The Center At Northridge

Wendie

My father was admitted to this facility after being in the hospital with an infection in his leg. I will admit, this facility is cosmetically appealing, but the inconsistent quality of care is extremely frustrating. It is apparent that some of the staff are not happy working at Northridge for whatever reason and several occasions I would hear the nurses/nurse's aides complain about how much work they have. I understand that is frustrating for them but that is not my loved one or any other loved one's fault and should not be reflected in their attitude or the care they receive. I will say the PTs and OTs are wonderful and very positive, but they only come once or twice a day. There are some good nurses and there one or two pleasant nurse's aides but for the most part, the majority of them don't smile, avoid any type of interaction and seem annoyed when you ask for anything and really have protocols that just seem unsafe. My father is supposed to receive showers two times a week, which the frequency is fine, but that has not happened he has received one in 8 days. This is unacceptable. I would even be okay with a wipe down or sponge bath. I understand that some patients can be very demanding but that is what comes with someone that is not well and displaced from their home, which is even harder over the holidays. I just wonder how any of these employees would feel if their loved one was treated with this type of care. After reading other reviews, it is clear I am not the only one that has experienced frustration and sadness at this facility. What does it take to get someone to listen and take some action to get this facility what it should be??? I fear what type of event would need to happen for some type of positive change. Maybe a simple question to the staff, "how would you like to be treated if you were at this facility?" Would you be okay hanging out in your own feces on your bed for 30-40 minutes? I am sure you would be livid!

DAKELLY

My wife survived grade 4 brain cancer for over five years and was in remission when she came here for help in walking. She was dead in less than two weeks from a GI bleed no one detected. Her treatment by many of the CNAs was borderline neglectful. She called me at 3 a.m. to tell me that a CNA told her she would have to pee the bed because she didn't have time to take her to the bathroom. I met with the exec. director and nursing supervisor and we agreed they'd check on her every two hours. They didn't. The director gave me his cell and said I could call anytime and he'd respond. I called and he never responded. My wife began to cough up blood one night and then began bleeding profusely. The nurse called 911 - no doctor on duty and no code blue here apparently. My wife died in my arms and they told me I had to remove her immediately. I found out later this wasn't true and the facility was obligated to hold her for 24 hours. As my wife of 37 years lay on the floor covered in blood the rest of the staff continued on like nothing happened. No words of regret or sympathy. A police officer who responded had tears in his eyes but nothing from this staff. If you love someone don't bring them here. I am haunted by the idea that my wife could be alive today if I had put her in a more professional environment. Learn from me, don't come here unless you are desperate.

SADandMAD2022

DO NOT!!! Please do not trust The Center at Northridge with your loved one. My family is mourning and broken hearted, because they did not follow basic Fall RISK protocol, and now our loved one is gone.This is a rehab facility. This can not happen.

Kjackson

My mom was a resident at this facility several times this year. When we were researching places to assist her in her rehabilitation process, the Center came up as one of the number one sites; plus, I had a friend who had previously worked there an Occupational Therapist. My mom has been in and out of the hospital and subsequently rehab four times this year. The first time she was there, I was very impressed with the care she received, but I felt like she was released too early to go home. The 2nd time, her service went down and she ended up with a UTI and sepsis which nearly ended her life (she spent almost a week in ICU). I don't think they were cleaning her well enough when she needed to use the bathroom and their response times on the call buttons were so slow, she would have to hold it for long periods of time (once it was almost an hour). I believe this was the cause of the UTI/sepsis. She went back for rehab and ended up with shingles and back in the hospital. The response times became slower and slower as they do not have the staff to respond to all of their residents, and couple of the staff were extremely rude to my mom (specifically, the nurse, Margo, and CNA, Karla). If your mother's health were failing, you would want her to be treated with respect and dignity. These two staff members, in particular, were so rude to her. They wouldn't even let her brush her teeth or bathe her. They should NOT be in healthcare, taking care of people. She was bullied and in my opinion, abused and then asked us not to say anything, as she didn't want to receive worse treatment than what she was already receiving. We are fortunate as my mother was fully cognizant as a couple of times, she was brought the wrong medication and refused to take it. She would, quite often, receive her morning medication after noon. These meds are on a schedule and needed to be distributed in a timely manner. Additionally, her case manager, Matthew, kept promising things and never followed through with anything. Please do not send ANYONE to this facility. They do not have the staff to provide the healthcare that these patients require. There was one CNA in particular, Brittany, that was absolutely AMAZING, and the OT and PT therapists were great advocates for our mother, but they are only around once a day and the other staff members were not terribly helpful. Her room wasn't cleaned very often and the food, while most of the time was good, was often late for mealtimes. I do not recommend this facility for anyone!!!

Matthew

My dad is at The Center At Northridge, and everyone's been real nice at helping him. He really likes it there. I think he would have liked to stay there if he could, but obviously he can't because he's just there for rehab. I met a lot of the staff, the physical therapists, the nutritionist, and the speech therapist. They were all very, very helpful, very informative, attended to his needs, and answered all my questions. If he needed something, I could simply speak to them , they would pass it on, and it always got done and got followed up with. It's a very nice facility. They were very good with the laundry, and his room was always clean. He is also always clean. They even had an on-site barber/beautician to clean them all up and give them a haircut. There's a lot of good people there, and the whole experience is very pleasant and very professional. The food is also great. I think my dad was always having fun filling out the menus. He really enjoyed the food they offered and the variety. For the facility itself, it's very nice and it's very well maintained, so I think it's a good value. You get what you pay for. The few people that I met that were also doing rehab, seemed quite pleased with it as well.

BeneficialReview

My brother and I were careful to review centers before sending our mother to a facility. We took that part of the process seriously. We reviewed the Medicare site with their thorough reviews as well as searched the internet, called facilities, talked with therapists ...we thought we made a good decision but time proved us wrong. Where to begin???? 1. Call buttons ARE NOT responded to timely. Many times my mother was waiting 30+ minutes. No lie...we were on the phone with her one time and nobody was responding to the button. She saw someone walk by in the hallway and I told her to start yelling "help!!". She did and only then did someone come into her room. This particular issue I've illustrated she waited 35 minutes for a response to a call button. We reported this to the Director who said he would look into it. We also reported this issue to the Case Manager. Our opinion, they simply are not staffed to respond timely to call buttons because this issue continued on her floor throughout her stay. My mother also said she could hear other patients calling out for help from time to time. When a patient next to my mother's room was checking out of the facility he ripped whoever he was talking to apart about the call button issue - told that person he would never step foot in this facility again...ever. Yes, he was quite vocal and loud so my mother heard the conversation. 2. Some, not all, of the floor teams were impatient and rude to my mother. My mother had a serious issue with her back and they would ignore the notes in her file and move her bed without letting her know - which caused her significant pain. This happened multiple times and again we complained to the Director. FINALLY they put a note on her door so staff would not ignore the notes in her file. 3. For 2 weeks my mother was in severe pain in her abdomen. After a few days of talking to her and having her describe what she was feeling I called the Charge Nurse and asked if anyone had ordered an X-ray because it sounded like my mother's digestive system might have a blockage. They had not and only when I told them to get one ordered did they move to that step. My mother was in pain and nothing had been done to check things out. They had been throwing meds at her but not listening to what she was describing. Furthermore, and to our extreme shock, my mother had been there 15 days and NOT ONCE had the M.D. examined her during this time of severe pain. Needless to say we chewed them out and demanded an M.D. examine my mother - they had one that was there every day at the facility but that person never once went from the 1st floor to the 3rd floor to examine my mother. You would think when my mom had abdomen pain on a scale of 8 - 10, was not eating and not having bowel movements that a doctor would be involved. NOPE...didn't happen until I chewed them out and told them it was GROSS NEGLIGANCE on their behalf and that if anything happened to my mother they would be held accountable to the full extent. I chewed the Doctor out and asked the doctor shy she had not examined my mother. Her response "it was a busy time and some days were a little crazy". I told her she was paid to take care of patients - that was her job and if she couldn't do her job she had no business being a doctor. I also put it bluntly to the person who oversaw the doctor that him they needed to change processes because next time they might land themselves knee deep in a lawsuit. 4. And the final thing - my mother was discharged without me being told she would need a hospital bed because she still could not lay flat without extreme discomfort. How the hell does staff forget to relay that?!? Had I known that I would have had a bed lined up and already delivered to my house. Anyway, I got her home that evening and she said - "I can't lay flat, didn't they tell you?". Talk about GROSS OVERSIGHT on their part. So we had to prop her up with some pillows which was not comfortable for her at all and then I spent the next few days going through the process of getting a hospital bed through Medicare. In short, my mother will never go back to this facility...never, ever, never. Nor will we ever recommend this facility to anyone we know. If you want to consider this facility then you need to question them intently on all aspects of care. If your loved one will need specific types of care dive into with this team. Make sure staff can AND WILL meet your expectations. Be blunt about your expectations and tell them to answer your questions honestly. Don't be afraid to advocate for your loved one - remember you are paying them a lot for care so expect the best. And listen to what your loved one tells you - pay attention to their comments - empower them to be honest with you about what they are experiencing as a patient. Remember, your are their advocate and their voice.