Emeritus At Casa Whittier

After my father passes away on May 18, 2014, (she was admitted in August 2014 — February 2015) my brother and I were faced with, «how do we take care of mom?». She has louie body dementia and wonders when shes alone and needs assistance walking and standing as she has a hard time with balance. We went to visit Brookdale/​Emeritus and we really liked the esthetics of the facility. So, we made the decision to move her in — what a nightmare!!! First they put her in to the assisted living area (which clearly she was unable to manage, the dr diagnosis stated her disease). After a week, we moved her to the memory care… that’s when the craziness began! We would visit her everyday and everyday I received a phone call stating she fell out of bed and was laying in her own saliva, had a skin tears, was anxious… those happened on a daily basis. As time went by… I received a call saying she fell (my mom was not to be walking by herself as the facility made that clear and so did we) and her head hit the railing and the wall, she knocked out her front tooth and her face was bloody and bruised, as she received trauma to her forehead and nose and had 2 black eyes. When I asked the administrator what happened she said the care giver left my moms side to get someone out of their room. I mentioned that my mom is not able to walk or stand without someone by her side. Rosa said it was only for a moment… This was not ok! Once we healed her wounds and they knew we were watching, things seemed to be ok. Until about 2 weeks after that accident she was standing in her room with a caregiver getting dressed and she fell back and hit the back of her head on the night stand, leaving a huge gash that required 5 staples to close up the wound. From that moment on, I was all for moving her, but we gave it another try. Keep in mind the calls of her skin tears and falling or sliding out of bed kept coming. They started to medicate with anxiety meds which left her wheelchair bound for their convenience. My mom was going away, lost a lot of weight, lifeless, drooling, couldn’t walk due to being sedate and not stimulated. She was put on hospice (for extra eyes and hands they said, but it was to make their job easier). Rosa wanted US to hire in our own care giver to stay with my mom all night to make sure she doesn’t fall out of bed (for those of you searching, this is to be done by the facility — that’s why we were paying big $$ for them). We couldn’t afford another $ 2,000.00 + a month, as we were paying $ 6,000.00 for the facility — so a total of $ 8,000.00. So we waited it out as long as we could. Mom was given a few months to live according to the hospice team — and she looked horrible. I would come to visit at lunch and there would be caregivers folding napkins while the residence where eating lunch — why the napkins needed attention at lunch when the residence clearly needed it more… this should have been done with an awake night staff — careless. My mom sat at a table where the staff hand fed the residence (this should NOT be done, staff should be explaining or guiding but not feeding), they had 1 caregiver feeding 3 people at the same time (THE FOOD IS AWEFUL BY THE WAY– WOULDNT FEED MY DOG WITH IT). A few days later I received a phone call saying that my mom was choking and was given the Heimlich Maneuver, this is extremely dangerous for the elderly. That was the last straw! I knew mom needed better care and felt guilty for keeping her there as long as we did. So, I we pulled her out and placed her in another home. What a change! shes walking again, feeding herself, talking and has color and life back in her cute little face. My experience has put me on a path of helping people never to have this kind of «lack» of care again. I have taken my RCFE classes and have passed the test to help place families and give them hope that there are good places out there for mom and dad and its not all about the $$$ the facility makes but the CARE… So please if you love your family stay away from this place and put your money at a place that truly cares

I’ve been meaning to write this review for awhile now. My Aunt who is a senior, she’s 80 yrs old, has been living here for a little over a year. In just that time alone I have seen her personality blossom from being somewhat quiet, shy, cautious even a bit defensive into a VERY happy, social and funny, even dare I say… sassy gal!
I will FOREVER be grateful for the Staff here. Each one of them has helped guide us both and I truly cannot recommend this facility high enough, I wish there were 100 Stars!
From the start, Sharon Crowe, helped explain senior living, independent & assisted and that they provide both. She helped me and our family understand how to communicate with my Aunt who was initially hesitant on moving because she’s not comfortable with change. Well, not may are and that’s ok. So we went at a comfortable pace and started gathering information since her Dr. recommended she live in an independent facility and not alone in a condo anymore for her well being all around.
What worked for my Aunt was testing out the facility on a respite stay. We didn’t even know that was an option. My husband and I had to go out of the country for business and we were extremely concerned about my Aunt who at the time was still living alone in a condo.
Sharon suggested a respite stay as a vacation for my Aunt (they have a room available for this to rent out) where she could experience living there within the community and enjoy all the perks which include 3 meals a day in their nice dining room, tons of different activities every single day, housekeeping, laundry and most important for her and us was that she was in a safe place where if anything happened she’d be ok and we would be immediately notified. Whew, what a weight off our shoulders.
THAT was the beginning, the way we eased her into living there. During her respite «vacation» stay she got to know all the staff which was key because becoming familiar and starting to feel safe made a huge impact. Also not having to do chores like cooking or housekeeping or laundry really made her happy! So after we returned from our trip and we discussed moving to a facility like this, there wasn’t even a hesitation for my Aunt to state she wanted to stay and live there because there were no unknowns.
AND it has only gotten better. She gravitated to the Staff first but slowly has become social and friendly with everyone and now knows every resident and even likes to help new residents learn to play games in the activity room, (her favorite place!) In fact, when I call her, I try not to during «Bingo» or «game time» because she’s busy having FUN!
I could go on and on and on and on… really I could! There are so many awesome features including its a smaller community only 60 rooms so it feels more like a family but what I really want to express is that this is the first time in MY life, (I’m almost 50 years old) that I have ever seen my Aunt this happy. She feels safe and is having FUN! That’s what I want for her for the rest of her life and its what I hope to have later on for my husband and myself when we may need to find a home that suits our needs better as seniors.
From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU to Tonya Reynolds, Gail Blessum, Michael Alonzo, Sharon Crowe, Juli Sanchez, Jerry Saenz, Jorge Casillas, Betsy, Turan and the entire staff. Thank you for helping us, help my Aunt find the perfect home to enjoy her golden years with respect and dignity and I’ll say it again FUN!