Orchard Estate of Woodbury

Overall experience: I have to say that of the 12 to 15 assisted-living places that my family and I looked at along with my mom, the Orchard Estates was by far the nicest one. It was the cleanest, the one with the nicest outside areas and the furniture and the Physical plant were only four years old, so it was not worn down like many of the other ones that we had seen. That remains to be a +4 Orchard Estates, but the reason I didn't give it a number five is because they seem to be unable to fix an air conditioning problem that they've had for the entire year that My Mom has been there, and the air conditioner leaks right over the front lobby as you walk in. I feel like it's very dangerous to the residence that someone could slip and fall, and I feel that they should have gotten it fixed by now. In all fairness, I haven't been there in very hot weather yet so I'll have to see if they've been able to get it fixed this summer. Also, the administration is somewhat lacking. The executive director seems to pretend to care, but does not ever address any concerns that we have had, such as a group of women sitting near the back door complaining that people shouldn't use it to go out into the garden. That's ridiculous! Anybody should be able to use that door. I have had to force my mom to use the door because she's been bullied into not using it so it's things like that and also things like they're having been a very bad Covid outbreak over the winter and they did not handle it very well, so that's why my score is not a five. Cleanliness of the facility: I gave it only a four because sometimes the public bathrooms on the first floor are not sparkling clean. However, I have to say that of all of the assisted-living that we visited, Orchard states was definitely the cleanest and remains to be the cleanest to date. They do a very good job cleaning my mom's room, there's never a speck of dust anywhere, and they're very responsive to, cleaning up emergency spills and things like that. Housekeeping staff is very diligent in terms of changing linens and washing laundry. It's just short of being "excellent" because of those bathrooms that could use a little more work. Friendliness. Again, I gave it a 4, not a 5, because of the lack of friendliness of the executive Director and some of the administration. However, the aides, especially the head aide and the aides and the kitchen staff that take care of My Mom on a regular basis, are exceptionally great. They are very friendly and attentive. Some of the staff of the activities, especially the Director, could be more friendly. They are also sometimes very unattentive. Quality of Care: I answered this question with the understanding that "care" meant medical care and general overall care at the place. I gave it a three because I'll give you an example of what's happening today. My mom seems to have a bad cough, and by now, the third day of this bad cough, the nurse should have referred her for a doctors appointment at very least and perhaps a chest x-ray at Best. I feel that they wait until the resident gets sick enough to go to the emergency emergency room because they don't want to bother taking care of them there. I know this sounds terrible but this has happened to my mom several times since she's been there as she has gotten sick at least three times. So I feel that the quality of care could be better. Food: I gave the food a four but perhaps it should really be a three because they do not cater to individual requests. They do not have any sugared sodas because so many people there have diabetes, but my mother does not and family members that visit do not, and we cannot get any sugared sodas there for lunch or dinner. that being said, the quality of the food overall is good, meaning that it is fresh and that it seems to be adequately prepared. They do have a good variety of foods available and my mom really likes the food there which is more than half the battle, which is why I gave it a 4. Activities: I gave it a three because they do not have a "theater room" like almost all of the other assisted-living's that we looked at did have. I think that's a huge miss on their part. There seems to be very little space dedicated to "activities" and the activities are repetitive and My Mom doesn't find them very interesting. Her 93-year-old hands can't do crafts beading so she stays in her room instead. She doesn't enjoy the book club and some of the movies and does like the Orchard Estate van that takes her to Catholic Church every Sunday morning. They should have a piano so that they could bring in piano players to play classical music or something like that and they don't have that either. They do have a lot of lunches out which my mom does not want to do because she's already paying for the food there and you have to pay for the lunch out. She does like going on the shopping trips occasionally. She likes the fact that there is an on-site Salon every Wednesday and can get her hair done every week. Value for the money: well this one is a really hard one because most of the other assisted-livings that we looked at were $3-4000 more a month. So I really can't complain too much about the money but they do raise the price every six months, which was something that they did not discuss with us before Mom signed the contract. I felt like that was a bit of a bait and switch. Also, they reevaluate My Mom every six months and add more services on so that ups the cost. She started there a little bit under $7000 & now one year later, she's paying over $8000 per month. So when you talk about the value for the money, it's kind of hard because, yes it is less expensive than the Atria or Bristol or Sunrise or the other ones like that, but it also is the farther distance out on the LE and it is a smaller physical plant than those other places are. I'd have to say the final arbiter of whether it's a good value for the money is whether my mother likes or not, and she generally does like it, although she is not happy to be living in any assisted living place, I have to say that she is "content" there.

The staff at Orchard Estate of Woodbury are generally friendly and try to find ways to be helpful. The move in process seemed pretty well coordinated (at least from Orchard's side). My mom would probably like more movies to be shown (beats me why they don't, as it would seem pretty easy to pop in a disk in that room). The dining is spacious and more flexible and fluid than I've seen elsewhere, which tends to avoid people sitting around waiting to eat. I do recommend Orchard to others. My mom isn't so happy with the Assisted Living concept, but admits that the place is quite nice.

For the overall experience I would have given it a five, except for some minor things, like the air conditioning condensation drips from the ceiling, and creates a slipping hazard for the residents, which I have brought to the attention of the Director and he seemed nonplussed about. He really was very unconcerned. And the other reason I didn't give it a five was that there were several promises made that did not come to fruition, for example, my loved one was told that they would not need to have an assigned seat at meals. The very first day they assigned them a seat at meals. I gave cleanliness a four because I went into one of the public bathrooms on the main floor one day and there was excrement all around. Someone must've had an accident in there and I reported it immediately and it was cleaned. Otherwise the place is spotless. I gave the quality of care a 3 because they took my loved one off of a drug that they should never have done. They are OK now. And the nursing staff is not as attentive as they could be at times but the aids staff seems to be very good and compassionate. Except sometimes on the weekends when there are substitutes there and they're just not giving the same service as the weekday people. As for the Meals/Dining, I gave it to two because the service is extraordinarily slow. The food is not that great. I understand it needs to be prepared with no salt or low salt but it's not that it's tasteless. It's not always appetizing. And the service is not great. I gave activities at three because I think that they could mix up the activities a little bit more. They have pretty much the same activity schedule on a two week rotating basis and I think it's it needs a little freshening up. My loved one is very happy with it though. As for the value for the cost, I gave it a three, because I feel like even though the room rate seems to be comparable to what other places are, they have put my loved one on a higher level of care, and a higher level of medication dispensing, which really drives the cost. They also refused to waive the [fee removed] community or entrance fee even though most other places that we visited did waive it. I feel that it could be less expensive for the entire package that it offers. Having said all of this, my loved one, has decided to stay there permanently because they have heard from everyone there that it's the "best place" and they are happy there. I feel that it is the best place to we have seen because it's a four year old campus, and it really doesn't look worn or smell bad yet. so the décor is pretty. The paint is new. Everything looks good and my loved one is happy there. That's the most important thing.

They are excellent. It is well worth the money. The communication with me is unbelievable, they are taking good care of my loved one. They are very loving and caring. We picked this community becasue the staff is lovely, the faciliy is emaculate. They are pleasure to deal with.

I would recommend the community to others for their loved ones. The community is bright and inviting. They have a nice atmosphere and it is upbeat. The staff are approachable, and everyone has been very friendly as well. The activities are well thought out, they even have transportation to doctor appointments. The head chef is great and very accommodating. If the resident needs to stay in their room the community will deliver meals to the resident's rooms. This community stood out by far compared to the other communities I looked at.

It took my father 2 months to adjust. He was also grieving the loss of my mother after being married for 71 years. The staff at Orchard Estate are very caring and helped him in the grieving process. I can now say after 3 months he has adjusted well.

The prices were raised recently for each month. My loved one is happy here and cared for. The staff are in communication with the family if there any concerns. Coloring, painting, music, games and more are some of the activities for the residents to choose from. The staff are good at keeping the resident as engaged as possible.

Thank you to a "A Place for Mom" for recommending Orchard Estate. It is comfortable, caring, and attentive to the resident's needs.

Did not prefer this facility more than Atria Plainview

We chose Orchard Estates because my mom and our family's our primary concern was she be treated with dignity and respect and not just as a number and I cannot say enough good things about the people at Orchard Estates. Especially the administrative staff, they helped us throughout the way. She had a fall and contracted covid while she was in rehab recovering from the fall, and the staff always stayed in constant contact with us on how to make my moms returns seamless. The apartments are beautiful size compared to a lot that we looked at, she is in a 2 bedroom and is sizing down to a 1 bedroom. The colors and interior are lovely. It is a more high end expensive facility and you get what you pay for. The quality of care is exceptional. I would highly recommend to others who are looking.

The restaurant was clean, along with the bathrooms, and the rooms that I visited. I would let people to look at this community. I think the staff is excellent. The community is beautiful and brand new.