The Brook of Houghton Lake

rtggriff

my brother is presently living at this brooks. the staff is not family friendly. strict rules. ie cannot even bring him water. his feet were filthy, he has bed soars .do not send your family member there. bg

Doris

We have chosen The Brook of Houghton Lake for my mom. So far, we're very happy with it. They have church on Sundays, bingo on Mondays and Wednesdays, crafts, exercise, music, games, and outside walks. The staff members are very attentive. They are coming to get her for meals so that she won't miss them. We have an occupational therapist come in and give her her bath because she was receiving those services at home. I have a brother and sister who live in the same town as she does, so they can visit more often. The facility is beautiful, and it's like a fancy motel.

Rob

My mother is in The Brook of Houghton Lake. It's modern, well kept, and well staffed. They're very attentive. The people working there seem to be caring. It's not a huge place. They do assisted and independent living, but if people need more care than that, they can't stay there. They have a number of activities, an exercise room, a piano in the common area, in-house church services on Sundays, and groups who come in, like singing choirs. Every day of the week on the calendar they had activities going on.

My mom is very unhappy. Im very unhappy.

Poor communication from management, outrageous rent for very substandard care, or concern for my mother. Just because a facility is pretty ...don't be fooled. My mothers residence downstate was superior to this and had a 1,200 sq ft 2 bdrm 2 full bath condo with garage and patio for what she is paying for this one bedroom joint where I can't get cooperation from staff. They really cared and treated each family member with respect regardless of any politics involved between family members. I feel I've lost my mother by her living in this nightmare. She is so unhappy and miserable. I tried to rescue her as best I could in December. I couldn't locate my mother by phone this winter and called every hospital. I finally received word my mother went out of town for a couple of weeks (by the mgr via email) knowing it would be much longer. She was gone over 2 months by way of an inconsiderate family member. My flowers and chocolates sat there because I was not notified by email that my mother was being taken. Mother has been back 10 days and they refuse to answer me if her gift was given to her. I live far away. Nobody cares! Period.I've been nice. I've been assertive. I've been angry. They just do not seem to care. I gave benefit of the doubt and I give up on them. The halls in heavily assisted areas wreaked of urine when I was there. Nursing homes smell better these days. Really. Don't put your loved one here. Family politics should NEVER come into play how you treat the family. Very unprofessional. No cameras outside the end if the building if your parent falls. No cameras inside. I was told this is their home. Well today people put cameras in their homes for safety!!!! My mother requested her locks be changed in writing. They refused to do that also. Pros? It's pretty but so was her condo downstate

Gypsycat

This facility does not provide true assisted care for the elderly. I had to insist that my parent receive help with showering; they said "She said she doesn't want one." I wasn't asking them to force her, but encouragement is not an unreasonable method. She lost a lot of weight because she'd forget to go to the dining room, and no one would check on her. On at least one occasion, my daughter asked if her grandma had lunch, and staff assured my daughter that she had changed her mind about eating, which was untrue (my daughter was visiting, and no one came to my mother's room). This facility is woefully understaffed. Most of the aides make an effort to be kind, but are simply not capable of caring for elderly people with memory problems. People capable of self-care may benefit from the companionship and activities at this facility, but it was not satisfactory for the needs of our mother.

Debra102670550

It is close to my aunt's home, it is a familiar area for her, and that is why we chose to look at this place. It has assisted living, but it does not have the memory care which she will need later on, so we would have to think about moving her to the Brook. They have visiting areas, they have one-bedroom apartments, not just studios, and the patients can go anywhere they want to within the building. A lot of the women would get together and do things like puzzles, art, and other different things. They do have activities for them like Bingo and one or two different things that they showed us. They have dining style for dinner, lunch, and breakfast where it was almost like a restaurant type atmosphere. My aunt used to like to go out everyday to eat, so I thought that would be very nice for her to be able to do that. She would think she was at a restaurant because they place their order, just like they would in a restaurant. The nursing careis kept very clean. You didn't have any of the odors there. It was very clean, and the staff was very friendly and very helpful. They made you feel welcome, and they have 24-hour visits if you want to go in 24 hours. They would also let a person come from out-of-town and stay with their loved one for the night.