The Terraces at Los Altos

A few months ago my mother was in an accident that resulted in a broken hip. After the hip replacement, I was rushed to put her into a rehabilitation center and handed a several page list of facilities and told that The Terraces at Los Altos was a very good one and, indeed, they had a 5 out of 5 star "superior" rating. They were the only one I had time to visit and it looked like a nice place so that's where we put her. It turns out that they have a lot more "memory care" patients than they do rehabilitation patients so my mother was very uncomforatble with the people in her wing of the facility. The staff are very nice but my mother did not like or get along with the physical therapist (I don't blame the therapist for that - no idea what happened there). Terry, who is "in charge" there, seems nice enough when you first talk to her, but it turns our she is very passive-aggressive, evasive and controlling. Very soon after my mother was places at The Terraces, we started hearing, "Your mother is not participating in her recovery and is going to have her Medicare withdrawn." We were given zero advice as to what to do about this. In fact it is extremely common after a fall for hip replacement patients to be terrified of standing and falling again because it is extremely painful. The fact that they seemed to have no interest in or experience in dealing with this issue is telling. It's a very expensive place so one would think they would have such experience and skills. When I first read up on The Terraces, before my mother went in, their health inspection rating was 4 out of 5. Since my mother was admitted, I picked up two serious illnesses. The Medicare was, indeed cut off, and the place she is not at is treating her for gout and some kind of infection. My husband has infectious pneumonia. I had shots for pneumonia and shingles not too long after we moved to CA so I was spared that particular malady. A couple of days ago, when I was doing research on nursing homes, I noticed that The Terraces health inspection rating has dropped from 4 to 2 out of 5, which is not a surprise. To top it off, the foam "A-form" that my mother's insurance paid for at the hospital, to keep her legs in place while she slept so that her hip could continue to heal, was kept by The Terraces, as they INSISTED that it was theirs, which is about as cheesy as it gets. Really, anyone in the Bay area who is looking into nursing and recovery for a family member, I implore you not to send them to The Terraces at Los Altos. Not only the health problems, but they were astonishingly distant with Momma's problems, not only not forthcoming on what was going on with her but seemed only interested in collecting the Medicare fees. The place where she is now is not only half as expensive, but the staff and administrators are much more involved with her and communicative with us, not to mention cleaner and safer.

I was a volunteer at The Terraces, which provides tiered assisted living. The facility is outdated, but they are preparing for a major renovation - plans look beautiful - and I would update to 4 stars once completed. Residents seem well cared for; the staff is very caring and jovial. There are many activities for residents to take advantage of. The facility is in the middle of a residential area and there is a lot of bustle from a neighboring elementary school (Santa Rita) and surrounding houses. There are also a lot of volunteers that come in to do special events which the residents seem to enjoy.

The Terraces is a nice facility that could use a few touch-ups but with pretty gardens. The staff is helpful, caring and dedicated to their work as well as their residents. Also, the location of this home creates a happy and bright atmosphere as it is directly next to a elementary school. Local teenagers often volunteer at The Terraces.