Ecumen

I wish this facility could have an upgrade. My loved one has been here for a few years and experienced several plumbing, air conditioning and window issues. The staff is friendly, but I feel underpaid. Most appear to be there for the check, which means the residents suffer. This facility could have so much more, unfortunately, my loved one is at the point of not being healthy enough to move.

Friendly staff...but the residents seem uninvolved.

Very nice looking community. I believe my mom would have loved the 'homey' feel. However, their pricing was ala carte for care services, and was way over the top. Too bad, I really think she would have been comfortable in their atmosphere.

I was impressed when I saw the facility with my friend when she was considering the facility for herself. The manager Jane is friendly and warm and clear. She took more than enough time to help my friend understand what her life would be like once she had moved in. The nurse Linda was warm and friendly and went out of her way to accommodate my friend getting her assessment in by my friend's timetable. She drove through a blizzard to help with that. However, I am concerned that, now that my friend has moved in, on paper she appears to be getting ample and frequent services but I am not entirely convinced that the aides are following the plan, and there have been instances where they were impatient with her speech limitations. This is by report from my friend. I have not seen this myself. I have seen that at least some of the aides are not particularly prompt at answering the cord that can be rung when assistance is needed. I feel the activities available are fairly limited. There is no organized volunteer support, which would be quite helpful to my friend. I am hoping some of the kinks will be worked out over time. It is a big adjustment for my friend and she needs to work on her attitude, so her comments are not entirely all staff-related, I believe. I only went as high as 3 stars for overall rating because my friend just moved there. Over time I feel the rating could become a 4 or even a 5 as everyone adjusts.

I thought it was nice, but it felt too much like a nursing home to us. The residents were a little less physically able. We came at a time when everyone was in their rooms, so we didn't really see any activities.

Their rooms were really, really small and they only had a one bedroom with a tiny bathroom. It was nice, the people there were really nice, but it wasn't something that would have worked for my mom and dad.

Only have single rooms, no kitchenette in room. Bedrooms on both sides of hallway down from dining room, 60 steps. Have larger and smaller room available. Single level building. Near clinic where gets INR draws. Has lift. Low turn-over on staff. Only 30 residents. Waiver, stay in same room, cost $877/month out her ss. And gets $98 spending money. Pendant cost $35/month. $200 for nurse screening. Get to medical appointments on own. Has Bluestone medical option. Guest meals $5. Has add-ons mom would need. No garden area, motel look. Not best activity calendar.

ASSISTED.

It was dark and dank. It was older and when I walked in that was the impression that I got. It just seemed like it needed a face lift. It wasn't bright and cheery. The walls needed to be painted. I'm sure it was clean - I didn't see any dirt on the floor or critters running around or anything like that - it was just rundown.

I toured this community and wasn't impressed. It's very old, small, needs updated, and not a very active community from what I saw.

This may be a good place for someone who is independent and doesn't want very much socialization. We started out in assisted living and then they highly recommended us to move mom to memory care because of all the activities and she would be so much happier. What a crock, does every facility give you the same song and dance? There activities consisted of saying the rosary every day, church 2x's a week, exercise that was mostly just putting a tape into the vcd and letting the residents fend for themselves. Their breakfast was cold cereal and canned fruit. Movie night again was just putting a tape into the player and walking away. NO crafts at all!!! What? Isn't the creative part of ones brain the last to go? During games after dinner no encouragement from the staff to get residents to converse or interact. Even had a staff member pick up a dropped pill and try to have mom take it while I was standing there! What happens when we are not there? Moved mom out in less than 1 year. Don't leave your loved ones someplace and not visit often enough to see what is going on.

Different kind of layout in pods. Did not like that there was no appliances in the rooms and they were very small rooms. This is more like a nursing home that requires all meals to be prepared by staff. People were very friendly and the layout was nice, but not what I would consider assisted living.

I moved my loved one out of the facility after less than 6 months because of overall poor care and supervision. He aquired an infectin from poor hygiene practices and had injuries which couldn't be accounted for. There was poor documentation regarding drug administration (pills missing and not recorded) and services not provided that were part of his monthly cost. Administration was always open to my concerns and said the right things - but I was frustrated and disappointed with the care given. Ecumen has several buildings and this review is only for Summit House.

My father is in assisted living here. He was supposed to get help with laundry and cleaning, and the service is so poor that most of the time he doesn't get this help at all. There was a COVID outbreak because they crammed everyone together in the dining room at one big table, and the staff don't wear masks even around old, sick people. It is impossible to get someone's attention for any kind of problem. They collect a lot of money for little actual care.

Was great to find a facility that provides Ind living, Assisted Living and Memory Care all in one place. Makes transition easier on the residents. My mom enjoyed 3 years of Independent living 3 years in assisted living and 3 years in memory care floor 2.. My experience was very disappointing. High turnover Personal Hygiene of face and hands, bathing and teeth brushed were not performed on a consistent basis . A basic need. Laundry Care, not performed as scheduled. Clothes, bedding and towels disappeared. I believe no softener used for towels. (Stiff) Outdated technology, notify system (motion detector) not working or ignored even for high fall risk. Residents. Wait time for help up to 1 or 2 hours. Memory care residents are unable to use pendant (memory issues) No easy outdoor access Elevator/residents difficult to manage An activity on 1st floor. Care conferences were only initiated by family Care Plans not updated timely and communication to RA’s 0.

Poor care, never really fix a problem. Many medication errors. Difficult to get into building after hours. Had emergency once and it was terrible waiting as knowone answered phone that is supposed to be used to gain entry into building. Another time waited with resident who was concerned about how she would back get in. Unfriendly staff, some plain rude. Weekends are scary, it's a ghost town. Staff express their frustration to family that they don't have enough help. Stressful leaving your loved one knowing that they may not get services they require. Food below average. If you have any special needs or requests, forget it. Get a camera, seeing is believing. Leadership appears too busy to assist with issue after issue. They complain about too many complaints. A small handful of staff are very good and show examples day after day of how this facility should be run. No value added service. Plain below average care that lacks quality and consistency.

Inconsistent, lack quality of care, many occasions of short staff. They never really fix a problem. Some staff are rude and have no common sense with respect to helping residents. Took staff a year to perform per service agreement. No personalize care or attention to detail. Leadership is pretty much worthless. Not sure why they have an Executive Director as he doesn't want to be bothered. Pass the buck attitude. Food stinks, not tasteful, not appealing visually. Overall not a great place to choose if you are looking for quality and warm, caring staff. There are a handful that are excellent. Get a camera, it will be a blessing. Several medication issues.

Ecumen in 2011 was awesome. Caring, attentive staff who really took the time to get to know the family members with meetings and monthly family advisory council sessions. The housing manager now is horrible. No accountability of the staff. The dining room servers used to be professional, friendly and caring. They are now dressed sloppy (dining room manager wears jeans most of the time!), and don't even greet the residents by name anymore. The common areas of the building are filthy and not being maintained (a scrap piece of carpet has been rolled up in a stairwell for 4 years with dirt piling up all around it - and we've told the staff about it many times!). Now we are being charged for every little thing. The prices go up significantly each year, and they also find additional ways to charge for extras.

My poor Dad was miserable at Ecumen North Branch Memory Care. His care was BELOW quality. Missed showers, mixed up clothes, Unattended falls... a few the aides did not know about. He had a severe infection on his foot that NO ONE noticed until I peeled off his wet sock.... sheets never changed or washed (I had to bring them home), money missing from his wallet... By our experience, staff was virtually non-existent; and NEVER there when you needed them. Twice I arrived for a visit and found my Dad on the common area floor. No one was around and I could not find anyone for help. One time I was able to pick him up; the other, I pressed the emergency button and again, nothing.... 5 minutes, went by and I went around looking for help again to find several of the aides congregating in an office... it took several moments of me knocking before an aide opened the door.. never noticed the emergency button went off. I (as well as other resident families) were constantly trying to find an aide for help or for questions. The aides are on their own and seemingly, their own boss. There were never two stories the same when an incident arose. (I have recordings). THIS PLACE IS A MESS as far as organization and management goes. We moved him as soon as we could and things are so different for him now... Back to his happy state of mind. This place does not deserve their $6000+ we paid monthly... I could go on and on and I do have audio and some video recordings that back up all and more than what I stated here. FROM OUR EXPERIENCE; NEVER PLACE YOUR LOVED ONE AT ECUMEN NORTH BRANCH.