The Colonnade at Carrollwood

I went to The Colonnade at Carrollwood. The staff was great and the services were phenomenal. I would have placed my husband there, but he doesn't qualify for the care. I saw one room, it was very nice, and very large. I saw them playing a little volleyball game with a beach ball and it was quite cute.

I toured Brookdale Carrollwood, it was very nice, but it was not in my friend's price range. We can never afford to be there, but we got some very good information, so it was well worth the visit. It was a very upscale assisted living place. The people had a number of activities that they were doing. There was a library, and they were waiting for a bus to take them somewhere.

Brookdale Carrollwood was absolutely beautiful. When we walked in, they had a welcome sign with my friend's name on it. Everybody said hello. It was absolutely a beautiful experience. They had things going on all the time. The staff who showed us around was wonderful. The food was delicious. I was very impressed. The dining room was beautiful. We also went into a private dining room. It was very clean and very beautiful. It almost felt like you were in a house. The residents were active. Everyone we passed by was smiling and saying hello.

The people at Brookdale Carrollwood were very nice and very cooperative. We were very pleased with them. The apartment was very nice and clean. They had outside people come in to entertain the residents. I loved the fact that this place was conveniently located.

A visit may fool you into thinking this is a nice place. Since Brookdale took over, the services have deteriorated to a level bordering on abuse. Mom's room is NOT vacuumed on a regular basis. We take pictures and for weeks the same stuff is on the floor. Cloths pile up in her bathroom for a week at a time and they say she took a shower during the week. Did they remove the cloths, assist with here shower and then put the cloths back instead of putting them where they belong. Mom has dementia and does not remember what has happened during the week. If you have someone in this place, a granny cam is a necessity.. We are currently making plans on moving Mom from this place before she gets hurt.

Our family endured Brookdale, Carrollwood for one year. Mom fell and was transported to the emergency room three times during her residency. After mom's second fall, rather than to express concern, the Brookdale nurse called me in to state they were going to charge an additional $780 a month for 'other services'. The third time mom fell and was transported to the emergency room, the Brookdale nurse called while mom was in the E.R. She did not call to check up on mom, nor did she extend empathetic support, she called to say the director stated mom could not come back to her room. Turns out this was an illegal act and was promptly reversed after the E.R. nurse called Brookdale to recite the law. The care we were paying for was so neglectful, we chose not to come back. This is a verifiable fact. Third fall mom was face down on the floor for hours as they failed to check on her throughout the evening. This is all substantiated by the Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) at the Hillsborough County Fire Department. The EMT told me he had never been to a facility that had so little information to go on as they were attempting to rescue mom as she was found face down on the floor. This is a verifiable fact. Management is Despicable. Don't get caught up in the surroundings. It's all about the care, or in Brookdale Carrollwood's case, a lack therein. It's important to anticipate the level of care your loved one will need in the near future. Brookdale is all about additional fees. Fees that management will never initially discuss. There were multiple levels of fees costing well over a thousand additional monthly dollars. They attempted to charge a "Laying out of clothes fee" whereby they open the closet door, choose an outfit and place it onto the closet door handle. This imposed fee was also dismissed as my sisters and I were there every day for mom. Although we paid for escort service, supposedly to ensure mom went to the dinning and craft rooms. Rarely did they take her out of the apartment. Mom would be left in her room or taken down to dinner so late she often would be eating alone. Brookdale would provide room meals, primarily because it was easier for them. God help those residents who have no family to ensure their loved ones are being treated appropriately! At one point several new aides came into mom's room and tried to force and intimidate her to change clothes in front of them. Mom was humiliated and upset. Rather than address the horrific event, Brookdale management attempted to impose a "psycho-social" label that....you guessed it came with a $350 monthly fee. Again, I fought this and multiple other fee increases and several were reversed. Mom was a certified angel and in this incident as with others, was treated outrageously and inhumanely. For the most part the medtechs and aides were wonderful, but extremely frustrated that they had been pressured by the clinical manager and facility director to move on from one resident to another without providing the sufficient care needed. Mom never used the emergency pull cord as she was too proud to do so. At one point I did find it necessary to pull the cord. A half hour went by before exiting out into the hall in an attempt to find an aide. I finally tracked one down at the other end of the hall, but she stated she wasn't working that hallway and promised that she would send an aide to mom's room. Twenty minutes later or fifty minutes after initially pulling the emergency cord, an aide finally showed up. The aide has always been helpful in the past. She stated she had been stretched to her limits given the skeleton staff even though it was in the middle of a week day. I again expressed my concern with both the clinical manager and the director and asked them if they were aware of the time lapse between when a resident pulls the emergency cord and when an aide actually shows up to the room. Their dual response was typically arrogant and totally dismissive. In an attempt to keep complaints within Brookdale I sent multiple letters to the CEO, all ignored. The South East director was brought in, but she was ultimately as inept, uncaring and unresponsive as Brookdale Carrollwood management was. Mom was denied her heart medication for 12 days. This would have gone on indefinitely, but our family questioned the staff when the medication was not being provided. They said the physician cancelled it. NOT SO! I filled a complaint with the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), through the State of Florida. The investigators promptly penalized Brookdale, Carrollwood after substantiating our families claim. This October 2016 complaint can be viewed on the Florida AHCA website. This was not an isolated incident. Denial of medications had happened in the past, but we as a family, had attempted to handle this gross negligence internally. I have multiple emails to and from the director regarding these and many other concerns. Unfortunately the same lackadaisical attitude continued throughout the 12 months mom was a resident. Bottom line: You are your loved one's best advocate. I would NOT recommend Brookdale, Carrollwood. It was ultimately a tragic experience.

My mother used to go to Brookdale Carrollwood for day care. It was fine; I had no problems with it. The grounds were immaculate. She said the food was OK. The staff was very friendly.

Brookdale was a very nice section. It’s 1-story -- no high building because if I go into an assisted care place I cannot go into a big building where I have to go on the elevators or climb stairs because of my medical condition. This is one floor and is a very nice building from what I saw. They have everything there for you. I got a whole bunch of information; they gave a whole book of information. I am looking for a small studio just for myself, and then they have different places that you could get. I am sending them papers to the VA, and I am waiting for their reply as I already emailed them. They pay for everything. They have three meals in the very nice dining room. They have transportation to take you to doctors and different appointments that you have to go to. They take care of your laundry and everything.