Silver Birch of Mishawaka

Elsie

We looked at Silver Birch of Mishawaka. It's close. They have activities where they can go outside. It's a nice area. And I think Wednesdays and Fridays they have things where they can leave the facility, and you can go to the store or something. The staff seemed to be respectful, and the people that were there seemed to be happy. The place was clean. All the people seemed to be well taken care of.

Nancy

I moved into Silver Birch of Mishawaka when they first opened. The nursing is really good. They do what they need to do. The receptionist is wonderful. Everybody else stinks. Food is terrible. The facility is nice. Housekeeping does a tremendous job. Right now, because of Covid, activities are at a minimum but they have activities every once in a while. Value for money is OK.

Carolyn

My sister has moved into Silver Birch of Mishawaka. She is in assisted living. I'm very pleased with the staff and the facility. It went way past my expectations. For me, Silver Birch is replacing me as a caregiver, a sister, and a family member to my sister; that's what they helped in putting her there. She's doing very well. She had a lot of concerns about going there and what it was going to be like. The staff made her feel very comfortable, and she's doing well. I was very surprised because it doesn't feel like a nursing home, living assistance, or a rehab. For me, it was like a five-star hotel. My sister never had an appetite before. Her first day there when they were moving her in, they made sure that they brought her food. They brought her fried catfish, and she loves catfish. They have a very good activities coordinator, and they have a lot of things for them to do. My sister has participated in a couple of things where I didn't think she would. They had a carnival a couple of weeks ago, and it was really nice. They had it on the premises. The staff is what makes the whole difference. Value for money is very good. There was assistance to be able to help offset the price, which was very good. A lot of places didn't accept that.

Holly

Silver Birch of Mishawaka opened in 2019, so they're two years old and it's a horrible place. Someone needs to shut them down. No one should ever consider letting anyone they love going there. It's awful. Someone needs to report them and someone needs to help the people that are in that situation. It is terrifying that these people are there and they are suffering. It was dirty, dark, dank, poorly run, and disorganized. About 30 percent of the residents were seriously emaciated, to the point where I feel they should be hospitalized. They were unclean, many of them smelled, and their hair was dirty. Even though they have a beauty shop, nobody had a haircut. 80 percent of people weren't even able to walk on their own two feet while about 50 percent of people weren't even cognitively able to care for themselves. The staff was apathetic and even one person that we asked for help was even mean to me and we were just visiting. I would never want this person alone with my mother and I wouldn't let them be alone with anyone's mother. It was just bad. They need to be inspected. I took mom to an event they were holding so that she could meet some of the other residents. There was a woman whom we were sitting with and she was diabetic and had been recently hospitalized. A staff member came up and handed her a cotton candy that they were making and this was a person that was diabetic and had some memory issues. That was alarming to me because they didn't care. My mom had portable oxygen with her and we asked someone for help and nobody would help us. The person that they forced to help us said to me, "It's something that there's nothing you can fucking do." There was no place for her to sit and rest. Nobody offered my mom a wheelchair and they just let me push her around. When I mentioned to them that mom had certain dietary restrictions because she's lactose intolerant, they said, "If she doesn't want to eat what's given to her, then I guess we'll make her a grilled cheese sandwich." They need new management and a new start. They were lazy and uncaring. Those poor people were suffering. They showed us an apartment and when my mom opened the closet, it stank so bad that I threw up in my mouth. They also have to make their own food because they don't make any of the food there and the people are starving. It just looked like a concentration camp. Their clothes won't even stay on their body and you can see their bones through their skin.