Parklane West Healthcare Center

My brother is in Parklane West Healthcare Center. The room is okay. It's smaller and has a roll-in shower, which I liked. He doesn't have to go down the hall to take a shower, so that part's good. From time to time, they have water outages and hot-water outages; it's an older building, so those things happen. The staff depends on the person; some know him and know how to work with him, but some others not quite so much. It's supposed to be three times a week, but it seems like it rarely happens. It seems like the other day, they just didn't have enough room or enough water, something like that. I FaceTime him every day. He hasn't been shaved, and he has food down his chin and down his shirt. It's upsetting; that's one of the things that really bothers me about it. I mean, when you pick up his tray, how much trouble is it? They could get him clean, but they don't seem to put a priority on that. They do get him up for lunch, leave him up until supper, and then put him to bed, so they get him up every day. We used to have lunch together in the dining area every day, but since the virus, he just stays in his room and eats his food. They used to have activities, but at this time, they have none. He's in his room entirely, every day. His daughter or I visit him once or twice a week; we're the only two people allowed to come in. They won't let us switch off or change that at all; that's set in stone. I've asked if they can take him downstairs to the garden; he doesn't go outside. They took him out to this courtyard, and we can wave to each other, but not now. He's been there for nursing for a couple of years now, and he was in assisted living before that. I think the food's good. He's on a special diet. Nothing looks good, but he says it tastes good. They have the facilities; they just don't use them right now. We pay a lot of money.

I took my wife out of Parklane West Healthcare Center because I'm disappointed in how they're not changing her pads with a very bad rash. It's a beautiful place from the outside, but as far as the people go I wouldn't send my puppy dog there. Their food is at the top of the game. However, if you see the staff in action they keep using phrases like "My attorney says this, my attorney says that." So basically, they are lazy but at the same time, they don't want you doing what they needed to do for your spouse. The room she had there was clean. We would go there twice a day for lunch and dinner, and I noticed that as time went on she became more lethargic. She wasn't exercising and they weren't feeding her either, they would just let her sit there in her wheelchair. So the food looked and tasted good, but what good is food if you're not eating it.

My mother was sent to the facility from SAMMC. I was very happy with the facility at first sight. They have great PT for their patients and most of the staff are genially friendly. However, they are short staffed, the med aids are not proficient at their jobs. My mother, who is in her right mind, had to remind them continuously about her meds. On numerous occasions, they would try and give my mother the wrong dosage. Thank goodness she knew exactly what dose she was to take and when. That, on the other hand, would upset the med aids, who would then hold back on her Tylenol when needed. Their attitude towards my mother, just because she spoke up, changed. They became cold and uncaring. At the end of the stay (1 and 1/2 week) I had tried reaching my mother by phone. She wouldn't answer. When I did I reached the nursing station and they said they would check up on her. The nurses name was Kathy. She in turn told me my mother was fine and in fact, she wasn't. She had become very jaundice and had an infection. I insisted on an ambulance right away. She has been in the hospital, on antibiotics, for the last 5 days recovering. SAMMC asked if I wanted her to return to Parklane. Not now, not ever!

I only gave them one star because you can't write a review unless you give them a least one star. Otherwise they would get a big zero. I work at Fort Sam Houston and I would run over to Parklane at lunchtime to visit my mother who had Alzheimer's. The staff would line up all the patients in wheelchairs by the nursing station which was right by the elevator and totally ignore them while they socialized with each other. When I would exit the elevator the staff would lower their heads and pretend they didn't see me. Some of the wheelchair patients would be lopsided in the wheelchairs and practically falling out of them. My mother was always soaked in urine which caused her to have a giant bedsore on her buttocks. Her feeding tube was always backing up in her mouth which if they brushed her teeth once in a while, they would have noticed. If anyone thinks their mother, aunt, etc. received good care from these folks at Parklane, then they must have low expectations of how they want their loved one to be cared for. While we were making arrangements to move her, she became more ill and had to go to SAMMC for a week. She returned to Parklane with a diagnosis of MRSA which SAMMC stated she probably contacted at Parklane. She died at Parklane gasping for breath because they did not have the comfort drug on hand to make my mother's transition from life to death an easier one. If you put your loved one in this facility, I recommend visiting every day, twice a day. The nurses and the CNA's are lazy and disinterested in their patients and spread germs like crazy moving from patient to patient without using gloves or washing their hands.