Carroll Place

My mother was a resident here from May 2013 to February 2014. I chose Carroll Place because they advertised they were an Alzheimer's care facility and my mother had been diagnosed with dementia a few years prior. The initial meeting with two representatives (who left shortly after my mother moved in) went very well. They answered all my questions and assured me my mother would receive the care she deserved. I didn't want to put my mother in a "lock down" facility so Carroll Place was a great fit in the beginning. After about 6 months, and once my mothers' dementia began to worsen, I realized the facility wasn't equipped to handle someone with dementia unless they were completely bedridden. I was asked to remove my mother after she eloped a few times and was told the staff wasn't able to look after my mother "because they had 40 other residents that needed care as well". It was shortly after this I noticed the "Alzheimer's care facility" notation was removed from their website. The fact is they weren't equipped to handle Alzheimer's patients from the get go, outside of basic care and handling. It wasn't all bad, though. They did get my mother to eat, which she wasn't when she was living on her own, even when I fixed her dinner for her. Generally the staff was very friendly and helpful when needed and the activities director was outstanding. All in all, when you take everything into consideration, the facility was average.

The facility itself is lovely; my dad is very happy with his room, and the aid who gives him most of his assistance is very good. But we are experiencing a lot of other problems and I would not currently recommend this place. The food is just awful, and apparently the residents are no longer even given a choice of entrees at dinner (not sure about lunch). Often he resorts to ordering corn flakes, which is not exactly a balanced diet. There is no kind of transportation provided by the facility (something I took for granted and didn't even think to ask when we were looking!) -- not a bus, not a car, not a van. Housekeeping has been less than ideal and on numerous occasions the family has had to clean the toilet because the cleaning person did not and it was, frankly, filthy. Hooking up the phone was a nightmare and took weeks. And the billing system is inefficient and unreadable. There is a general feeling that these guys are flying by the seat of their pants and figuring things out as they go along. Many of the staff are really lovely, but at this point we are not thrilled and, if not for the stress a move would put on my father, we would consider changing to another place.