Solaris HealthCare Imperial

My father was a resident of Solaris Imperial on and off for three months in early 2021. The physical and occupational therapy was excellent and provided by caring and competent staff. His observation and concerns were with many of the aides. He reported many times they were very rude, unresponsive to requests, told him he had to go to bed when they said so, etc. I addressed many of his concerns with the Director of Nursing who was very understanding, but much of the rude and totally uncaring attitude continued. Upon his release to return to his northern home I unpacked his clothing. Someone had written his room number in permanent marker (three times) all over the back of one of his golf jackets. We did his laundry, and if a room number was needed it surely could have been written inside or on the collar at the least. How humiliating. I almost cried when I saw this. We entrust our most vulnerable family members’ care to these facilities. Solaris Imperial needs to address issues of care with their aides.

My mom is in Imperial Health Care Center right now. The physical therapy is excellent, but the rest of the care is very poor. She has food allergies and they keep sending food on her tray that she is allergic to. I also feel as though the CNAs don’t come when the bell is rung. I spend all day, every day with my mother, not just a one-hour visit, so I have observed that they aren’t forthcoming in their aid and assistance. They do make every attempt to correct the situation, but I still feel as though the staff isn’t properly trained in the first place to handle the workload that they are giving them, so the patient suffers. It is somewhat hospital-like. She is in a semi-private room, so she is sharing a room, and the bathrooms are not totally accessible for a wheelchair. In the room she is in, it takes quite a bit of finagling to get her into the bathroom in the wheelchair.

My mother is currently undergoing rehab in this facility following a stroke. At first I was impressed with the staff and her care but soon the cracks began to appear. During my mother's initial evaluation for speech therapy, the therapist spent 10-15 minutes on her cell phone discussing her daughter's health care issues, in front of us. She could have at least excused herself and taken the call in private. We as a family had to request a change in Mom's diet as the pureed food was making her very depressed. She was there for a full week without anyone assisting her to brush her teeth. I brought in a denture box and her dentures then sat in the box again no assistance for dental hygiene. How was she supposed to eat without her dentures? Neither the night staff nor the day staff would take any responsibility for this lack of personal care. Mom is 89 the stroke has affected some of her cognitive ability and she is unable to initiate asking for care. One would think the aides would be trained to anticipate her needs. I am a nurse trained in the days when nurses actually provided personal care. Now they do not but are still overseeing the aides and therefore responsible for seeing that patients receive the appropriate care. This matter was recently discussed at a care planning meeting and hopefully will be resolved.

Imperial was good. I didn’t have anything to complain about. I visited, and everything looked clean. From what I could see, the staff was fine.