Merrill Gardens at Oceanside

We visited Merill Gardens at Oceanside. The place, the rooms and everything looked good. We filled out some papers of what my mother's needs were, then they called us and they said that they feel like she won't fit in their community, so it was pretty abrupt. The nurse called my husband, and she just said that my mother takes so much care. We really didn't agree with them because we visited their facilities and their lunch rooms and some of the residents looked like they needed much more care than my mom. At least my mom can eat by herself and those residents needed to be fed. My mom needs medication for Parkinson's, which is to be given four times a day, and they thought that, that was overwhelming. They do not know what to do with Parkinson's patients. I didn't like that they have such a steep difference for the levels of care. If the patients needed more care, the price would go up. They had low rent for the room, but they would make it up by adding up for the little extra care, so it would end up being like $5000-$6000 a month, which I thought was a little steep. Too much medication, too much care, what do they mean by that, that's a care place for seniors. The marketing director who took us around was so cold, saying, "Your mother won't fit our community." The facility was fine. The food seemed fine, and the residents enjoyed it. They showed us the menu and what the choices were, and they all seemed fine.

I went to Merrill Gardens at Oceanside. I think the people were very nice, but the rooms were very small. The one that I went to see was too small, you have to walk down the hall to get to the bathroom, which my mother-in-law would not be happy with at all. I went through a room where they were doing bingo, they have other activities in that larger room, and they also take residents out on outings. The staff was nice and the residents looked relatively happy.

I am disappointed and angered over how a close family member was treated by the director of the Merrill Gardens Memory Care facility. I am extremely close with my half-sisters, and when their father became a resident at MG, in 2017, I helped move him in and was very involved with his transition to the facility. He was initially part of the Assisted Living community, but by May 2018 he needed to be moved to Memory Care. This was when things started to go wrong. First off, within 2 years there have been 3 different directors of the Memory Care facility, which is a huge red flag in and of itself. The current director, Teresa, was by far the worst. I realize that patients with dementia or Alzheimer's can be very difficult to deal with, but we as a family hoped that staff would be adequately trained to deal with any problems, and the director would be both compassionate and communicative with us. She was neither. Before the shutdown caused by Covid-19, my sisters tried to have a constructive conversation with Teresa about their father's care, but she didn't seem interested in listening to them. This might have been overlooked if he was receiving quality care, and if my family was kept in the loop about how he was deteriorating mentally. But the director failed on both counts. First off, there were staff members who became good at dealing with him; he liked them and had developed a rapport with them. For some reason, Teresa decided to remove them from his case. I understand as a director she needs to move people around when the need arises. But difficult patients who act out because their independence is being taken from them need consistency, need to know they are dealing with the same reliable, kind people that have helped them in the past. Again, this doesn’t seem that major but it only gets worse. He fell TWICE, and the first time no one in his family was notified! The second fall was very bad; on May 21, he was found collapsed on the patio and paramedics were called. He had been left alone on the patio for two hours! He was dehydrated, disoriented, and sunburned. And the only reason anyone in the family was notified was because the PARAMEDICS called my sister, not Merrill Gardens! Why was he left to fend for himself out in the hot sun? Bring him an umbrella to protect him! Give him a glass of water and MAKE SURE he drinks it! Coax him back into his room! Our family will be the first to admit he isn’t the easiest person to deal with; the disorientation that overwhelms him can make him angry, and sometimes he’ll even lash out. But the fact that he was just given up on, that my sisters weren’t informed of his condition, this is simply inexcusable. While there, she discovered that his room was a mess and no sheets were on his bed. By the time we finally moved him out on June 2, it appeared that has room hadn’t been cleaned in months. From his doorway we could see other rooms benefitting from deep cleanings, but when we moved his bed we found dirty pillow cases, handkerchiefs, paper towels and giant dust bunnies, even plastic cups with old food. Also, many items of clothing went missing, including a few pairs of shoes (he had NO SHOES AT ALL when we came to move him out!). A reputable Memory Care facility MUST do a better job at taking care of the elders in its community. He now resides in a much better and more caring facility, and we would not recommend Merrill Gardens at all.