Laurelhurst House

We saw Laurelhurst House. The visit was good. It was nice but quite small and limited. I don't think they had many activities.

From the moment I walked through the door on my very first visit, I noticed that things were not quite right with the facility, for one as soon as I walked in there was a resident standing near the front door she immediately saw me and with the sweetest smile said welcome! Then I noticed her face turn white, I literally had to grab her before she fell on the floor from passing out. I escorted her to the closest chair in the lobby. I didn't want to leave her sitting there by herself in case she were to become faint again but I needed to get a caregiver for her and there was not a staff member in sight. A family member happened to be walking through with one of the residents so I quickly explained the situation and he agreed to wait with my resident. I found a staff member, though it was not easy at all, explained to them what happened and which resident it was. When I heard the staff member enlighten me on the circumstances as to why this resident might be faint and dizzy I felt completely sick to my stomach. It turns out that a couple hours prior to all of this her doctor had started her on a new medication which she received for the FIRST time earlier during med rounds. First of all, when you start a resident on a new medication, you moniter them! You never know how a resident will react to medication, so it is the job of the med tech/care givers to stay close to that resident and check on them frequently after giving them the new meds. This resident practically fell in my arms and the staff members were brushing it off like it was no big deal. If the resident fell, she could have hit her head, broke bones, or worse and I was disgusted by the whole situation. Not a great first visit. Returning for my next visit and visits after, I promised that I would not let what happened that first visit be a factor in future visits, so I left it at the door. I gave the facility a fresh start and I began chatting with the residents and watching the staff care for them. There were some staff members that appeared to take their jobs a little too seriously and there were staff members who seemed to care less. I noticed a lot of bickering among the staff and loud enough for other residents, staff, visitors, and myself to hear. The treatment and care of the residents is second-rate at best, half of the staff members seem either to wrapped up in their own lives and the other half are too busy bossing around fellow staff members, so know one is really ever paying attention to the residents and when they do they act like they have bigger and better places to be as they rush the residents to so things, they seem very pushy - more like they are herding cattle then working around actual human beings with feelings, opinions, and all. The staff are not that friendly or helpful when dealing with family members or other visitors as well, when I first started visiting the facility, before I really knew my way around, I asked a staff member where I could find an area they refer to as the "second reading room" the staff member first looked at me like I was from another planet, as if I should have known better than to interrupt her day and ask her questions, and then said these exact words..."it's around here somewhere, keep going straight, I'm sure you'll eventually run into it." Yeah, that's the type of customer service offered there, and what's worse is that a resident ended up having to point me in the right direction. The facility itself is okay, I like the location a lot - everything that a resident could need is close by and they have a cute coffee shop built into the corner of the building and it's accessible from the sidewalk, which is nice. I don't like, however, that the exterior of the building looks better than the interior, inside the facility just seems really dark and gloomy to me. The design and decor throughout don't create a common theme, it looks as if they took already decorated and furnished rooms from different places and slapped them together all under one roof. It is confusing and it seems as if they don't care about their appearance. I know appearance isn't everything, but it's still pretty important - when a potential resident or a visitor walks in to the facility for the first time, the very first thing they look at is the facility itself, the appearance, and they will have either a good first impression or a bad one. You know, if the quality of care was flawless, I would probably not be as hard on the look of the facility because at least it would prove that they shine when it comes to the residents, it would show that they at least have their priorities straight. Unfortunately, that's not the case. Throughout all of my visits to this facility I can't help thinking and it has become like this nagging thought that won't go away, but it really seems as if they just don't care, not about any of it. Their appearance, the treatment and care of the residents, the activities and events offered, the amenities and services available, helping visitors and families, etc. It's really disappointing because the residents deserve to have staff members that care greatly about their well-being, happiness, comfort, safety, and so on. They deserve more than anything to have a care team that is friendly and caring as well as respectful and professional, but currently - they don't have this... There is no excuse for the resident not to have this. I don't refer people to this building and I'm sad about that because any facility that cares for residents should be great. The should be great enough to where I feel good about sending people their way, and what upsets me the most about a facility that is not good enough to recommend is that while it helps in keeping new residents from moving in, my concern goes to all of the residents currently living there. What about them? I keep going back to Laurelhurst House and I keep doing everything in my power to make the facility better for the residents living in it, but there is a long way to go and a lot that needs to be done. So I would encourage people to steer clear of Laurelhurst House at least until some of the issues are resolved, customer service and other types of training has been had by all staff members, they become organized and there are fewer errors made, the treatment and care of the residents change for the better, as well as some other needed improvements. I hope I begin to see more and more improvement during upcoming and future visits.

This facility offers assisted living only, in a location that is easy to access. But from the reception to the medical care, the place does not seem to be working well. The facility is small, with only an upstairs and downstairs. None of the rooms have good views, and they are not kept very clean; they seem to need more staff to do the job. There was a problem in the past, mostly involving improper medication management that was discovered during an inspection and resulted in some changes in the staff. They are now trying to improve by supervising and documenting medications better, but it is too soon to tell whether there has been true improvement. The dining room seems cramped and rather uninviting. The food served there is way too saltyâ€"�and many of the residents complain about it. There really are no good activities for people. And at night, the whole facility is under the care of very few caregivers. The cost is similar to other places in the area, but the care and management is currently lacking.