My mother entered the Broadmoor at Creekside after having partial hip replacement surgery. She was there for five LONG weeks. We chose the facility because of its Medicare government health ratings and because the facility was clean, attractive, homey and the staff seemed friendly during our tour. The first night my mother was there, it became clear that there was an issue with communication between the nursing staff - especially at shift change. No one could figure out when or even which medications were given to my mother. We chalked it up to getting settled and figured that we came in late in the day so they were still getting her case settled. However, that was just the beginning. Depending on which nurse and aids were on duty, every day was exhausting in terms of getting information, answers to questions, timely assistance, and even meals. It was like starting over every day with a different nurse. Requests were forgotten or not passed along from shift to shift. No one at the nursing stations even acknowledged us when we came in to see my mom (which we did every day). They didn't even bother to look up from their computers, ipads, phones or lunch. Not one administrator or nurse came to introduce themselves to my mom or us until after we officially complained against one particularly rude aid the second week we were there. We were extremely confused about how the place operates - who does what, when, why, etc. The first two weeks were nothing but acronyms and business cards, but no real introduction to the how's and why's of being in a rehab facility. Apparently, they are supposed to get a photo of the each patients upon admittance so that the med nurses can identify the correct patient/meds, but this was not even done until the day before we discharged five weeks later. The aids never had badges on, and one refused to tell us her name after snapping at us because we had the audacity to question why it took her over 30 minutes to respond to the call bell. Aids often kept patients waiting, with buzzers ringing, because they were either on a break or "between shifts" or just plain overworked. We were actually told by an administrator that it's not surprising how the aids act considering how little they get paid - not reassuring or professional. We were under the impression that this was 24/7 care, but these shift changes seemed to be a real problem because during them, it was often impossible to find a nurse at the desk or an aid willing to help. The night staff was definitely more frustrating and hard to find, which was particularly worrisome because that is when my mom was alone there. We left several nights worried that her meds would not be delivered on time or at all, or that she would fall trying to get to the bathroom unassisted because her bell was not answered (sometimes for over 35 minutes). We actually had to file complaints against nurses because of their rude and inappropriate attitudes. It seemed like they were doing us a favor by doing their job which is caring for their patients. I can count on one hand the number of times I saw a nurse leave their station to see to a patient personally - usually they just said an aid would be there shortly. My aunt and I were there everyday until my mom went to sleep at night, so we saw day in and day out the way the place is run. There were some fantastic nurses, too, but sadly they were the exception and not always on duty. The immediate reaction seemed to be to point the blame at someone else and make excuses and more excuses. No one took accountability for any mistakes - of which there were several. We were very surprised that the director of the facility never bothered to contact us considering the amount of mistakes made and complaints filed. I would have expected her to get involved, considering the seriousness of some of the issues, not to mention it really is her responsibility to keep up with customer satisfaction. We never met my mother's doctor, even though we made it clear that any medical information needed to be shared with us, as my mom was having some cognitive issues, and was not in the right mind to make decisions or relay what was told to her. We would have moved my mother to another facility had it not been for the PT/OT/Speech team. The therapy she received from them was good and they were always professional, courteous and seemed to actually care about the patients. She was there to get stronger physically, so we kept her there. It turns out that we should have taken her out because a major medication error was discovered by a young pharmacist when we went to fill her prescriptions after discharge. We are pursuing that with the State. I would NEVER recommend this place to anyone. Don't be fooled by the pretty façade...the administration and nursing staff (with the exception of two fantastic nurses) were completely unprofessional, inadequate and frankly should not be representing this facility at all.
