My mother was in Brookdale Monroe's memory care facility for about 4 years. It looked nice and didn't smell. Everything was fine at the beginning. However, over time fees increased dramatically. Brookdale's policy of a basic room fee and additional fees based on periodic "assessments" of each resident raised our initial cost of about $5,000 a month to over $9,000 in 2 years and over $12,000 a month soon after that. We were skeptical, though, that the services we were paying for (which included $1,200 a month for two people to help my mother out of bed; $1,000 a month for help eating) were really being done. Staff told us that they rarely gave my mother a two-person lift since she could get in and out of bed and in and out of chairs by herself. We often found our mother slumped over the dinner table with no one helping her eat or with food all over her clothes. Management at the facility gave us very general responses when we questioned fees and care. After much insistence, they referred it "above", but we never heard anything from district or headquarters. We recently moved my mother due to the above. We are amazed at the outstanding care she is getting at a nearby facility for HALF THE PRICE. And, this facility does not use assessments to increase fees, the price remains the same. I recommend closely watching each monthly bill and make sure your loved one is getting all the care you are being charged for. You may have to hire, like we did, someone to go daily to make sure your loved one is getting the care. If you see something wrong, insist on talking to a manager. You have to make a lot of noise here to get response from management, and then it doesn't always happen. Finally, before moving your loved one there, make sure the facility can handle the level of care they need. I believe that this facility accepts patients they don't have the staff and training to care for, yet they charge mightily for the services they don't give.
Provider Response
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