Brookdale Texarkana

My mother-in-law was a resident of Brookdale Texarkana. Their atmosphere was fine, the community was fine, but they fluctuate in price from month-to-month depending on the amount they first charge you. It's way over-priced for the kind of care that you get. The cleanliness of the facility is not there, you can smell the dirty linens when you walk in, and the apartment of your loved ones also smells. They do not bathe them, they do not clean the room, they do not vacuum, and they do not shampoo the carpets. I would go in and the bed was dirty, the bed linens were dirty, and she had dirty diapers in the trash can. They smelled. They lacked the ability to have the right people in the right place and at the right time. They always had great food; they had a cook there that cooked all the time. But it's an aging facility, it has air conditioning problems, water leak problems, and plumbing problems.

Brookdale Texarkana was very clean, neat, and extremely well controlled. They knew what they were doing. I didn't find anything that would be harmful to my brother or anything of that nature. The rooms were very clean, there was walking space, and it looked very orderly. The dining area was orderly, neat, and inviting. The staff member was very helpful and pleasant, and not at all bothered about their routine being interrupted by a visitor. The facility looked very clean, inviting, and not institutional.

I felt good about Brookdale Texarkana. We have visited facilities and we're considering that one. We liked it and we liked the people as well. The room we saw was not spacious. The facility was older, but it was comfortable, nice, and we got a good impression of it. They have exercise classes, crafts, music, and Bingo. They take you to the store, and they serve three meals a day.

We placed my mother-in law at Brookdale. It wasn't the most expensive facility, and it wasn't inexpensive, but just a good quality place. We had a meal there and it was good.

The only place I went to was Brookdale. I liked it. We have church members there, so we went there and took a look at it. It doesn’t look like a nursing home; it's more like a big home, and they don’t have big, long corridors like in a nursing home. They have a nice facility with nice rooms and everything. The rooms were nice, well-kept, painted and had nice carpets. They have all kinds of activity for residents. I think they played dominoes and other things, and they have a TV room, too. The staff was very friendly.

It has spacious apartments. The Sterling House said they can handle patient with memory problem, but I could see my mother maintaining a pretty isolated life if she would be allowed to be just in her room and not come out. Their activities were card players, movies, coffee and donut time and some games. I would recommend that to others.

Sterling House of Texarkana was another facility I visited. It was an old facility and I didn't like it at all. I wasn't pleased with this place because they only have a microwave in their rooms. Also they don't have enough staff there. I'm looking for an independent living facility.

On March 6, 2013 I had the privilege of visiting your facility to check on one our patients that is a resident there. I arrived at the facility at 7:55 p.m. I found the medication aide, P. Miller, who had called in a report that our patient did not seem herself and was confused. Ms. Miller was busy passing the evening medicines but every time I approached her, she stopped with a smile and answered my questions. The patient was indeed confused and was unable to answer any questions for herself. Her daughter was also present and was also unable to answer the questions. I needed the information so I could notify the physician. There was also another employee present (I believe she was the aide but I did not get her name.) I was very impressed that the staff did not get upset with me and seemed to care so much for their patients. We do not receive that kind of treatment when we go into facilities. Many of them will not answer questions or look at the med sheets to see what was given earlier in the day. I asked questions like "did she eat supper tonight?", "when was her last bowel movement", "did she do any complaining before the confusion", did she do anything different this evening. All questions are so important in trying to figure out what was going on and when it started. Your staff was so busy doing evening care but when I step out of the room and found them, they would stop and come out in the hall to answer questions. I am sure I interrupted them ten or more times. As the Quality Assurance/Performance Improvement Director when I am on RN call I pay attention to this and to the care our patients receive. I was so impressed. Then early on the morning of March 7, 2013 I was again called to the facility as the patient had slipped out of the bed. It thrilled me that the night shift was just as concerned as the evening shift, I was there long enough for the day shift to come on. The care and love that all three shifts showed our patient were just so awesome. Speaking with your Director of Nurses, Bevin Hawkins was also fabulous. She again took the time to answer questions, she asked appropriate questions from me and together we were able to work out a plan of care for our mutual resident/patient. I reported it to our executive director and also to the staff in our morning meeting. It is a pleasure to see our patients loved and taken care of. Thank you so much. Sherlylynn Pierce, RN, BSN, MS Serenity Hospice QAPI Director