Brian Center Health & Rehab Hickory Viewmont

I lived here for 2 1/2 years & I hope I never see this place again! As of now, a new Administrator is badly needed. She doesn't know what she's doing & no one likes her, even the staff. I worry a lot about my resident friends I had to leave behind!

My sister was at Brian Center Health and Rehabilitation Hickory Viewmont, and we did not like it. The staff was not good. They had attitude problems, and they did not do their work on time. In my opinion, they were incompetent. It was old, and it smelled bad. The rooms were small. They needed to upgrade everything.

My dad was at Brian Center Viewmont for about 2 months for rehab before he passed away. We knew it was going to be an up hill climb but his doctor felt he could recover. I had mixed feelings as I felt patients were overly medicated, that requested changes did not happen quickly unless you went to the Director who I found to be very helpful and willing to listen to me. I had to stay on top of everything. There were great staff and lazy staff. Weekends were the worst as I could see staff congregating around the nurses station and lights on up and down the halls which meant a resident needed assistance. There is little to no stimulation for the residents outside of a few activities for those who are the most mobile. I felt staff made a lot of assumptions on what I thought and felt and stated them in their documentation. Much of it was incorrect. This facility has the potential to be a better facility but residents seem to be on the bottom of the totem pole when it comes to providing them with extras. These are vulnerable people and the smallest thing is huge to them when it is taken away. If patients can't feed themselves on some days, no one stepped in to feed them or make sure they ate. There were days when my dad thought he had eaten but he hadn't. He lost 17 pounds. They finally moved him to restorative dining but by that time the weight loss was more than he could recover from. Everything seems to be based on money which directly impacts the residents. I did not like that. I continue to visit those residents who I came to care about. They love visits and everyone should pay attention to what is happening to our elderly. I will say the facility was very clean. Most rooms are shared and I will say I think they try to match compatible people with each other and were willing to change if something different was available that might work. There needs to be more outside activities, trips for these residents. Many could benefit from that exposure but this is where I felt staff was too lazy to make it happen.

My father was a resident at the Brian Center-Viewmont location in Hickory, NC for a short time but the regular staff, the medical staff, the CNA's, the kitchen workers and the residents made our time there easier. I will be honest, I didn't want to put my dad there because we had been there and done that before with my Memaw but I was encouraged by a Hospice nurse that we went to church with to go by and check it out - it had been 14+ years since Memaw was there! However, it turned out to be a blessing to our family and the all the people there became like family to us quickly! Especially during the last 2-3 weeks of my dad's life, whenever we needed something (pain meds, clothing changes, bed changes, bathroom trips, etc) I never had to ask twice. Two of the CNA's where in dad's room when he passed away and when one of them texted their dad to tell him my dad had passed away (both his parents worked there as well) - his dad asked our family was doing, "J" answered with a WE are ok - we cried a little - but we are ok. We were very blessed that we ended up not moving my dad to the Alzheimers care unit we wanted to move him too because everyone at the Brian Center went above and beyond to make my dad comfortable and to support our family in anyway they could!

The weekly visit to Brian Center to see my grandmother was a life changing event for me.First, you walked in and usually there were one or two people in wheel chairs waiting and hoping for a visitor.A member of the staff was always close by watching and at times assisting the people.The hallways always had the moans of people as you walked down them but were always very clean. The staff were friendly and helpful most of the time not always the chase at some nursing homes. The rooms were small but usually clean and my grandmother seemed to feel like she was at ease there. The food was not the best in world there but by no means the worst. My grandmother who cooked home cooked meals most of her life thought the food lacked in that home cooked flavor. The staff seemed to response quickly to the needs of the people while I was there. Looking at all of the people who sat around without visitors made me see the need for more people to come by and talk to these older people who had reached these older years in life and now had no one to share the time with was sad. It was this that made me commit to coming even after my grandmother passed every chance I could just to sit and talk to someone who's friends or family seemed to have forgotten.