Brookdale Hollywood Park

ReviewerFY#0526a

My mother stayed at Brookdale Hollywood Park for assisted living. Mostly, I think she didn't have any problems with the staff, but with the regulations. I don't think that's unique to any nursing home, though. They probably all have very similar regulations, and they were very difficult for her. One of the big problems we had was that she had a lot of vitamins listed in her profile that were from years back, and they insisted that she had to eat all of them every day. It was a lot, and I kept getting them to cut it down. The problem was that when she was there, she had stomach unrest, and she was vomiting constantly. She just got to where she just didn't wanna eat because her stomach became so messed up, so I ultimately decided that the best course of action was to get her out. You can imagine if you vomit pretty much at least once every day, it gets really old. I understood that they had rules to follow unless the doctor changed them, so I had to keep advocating with the doctor to change what she was requiring, but it was taking too long. It was like the doctors were reluctant to take off vitamins that were on her profile. I kept saying she hadn't been on them for five or six years, but they said it's on her profile and they can't take it off, so that was the major problem. We didn't have any problems with the staff. They seemed congenial. There was one lady that mom had a problem with, but overall, I would have to be very positive about the staff. I never had any problems with anybody. She did not like the food, and I was very vocal about it with them, and they told me they were going to change that. I would say that the food looked good, but it lacked something. My mother would complain, saying "We've already had that four times this week. So why are they giving it to me again?". It wasn't the same exact food, though. For instance, they would fry a fish one time, the same fish as a filet-o-fish, and it looked good quality. I tasted some of the food and I thought it was fine. But then it would be the same fish two days later, which they would put paprika all over, and serve grilled. That doesn't show me that someone knows how to cook. The third time they'd serve it that week, they would put peppers and onions, and it looked like it came out of a bag. It didn't look like it was cut up fresh. It looked like something that came out of a frozen bag that you add to food, which my mom didn't like. She said the food was always overcooked when they put that on. When I look at the food, I see somebody who's not a cook putting food together. With her stomach problems because of the medicine, it was just a nightmare for her to eat. She just didn't like anything, so I just felt like I had no choice but to take her out. I'm not saying they did anything wrong. I'm just saying that the food just wasn't food that you would want to eat if you can't go out to dinner. It's just very institutional. Her apartment was excellent and in very good shape. I didn't see any insects or bugs, and nothing was out of order. They also had a lot of amenities and a lot of events during the week. They had a big St. Patrick's Day party, which I didn't attend just because my mom was sick that day,so I didn't accept the invitation. I felt bad, even though they told me when I was there that I could go and join the party. It was always her stomach that was the problem, it was a constant thing. I'm not sure if they had Bingo twice a week every week, but it was pretty consistent, too. They also had some horse races or something. They had something else that everybody was shouting and cheering about, but I didn't go because I didn't want my mom alone when I was there. Most of the time, I just went ahead and ignored the activities, but it seemed like some were going on. A couple of times, they could also sign up to go to Walmart, which I thought was pretty cool, but my mother was never well enough to leave, so she never could take advantage of it. I think they're trying to keep people engaged, so I don't have any complaints about any of that. It was strictly the food and the vitamins that were giving her a hard time. They had a brand new director while I was there, and she was very concerned about my constant complaints about the food, so I would expect it has probably improved. I even told her that they don't have a cook but people who just warm up food, and I think she was a little startled. It's not that anybody's doing anything wrong. They just don't know how to serve 100 people. It takes skill to cook for that many people, and it takes skill to take the same item, like the filet-o-fish, and make it a little different on different nights. I just think that they needed somebody who was better trained in cooking.

Provider Response

Vernon

My wife moved into Brookdale Hollywood Park. It's a very nice establishment. It's home-like. It's like private apartments. We're pleased with that. She has a private space, and she has three meals there, and other opportunities. She's very inactive physically and spends most of the time in the room, and we are pleased with the way the staff takes care of her. They offer art classes and film and television viewing. The staff is supportive, competent, and present when needed. The facility is clean and well-maintained and seems fresh. I'm pleased with her being in that environment.

Yvette

Our experience with Brookdale Hollywood Park was fabulous. Everybody was welcoming, and informative, and went above and beyond to make sure that my parents were taken care of. The rooms were clean, adequate, and good-sized. The residents were just watching TV and looking at the birds at that time. It's a pleasant situation to be in.

Andrew

Brookdale Hollywood Park was great. The staff members were great. The rooms were okay. They had a refrigerator and a microwave. They had a nice room where they painted. They had a stove where they could cook. They had a vegetable garden, chicken coops, and an outdoor shaded courtyard.

Leonard

Brookdale Hollywood Park was a small memory care unit with only 16 beds. But it has the same amount of staff as the other bigger place that I toured so you've got more staff and fewer people here. So obviously, you can get more staffing to take care of your own patient's needs. It's an older facility and it looks older. But then it costs more than the other place, it cost me about $12,000 a year more. The room that I saw was very nice. It had a window looking out to a courtyard, it was a very nice size, and enough to put a bed, a small TV, a recliner or two chairs, and it had a bathroom that was handicap-ready. It also had two large closets for clothes and stuff, and it had a ceiling fan. But there's no kitchen stuff in it so it's just like a 1-room apartment.

Laura

I toured Brookdale Hollywood Park for my mom. It was the first and only one I went to, and it just worked out well for us. It is five minutes from where we live, so, it's super close and convenient because it's right off the highway. It is very clean. In another time search for a different grandparent, we had been to several different locations before, and they always had an odor to them and this one did not. There was no odor. The people were very friendly and very on top of it. I could call any time, and they got back to me very quickly. They just seemed very nice. I also liked that it was a smaller community and had 34 residents, so there were fewer people to have to keep track of. The fees are very comparable, too. She can age in care there. If she starts as an independent living and then transitions to memory care or something more severe, they can do it all there. We wouldn't have to move her to a different facility. But she's going to be in assisted.