The Hearth at Drexel

This review is for the memory care community, and I should start by pointing out that it is important to evaluate a facility based on the specific needs of your loved one. In hindsight, this was not a good place for my parent who was very warm and loving and needed a lot of human contact. They are not able to effectively provide that here. The facility is beautiful. The activities director is fabulous and really worked with us to accommodate our parent’s interests. But the most important part of a care community is the caregiving staff who takes care of the residents 80% of the time. In this area, the Hearth fails. They are understaffed and apparently don’t pay enough to get top quality caregivers. It is normal to find residents parked in front of the tv with caregivers on their phones not taking the opportunity to interact with or engage the residents who need it. It is unusual to find the caregivers smiling or being warm and kind. They manage the residents as opposed to really caring for them and engaging with them. This really hurt my parent, and I’m confident it shortened their life. Another concern is that care records and plans are not fully computerized which, in our case led to medication errors and inconsistent care. Sadly, there are not many better choices...I can honestly say we looked at them all. In my opinion, the best approach if your loved one can’t stay at home, is to plan to augment a facility with some private care...especially in the evenings and at night.