Grande at Chesterfield

Reviewer

This is a beautiful community, with so many wonderful amenities to offer. However, their management has high turnover hence the caregiver turnover was great, also. The director, marketing director and sales manager all left while my loved one was there. Our family was very patient and understanding when there were small issues as we were thankful for the care that was provided. However, there were too many red flags and inconsistent care throughout their stay. On the first morning, (the day after we moved in), I showed up at 11AM for a visit and our loved one was still in bed, no breakfast. When I asked the caregivers about it, I was told that they didn't know our loved one had moved in. That meant that there was no transition info given to the day shift. That also meant that no one had checked on him since the night before. Our loved one had been pressing his pendant, but no one showed up. Then, we found out that the pendant was misprogrammed to a different room. You would think that the caregivers would have figured out that someone was pressing their pendant and to figure it out. (I had been reassured that his pendant was working properly after we moved in.) As time went on, new, inexperienced caregivers were hired, given 20 hrs of training and a few shadowing opportunities and then left to figure out how to care for the residents. Even though “care plans” were expected to be followed, this was rarely a common practice. The newly hired caregivers didn't stick around for many reasons, mostly management, lack of proper training and follow-up. We had meetings with the nursing director who admitted that, "her email blows up, especially on Monday mornings when the weekend shifts don't follow through on care." Having a camera in the room is a great asset for our understanding of the situation. It is also legal and very common, just have to fill out the proper forms. We checked the camera twice a day to make sure our LO was safe and was not laying on the floor from falling out of bed. If he was we could call in and ask for a caregiver to help him get back in bed. The memory care floor is a sketchy place. The caregivers can be found on their phones instead of taking care of residents or redirecting the residents that are "roamers." There was no activity director for memory care either the entire time our loved one lived there. The resident's meals are brought up from the first floor and kept in hot boxes. These meals were sparse and not like the meals served in the dining room in assisted living. It is very sad. No options, the same beverage every day or water. We saw evidence of smoking by the caregiver(s) in the small room next to the elevator. The window was open and there was a bottle of "smoke eater". It was later in the evening when supervisors were gone, so no one cared that it could be seen by anyone coming off the elevator. There was also a shortage of keys to get into memory care at the front desk. Very frustrating when you can't go to the 3rd floor until someone is available to help. Then, we found out that the maintenance man became a "weekend" supervisor because there was no one hired to replace the directors that left. Very sad and unacceptable situation. Keep in mind that there are a few good employees that care, but most don't stick around at this community. We learned after talking with the temporary management that "lying" is an acceptable behavior of caregivers, it is a way for the caregiver to protect themselves from being reported to the State. Management would rather keep employees that lie a few times about not following care plans then hire and train new employees. We were told many times that there would be more on-site training to "fix" the lack of care issues. If you’re doing your due diligence, please find out how long management has been there and the status of the caregiver staff, what is their turnover rate? How are complaints and concerns handled? When you take the tour, check to see how many rooms are vacant, (if there are many vacant rooms, there are issues.), how many caregivers are present and are the caregivers engaging with the residents. Are the caregivers wearing name tags, if not, that means that the caregiver does not want the family to know their name. We found it important to learn the caregiver’s names so that we could build a relationship with them, but it was hard. Good luck on finding the best fit for your loved one, unfortunately, The Grand of Chesterfield was NOT a good fit for our “loved one.” This is an emotional time of life and can be difficult when the living situation is not a warm and caring atmosphere for all.

Carmen

We will be moving my mother here. They were nice, and they showed us around. They were friendly. It was clean, and it was bright. We chose it because the location is close to family. The layout was very nice. It's easy to get to everything. I think she'll get to everything that she wants to do.

Susie

We chose them. It was fabulous. We put down a deposit, we were scheduled to move in, and he decided he didn't wanna move. Short of an armed guard, we won't get him out of the place he currently lives. So we lost our deposit and he's still where he was. It was incredibly wonderful. It was the perfect community for him. They bent over backwards. They gave us a wonderful discount on his room. He could tell they really wanted him to be there, and I wanted him to be there. My brother has schizophrenia as a primary diagnosis, and when he decides he doesn't want to do anything, short of the police escort, there's just no way to way to move him. They're wonderful. I can't say enough about them. They're so sweet. The size of the apartment is bigger than most. The layout is very conducive to apartment living. They have every amenity you might need. The size of the refrigerator was regular size, not a mini as I've seen in some. It was the perfect community. The staff is wonderful. I looked at the menu, and I looked at the food that was being served. It looked just fabulous. I didn't taste it, but from what it looked like, it looked really good. Looked like a Food Network show. They have a workout room, a crafts room, an outdoor patio for smoking, and other activities. In the workout room they also had therapy balls, like a physical therapist would come in and use the facilities.

Shirley

It was a nice size facility so you could get to know people. They did not have long-term care, but they have memory care. They had a very lovely chapel. The meal we had was served individually at the table. It wasn't cafeteria style and it was very good. The people we met were friendly. The cleaning staff, the security staff, and anybody walking down the hall would stop and greet us by name. The rooms were large, and they have beds to borrow until we found one. They were very accommodating and willing to help.

Reviewer

It was very nice, clean, and brand new. The people were nice. I saw card games and movies. They had a nice outdoor area.

TB

It is very close to my home. There are a lot of good things I like about it. They have good physical therapy rooms. I like the fact that it's pretty classy and the fact that it's new makes it very appealing. They have a couple of rooms that are for handicapped people, with lower shelves, grab bars, and the doors are all wide. They have tons of activities like movie nights and taking people out once a month to dinner or to the butterfly house. The calendar is full of things to do. The staff is friendly, and the marketing people were outstanding. The food is excellent.