experience. I spoke with Joanne and she gave me a lot of information that I didn't know. I didn't know what I was looking for, but she helped me and sent me down the path. But it got me to thinking also about the Patriots Angels, VA program for wartime vets to help with long term-care or assisted living. The cost of the unit is going to be $5, 090 dollars a month for my father and $800 for my mother to stay in the same room with him. They had private rooms, semi-private rooms, and one- and two-bedrooms apartments. They had baths and showers. Those rooms where we looked at for two people it was semiprivate. And it was fourteen by twenty-eight, I believe, and it had a little kitchenette built-in also. They had people to help dad with dementia training. And they had a registered nurse on-call. She does regular checkups with them to see if they progress or if they are getting worse. They had a good day room, three meals a day, all the utilities inclusive, and a handicapped vehicle to get them around town if they want to go shopping or if they took them on an outing. The staff was very knowledgeable, and they kept asking me if I had any questions. We stepped through the standard care and then the dementia ward, and it was quite informative. Everything was very clean and orderly. They all seemed professional. I was just very impressed with what they had. They had two dining facilities, one in the dementia ward and security, and then a larger one over in the just the standard daycare. They have exercises for them early in the morning like chairs and arranged a little walk around that for a little bit and have them sit down. It just seemed like they had everything together. It was good for the older folks.

Mike

Nice, well kept facility, excellent staff providing care and attention to the residents. Do a great job and have patience under sometimes difficult circumstances.

Tigger

Facility layout is very good. When we dined with them pre COVID, the food was very good. Because we were not allowed to visit during COVID restrictions, I was not able to see what was going on for a year. When the facility was finally opened up for visitation, I was not happy with the cleanliness of my family member’s room. The carpet was dirty, the bathroom was dirty and the kitchen sink was dirty. Although they claim to clean once a week, I don’t believe the apartment had been dusted or sinks cleaned in quite some time. When I quizzed them about it, they stated they only dust once a month. They stated that a change had been made and the caretakers were now responsible for cleaning the resident’s room when needed. The staff is friendly and helpful but I really believe that the cleaning guidelines should be stepped up a bit. Overall, this would be a good facility for someone who can take care of themself and is totally independent but not as much for someone who is less capable and requires more attention. I often felt like they were understaffed for the tasks that needed to be completed to provide a full service for everyone.

Provider Response

Mervin

My experience with Brookdale Fort Smith is good. The food is fine, and they have a nice dining room and lots of activities that people can join. They also go out to eat in restaurants. They offer discounts on different things depending on your level of care or if you're a veteran. They have a qualified person on staff for maintenance who does a good job.

supergirl424033

We like Brookdale Fort Smith. I have nothing negative to say; everything has been good. My brother likes the staff. There are several activities posted, but he is not taking advantage of those. He likes the food. He does not eat in the dining room often because he only has one arm, so he is a little self-conscious; the staff brings the meals to his room.

E Milton

My father in law loved Brookdale. He loved his apartment and all of the staff. He felt the meals were good. He participated in the exercise class and bible study. He enjoyed talking to the manager, Joe.

B Virdell011134

We put mom and dad in Brookdale Fort Smith. My dad and I went out and had lunch there, and he liked it. Because Dad liked it and it has memory care, we'd be able to just move them from the regular part into the memory care unit. I enjoyed the food. It's pretty cool because you get a menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and they have meal options for each time. If they want French fries, and they don't want the burger, they can just order the French fries, or if they want carrot cake instead of ice cream or both. It just gives them so many selections and options. If they're not well, they can have a meal brought up to their room. My mom and dad are in a one-bedroom apartment. Dad was really thrilled about it and was looking forward to it. I liked that it has a small kitchenette and a big bathroom with all of the grab bars in it, a big shower, and no tub. The facilities in there are just wonderful. There's staffing 24 hours, so if something were to happen, there's an emergency pull cord in there so someone could come right away. The bedroom itself is spacious and the living room is a good size. It's nice. Some things are a little dated in the room. I asked them to remove the cook stove, and it hasn't been removed, but they pulled the fuse. I expressed concerns to them, but usually they're great about trying to working with us and getting things straightened out. The medical staff is there. The head RN is awesome, and the executive director is great. We have to iron through so many difficulties that my mom has created, and they're very understanding about all of it. The only big negative is that Dad is retired military, so he should be getting all his prescriptions for no cost through Tricare. But they had to start getting their prescriptions though what Brookdale calls Omnicare, which is an out-of-network pharmacy, so their first month bill for prescriptions was $500. We're trying to deal with that, and I went to the executive director and said this isn't right. My dad retired from the service and he deserves to get his medications for free; that's part of the benefits. So, what they're doing is they're working with us and will manage them from there. The nice thing is that they do work with you and if there are problems, 99% of the time, we've been able to resolve them.

James109287650

My father was placed at Brookdale Fort Smith. They're wonderful; however, they were unable to care for my father because of his level of needs. He lived there for about five months. The room was spacious, clean, and well maintained. Their food and dining facility was excellent. They had a wide variety of activities. The level of care was excellent; however, my father deteriorated to the point where he could no longer reside there.

Caring113338550

We didn’t care for Brookdale Fort Smith because it was several stories high, and my parents would have been on a higher floor. When we went up there, it was very warm, and the elevator was kind of jerking on the way up. They’re not comfortable. We didn’t care too much for the apartment that we saw. The woman that talked to us didn’t have a lot of answers for our questions. There weren’t a lot of people that lived walking around, they don’t seem to be out and about and we were turned off by that one. We went upstairs on the 3rd and 4th floor, and they’re older. They used to be apartments, and they are kind of older. We weren’t impressed with it. I didn’t see anyone doing anything. There was a lady that was coming back from the casino, but I don’t know any other kinds of what else they do. It’s not what we wanted.

Rebecca17

Emeritus at Willow Brook is the best in our area. I visited this place and it was good. Its environment was very good as well. The staff was very personable and helpful.

saraT

My mom moved into Willow Brook and we are so pleased. The staff is so caring and the food is great! It's been a wonderful experience to see my mom so happy!

Karen26

The people at Emeritus are nice. The facility is clean, very pretty and comfortable, and the apartments are lovely. But what good does all that do if the food is awful? That's the main complaint. I went to the director and I think there were a lot of patient's families calling because their parents are upset about the food. My dad is diabetic, so he wants the caregiver with him all the time so she could cook for him, because half the time he can't eat the food. I had a little issue with them not taking out his trash and they weren't doing his laundry. But I got that all straightened out. He doesn't participate very much with the activities, although he plays bingo. Sometimes they take them out for breakfast and for lunch.

Nalini

I work as a Caregiver part time. I had a client at this facility and spent 3 shifts there. The entry way nice, more like a home then a facility. There was nice furniture and clean carpeting. There was no smell as there often is with nursing homes. I did hear other residents that had doors open. It also took me some time to find an employee to give me directions to the client's room. The client's room was medium sized, well lit, and furnished. I'm unsure if that was all her responsibility. There were 3 rooms, one made up the living/kitchen. There was room for a small table, television, and love seat. Fair size bedroom and bath that allowed for equipment needed to assist the client. There was a nice view from the window. I met with a few of the staff. All were polite and dressed in scrubs. I did overhear some gossiping about a certain overweight patient. That was certainly not professional. However, I would like to think it was a one time issue, as there were no other recurrence during the time I was there.