Hawthorne Inn of Brandon

Gustavo

My mom is a resident of Hawthorne Estates Of Brandon. I feel they keep it up-to-date and well-maintained. The staff is helpful and caring. My concern is that because it's somewhat on the larger side, because of all the economic stressors that have been going on, they may not have the necessary personnel to tend to all the population that they have. One individual might be tending to upwards of 15, or 20 people, if not two wings in some cases. When I went there at the beginning, there were usually two people per wing. I think they have three wings, and in each wing, they have, I think, about maybe 10 to 15. Hawthorne is pretty big. They have an area which is for independent living and the other area is for assisted living. I don't know the experience on the independent living side, I just know that, at least, in the assisted living area they're a little short on personnel. The personnel they do have seem to care for the residents. But I think they're kind of spread too thin. I feel that they might not have the proper care because we cannot rely on the one person who might be there. The facilities seem to be good for the residents. Right now, they're remodeling the floors and they're trying to keep it up to date. I think they have a good level of cleanliness. As far as what I least like, I would say that they should hire more personnel for the assisted living area. When I've expressed a concern, they kind of seem to think about it and try to take steps to correct it or talk to whoever they need to address it with. For my mom's particular needs, I think the room is spacious. Right now, even though it's a room, she kind of has it like a little studio. Because of her dietary needs, she has a little fridge and a little counter that we were able to set up for her along with her bed, and she still fits a nice reclining chair. She also has a good size-independent bathroom. Other communities or smaller communities may not be able to offer that. Some of the ones that I kind of inquire about, have to share the same room, which is what kind of draws us to Hawthorne, that for a similar price, she's able to have her own. I haven't tried their food. Because of my mom's dietary needs, she has a pretty bland food. At first, it was difficult for them to kind of meet her needs because they just have regular food, but we talked to management several times and they tried to make foods that were pureed and had less seasoning and whatnot. For the most part, they're able to comply. My mom is not excited because the food needs to be a certain way for her diet. They seem to give residents a menu every day where they can pick what they want to eat, so it's not like it is set in stone that this is what they're going to eat period. Usually, the menu has two different options per day, and it pretty varies. They have several dining areas. In my mom's wing, she could choose to eat in her room, or there's a nice dining area that gets cleaned and prepped for that. They have a bigger dining area, like in the middle, kind of like a ballroom area. It's just like a big dining area in the middle, almost looks like a mini town. And then each wing has its separate dining room and a shared living area. I know they have a calendar of events, and I don't know how many times a week, but they have somebody who comes and does physical activities with the residents. They have a doctor who comes and sees them once a week and he makes recommendations as far as maybe some therapies that they should do to keep them active. They have somebody visit my mom twice a week to do some exercise for her. If you were to just hire somebody to come and care for your mom at home, you still would be paying over $3,500 if you wanted to have them eight hours plus a day. And that does include other things. My mom has a room, she has care, and they have food for her, and I think she has that for a reasonable price considering the economy. It will probably change the next year, but for now, I think they have a good value for what they are offering her right now.

L

Hawthorne Inn of Brandon was very nice. It was easily accessible. They offer transportation, and they bring the provider to the residents. You don't have to worry about picking up your loved one. The doctor comes there. They've got programs, activities, and field trips. The two staff members I met were fine, but I didn't meet a lot of staff as I did at the other place.

Sharon

I have a friend who's living in Hawthorne Inn Assisted Living, and I was impressed with them. It's more assisted living, she is in a large room, and she has a couple pieces of her own furniture in there. Instead of a big cafeteria, they have little dining rooms, they have like five tables in there, and they have a little TV room right next to it. I liked that place, and it was not what I expected. I really liked the way they had the small dining area, so it wasn't like a big cafeteria I was expecting, and the activities director was very friendly, very outgoing, and enthusiastic. She was very good at her job. I was there one day and they were gonna have facials and ice cream, or facials and brownies. She always has something, a plan for them, and she makes sure that everybody knows that they were having it. It isn't like you're really gonna get to stay in your room. She exercises with them with pool noodles, plays music from the sixties or fifties, and they all seem to like that.