Brookeville House II At Sunshine

He experienced warmth and care at Brookeville House.[name removed], the nurse, went above and beyond. Very organized. Quickly got set up for care. Exceeded all expectations. Night and day difference from [facility name removed].

It was 8 months ago today that my father died after spending the last 6.5 months of his life at Brookeville House (2). Although he was not in great health and at 89 couldn’t be expected to last too many more years, I still hold Brookeville House directly responsible for the timing and cause of his death last August. I’ve waited 8 months to write this so that I could write with a clearer head and calmer voice, but I’m still angry at what happened. In short, he fell needlessly, and the staff’s subsequent handling of the fall was, at best, irresponsible and at worst, negligent. He was a known fall risk and used a walker. He was moving from the main living room area of the house to his room when he fell and broke his hip. Four days later he was dead. We don’t know the specific circumstances of the fall—which is part of the problem—because the staff person on duty was not in the area at the time. He was reportedly doing the laundry, a task understandably assigned to the night shift worker, but hardly necessary to undertake 45 minutes into the shift when residents were still up and about. Why he couldn’t have waited to do the laundry until after everyone was down for the night remains a mystery, one we were never able to discuss with the management team because our numerous attempts to meet with them after Dad’s death were either ignored or rebuffed. Not surprisingly, perhaps, given that, but still appallingly insensitive, is the fact that there was never one word of acknowledgement of Dad’s death from Brookeville House, a place where he lived for his last half year. Not so much as a “sorry for your loss,” which even strangers said to us after he died. When we were considering moving him into Brookeville House 2, a friend whose mother had also been a resident there warned us that “you have to keep an eye on things,” advice that proved true and rang in our ears over the months he was there as we were constantly bringing issues to the attention of the staff and managers. I had the luxury during those months of plenty of time to spend visiting Dad and was at the House a great deal so was able to see many day-to-day activities that most families wouldn’t observe with a more limited visiting schedule. Unappetizing food, mixed up laundry, ill-fitting bedsheets, lackadaisical cleaning (I can’t begin to count how many times I cleaned a residual mess in the bathroom or had to wipe down sticky surfaces in his room)—these are all things that might be encountered in any such facility. More troubling, however, was the disconcerting sense that the staff lacked accountable oversight. There is a manager and an assistant manager responsible for all 3 of the Brookeville House facilities. In addition to ostensible supervision of the house staff, they have considerable administrative and procurement duties as well. We tried to meet with them one day about an issue but had to plead for 5 minutes because they were “doing payroll”—by hand. COSTCO and other shopping runs were the managers’ responsibility. We never knew when they’d be at House 2—there did not appear to be a specific visit schedule—although they would make an effort to come to the house to meet with us if we asked. What this seemingly ad hoc arrangement meant in terms of staff supervision and oversight was never clear. That being said, I want to be clear about the individual staff members: they were kind and caring. We never saw anything that hinted of any kind of impatience with or abuse of the residents (an unfortunate problem at some facilities). Two or three of the staff were quite wonderful. Nonetheless, we observed a number of concerning behaviors. We found one woman asleep in Dad’s room. We observed several occasions in which both of the day-staff were outside together (e.g., walking the trash down the long driveway to the road), leaving the residents alone, unattended, in the house. We found staff with earbuds in both ears, clearly making it difficult to hear a resident’s call (I had to tap one on the shoulder to get their attention). In addition, we routinely had to retrieve the oxygen tubing from the floor in Dad’s room and improvised a place to hang it, on a hook in the wall where a picture had hung, when he wasn’t using it. We routinely dumped the urinal found hanging on the side of the waste basket or sitting on the floor. We routinely cleaned the sticky floor by his bed using the disposable moist towelettes we had to provide. We had to request several times that the issue of roaches in the bathroom and bedroom be addressed. We repeatedly had to ask that the simple task of replacing the broken knob on the closet door be attended to. We had to remind the staff what meds Dad had been ordered. Of considerable concern was the lack of a call button in the rooms to alert staff to a patient’s need for help. We were told that the house intercom system took care of that, but it only worked if the receiver was turned on in the kitchen and a staff member happened to be in range to hear it if a resident called out. In all the times we were there (virtually daily), we only saw the system used twice, and both times when we brought it up. My goal here is not to catalog each little gripe and frustration we experienced during Dad’s months at Brookeville House. Rather, my point is that there were enough of them, that we were aware of, on an ongoing basis because we were there, in the house with Dad a considerable amount of time. We therefore saw more than most families with limited visitation schedules would witness. We came to realize how true our friend’s advice was—the need to “keep an eye on things”—but even then, with daily diligence and what felt like nagging sometimes, it wasn’t enough. We selected Brookeville House because of its location just a few minutes from a family member’s house and got in by luck: another resident had passed away just a day or so before we contacted them about moving Dad, so a room was available. Our need was immediate and the location was perfect. Although we had toured the Brookeville Houses two years prior, when we first explored the possibility of moving him, we didn’t have the time to do much more exploring or homework when the urgent need for the move presented last January. We lucked out with availability and location, and hence convenience for the family. We persuaded ourselves that the facility and its features were good: small, homey house with only 8 residents; the promise of attentive management and credentialed staff; nice grounds. Each family’s needs and circumstances will be different when they look to place someone in assisted living. Selection factors can include price, location, the quality of the facilities, the nature of services provided, staff qualifications, resident activities. For us, Brookeville House 2 offered location and, though certainly not “cheap,” a reasonable price given the market. For someone like our father, however, an educated man with some, if not all, of his faculties still intact but still in need of assistance, it was a bleak place. The combination of the issues described above, including the distracted management, made it, in the end, not a good choice for us. In terms of actual facilities, Brookeville Houses 1 and 3 may be better: bigger, brighter, more open living spaces, with pleasant outdoor areas for warm days. House 2, the facility and systems, seemed tired. Given our experience, would we recommend Brookeville House? Probably not, or only with profound reservations and cautions. To the extent we’ve been asked about it, we have equivocated: you need to be careful, pay attention. Carefully consider the level of care your family member needs. This is an unfortunate thing to say, but to the extent a resident only needs to be placed in a chair for the day, to sleep or watch TV, Brookeville House may be fine. But if they have any degree of mental acuity, this is not the place to be. (One spry 91-year-old left Brookeville House

I couldn’t be happier about Mom’s new situation! It was tough to move her; but after being at Brookeville House Assisted Living for a month, she became quite content. They go to the library every few weeks and to other nearby events occasionally. There are monthly “Family Nights” where all the relatives of the residents come over for dinner and entertainment. We are welcome to visit any time. The food is great! Evelyn [last name removed], the co-owner, gives me frequent updates by email. She quickly found local doctors who specialize in elder care for Mom and we transferred all of her records to them. Someone from the staff is on-site 24/7. A registered nurse visits regularly and is “on call.” I never knew about assisted living group homes until I visited Brookeville House. For comparison, I looked at others and found them to be cramped and kind of depressing. Brookeville House is beautiful inside and out and is staffed with compassionate employees. I think Mom would have just vegetated in a larger assisted living center. Instead of just staying in her room, she comes down for meals and activities every day. I am confident she is in good hands. I was lucky to find this House for my mother. I hope I am as lucky when my husband and I need assisted living!

The caregivers and staff are the best I have ever encountered. My mom loves this place I couldn't be happier!! We were at the Solona before and it wasn't personal and really inappropriate.

I really like this place. All the staff were so friendly!