Senior Home Choice 6
Susan
"Unbearable Memory: Mother's Nightmare in an Assisted Living Home"
Choosing to put our dearly-loved mom in a residence in Gahanna, Ohio managed by Senior Home Choice was unfortunately a big mistake. She lived there for almost a year until she passed away. I wish I could share everything that happened during that time, but some things can't be explained in just a few words. To begin with, she shouldn't have been admitted to that place. I discovered before she died that her medications were being wrongly crushed by the staff. That practice was against rules because only medical professionals should handle those tasks. There was even one time when she was given more pills than she should have, which was dangerous since they were for blood pressure control, and I still don't know if there were other times. She spent some time in the hospital because of recurrent bladder infections. On one occasion, a staff member left her alone, and she fell on some keys left behind, severely cutting her finger. Shortly after, another fall occurred, this time resulting in a deep cut on her eyebrow that needed stitches and gave her a prominent black eye. My mother, with her bruised leg and thumb split open, could have been safe in the kitchen while the staff was cooking, but instead was put in danger. I received a late-night call about her bleeding and rushed to the hospital. There, a doctor informed me she had cuts and was bleeding internally. I questioned her care providers about this, but was told it didn't qualify as abuse, even though the hospital wasn't able to rule out that possibility. Protocol brought police into the matter when doctors suspected possible abuse. On top of this, one worker said food was often scarcely available leading to mom eating pureed peanut butter meals. Furthermore, clean pajamas were not given when needed. Visitation was often difficult due to the head of the house ignoring my attempts to knock on the door, due to trivial reasons. I once had to involve the Police to gain access after which I was threatened with restricted visiting hours; a threat that was later deemed unenforceable by licensing authorities. One cold winter night, I knocked repeatedly with no response. I waited for an hour in my car because of a long drive back. Once indoors, my mother was sitting in the dark and hadn't eaten. This prompted the worker to change a long-out light bulb and finally serve her dinner. My gifts for mom, a purple blanket, and throw, got lost, and even her broken glasses went unattended. There were unfortunate times where the staff put her to sleep prematurely to avoid my visitations. One occasion, they made her listen to extremely loud music, while on another, her legs were seen dangling from her bed. My request for help in making her walk around was denied, and she fell back into her chair. Sadly, these examples are just the tip of the iceberg. I'm shocked that this place is still running. I wished to move my mother out, but as someone without power of attorney, I was helpless. Now, I am haunted daily by these terrible memories. The only solace lies in the earlier memories of mom before her Alzheimer's, preserved as photographs.
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Anonymous
"Good Care, Small Bathroom, Worth Checking Out"
I’ve never seen a caretaker do anything that worried me. They seem really good with the residents. No one has complained about the food. The only small issue is that the men’s bathroom is too small. I wouldn’t really recommend this care home, but I suggest checking it out to see if it works for you.
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