Brookdale Courtyard Puyallup

Reviews 3

CH

Chris Mohrbacher

We had high hopes for this place but it went south pretty quick. The residents we met are genuinely friendly and that was our basis for signing up. Mistake. They wanted to wake my mom up every night shift to make sure she wasnt dead. Sorry, my mom is sick of living (she has a DNR order). Last thing shell ever put up with is some stranger disturbing her sleep. Then they only promise one shower a week. Really??? Old people have enough trouble with hygiene. At our insistence, they promised 4 showers a week. The head nurse disputes this but they neglected to tell us we needed a signed order from a doctor before move-in. When we and the movers showed up, we were told Mom could not stay overnight. 4 days / 1 doctor appt later, we show up, whereupon my mom had a fall because of all the unpacked belongings, something I feel partly responsible for. The room on the top (3rd) floor was decent. Jeff the maintenance guy was very helpful and put in a new heater/AC unit under the living room window. I put in a microwave cart to free up space on the tiny kitchenette counter. Nothing wrong with the basics: fridge, sinks, large wheel-in shower, high toilet with safety rails, except no exhaust fan in the bathroom. Now the food. They cant comprehend someone who is too fatigued to even be wheeled down to the dining hall. Too few servers + 1 small elevator for 3 floors = 2-hour slow shuffle per meal. We paid $5 per meal to have them delivered. Breakfast usually OK but all other food is based on some corporate menu that emphasizes "variety" at the expense of "good ordinary food". I had to haul most meals away (I could stand to eat about half of them). I stocked Moms fridge with her favorite snacks. Every other day I was making a trip to KFC or Wendys to bring her something she could eat. Questions I asked many times: "Why isnt my mom getting her shower today?" "Why isnt her cats litter box being cleaned?" "When is her laundry going to be done?" "When I call your main number at night, why do I get a full voicemail message?" Answers I would get: "Shes not on the schedule" (check again!) "We dont have somebody to do it." (not our problem, plus we still have to pay full price) (variant) "There is only one person on duty tonight." (in a 130-bed facility) "Our housekeeper quit" (happened twice in 4 months, maybe you should pay them more) "We dont have to do that!" (after speaking to The Director, oh yes you do) "Your mother is being difficult" (no, youre pretending shes not helpless and nearly deaf) "Shes CHOOSING not to join us for meals" (no, it drains her and is not worth it believe me) "That voicemail system is for someone who quit and we havent figured out how to transfer it." So... if your loved one: Can still get about under their own steam. Doesnt mind a varied, inventive menu. Likes and is capable of meeting other residents in the common areas. Can take their own showers. Is amused or at least not bothered by half the staff not enjoying their job. Then this place is for you. When I gave 30 days notice to move Mom out, management never asked why. Ive been told the place was "the wrong model" for the level of care my mom needs. I dont deny its the wrong place but I dispute the "model" argument, unless the model is, "We cant deliver everything we imply in our brochures." We only paid for Level 1 care (extra $800 per month), why would we risk paying for Level 2 or 3 if they didnt meet the Level 1 agreements? Again, if your loved one can get around and is sociable, it may be an OK place and worth it. For a chronically-fatigued shut-in, it is not.

A

A Private User

My family and I helped my grandpa move in here recently. We had furniture to assemble and other stuff to move in. We were there late at night for two nights to get everything ready and the staff were very accommodating with us being there for almost two days straight. All of the staff are very helpful and friendly even the maintenance guy Jeff is great to talk with. My grandpa needs a toilet seat riser. Someone in my family bought a riser but it didnt fit well with the existing toilet seat. While I was in my grandpas new apartment doing some other stuff Jeff happened by to do something and I showed him the problem with the riser. He was happy to take the riser to his workshop and was able to find a toilet seat that works with it. He even took the time to come back up to the 3rd floor almost to the end of the hall to install the new toilet seat with riser. At the same time Comcast was starting to use a different kind of box for the tv service in the apartments. The old "traditional" cable tv box system being phased out is a resident had to put a box in their name to use the Comcast service included with the rent. Jeff said that was a big problem because each time a resident moved out he had to be on the phone with Comcast for 40+ minutes to have the residents name removed from the tv box. The new little white tv boxes attach directly to the cable hookup on the wall and dont have to be in the residents name. Anyway, while helping my grandpa move in Jeff was also learning this new Comcast setup and of course being something new it couldnt go smoothly. Jeff and I did what we could to try and troubleshoot the problem for the bedroom tv but we couldnt figure it out. After about a week Comcast was able to come by and found the problem was a splitter for the tv connection in the living room. The residents can have pets too. I have seen a few dogs and a guy with a cat. One of the staff even brings their friendly white duck occasionally. It wears a little diaper and wanders around the lobby and tv area and greets people. While helping my grandpa move in on the 3rd floor we got to know the two popular dogs up there, Jackie and Sam who are also best friends and usually seen together. Jackie is blind, or almost blind, and likes to bark at people because she cant see whats going on. Sam is a quiet little guy and very friendly. He loves to follow people up and down the hall that happen to be walking by. Some of the residents are quiet and keep to themself but there also many who are a pleasure to chat with in passing or while in the elevator. Have also chatted with a few visiting family that happened to be walking the same direction as me down a hall or going out to the parking lot. To sum it up this is a great little community and worth stopping by if someone is in need of assisted living.

KR

Kristin Rogers

Reception is extremely rude and unhelpful. Would not want to deal with them on a frequent basis.