The Canopy at Westridge

Bella

My dad stayed in The Canopy at Westridge for memory care. They are very understaffed. That's my number one thing. They don't have enough staff to cover the needs. I had to pay somebody to go and sit with him at night because he kept getting up. When I was looking for places, one of the biggest things they told me was that, if he wakes up in the middle of the night and he can't go back to sleep, we'll bring him out into the main area where we are. But they didn't do that. They let my dad wander around the room and fall. He's 87 years old, and they did not do what they said. They said everything is just right - to get almost $6,000 a month, which I understand is what it costs to go there, which is cheap. It was the nicest place close by. So I went for convenience, but it was also very nice because it's new. I think it just opened in February, but they've already changed management once, which was probably my first red flag. They haven't been in business for a year, and they've already changed management once, which is odd. The least that I like is the director of the place. She is out of touch with her staff. And I think they would do better if they had a different type of person. The staff did not respect her at all, and I don't like that. I think the ratio of med techs to patients at night is too small. You cannot have one med tech for 14 memory care patients. I liked how clean the place was because it's new. The lighting is wonderful there. The ceiling is probably 30 or 40 feet high, a big atrium, and nice chandeliers. The activities for the assisted living side were good, but on the memory care side, if you're in memory care and you don't have a visitor to come and take you out, you can't be a part of all of the other activities. And my dad is not advanced in his disease. So that was a real bother because he was watching people who were holding baby dolls and thought they were real, or people who were sleeping with their chin on their chest, and they were drooling all over themselves because they're so drugged. The staff, the actual daytime CNAs, were engaging, but the caregivers who sit in there don't smile or laugh. The ones in memory care, they're awful. Like people just go over there and wait to die, I guess. My dad was there for one week, and I watched him fall three times in one night. I watched them come in there and wake him up when he was dead asleep. They came in the middle of the night to wake him up and give him something to calm him down, and he was asleep. It was a terrible experience. I'm glad that I could bring him home. They are not equipped to handle memory care. So, if somebody's looking for memory care, do not go there. It is not a good place. They are understaffed for memory-care patients.