Avamere

I am responding regarding my sisters care. She was in assisted living for 8 months. She declined and required more assistance. After 6 months she became unable to self medicate. Her daughter provided additional care daily but after 7 months it seemed she needed hospice care. We applied for hospice through the nursing director at Ovation and were told she did not qualify. We transferred her to another facility close by and she was immediately eligible for hospice. She died after 30 days in the new facility. Hospice was wonderful . I cant understand why she was not approved for hospice at Ovation. I am very disappointed at the way the nursing director handled her care in that regard. It was hard enough to lose my sister and be forced to move her for the last 30 days of her life. It is my impression that independent living is wonderful at Ovation. However I remain concerned about assisted living care there.

They are easy to work with and several go the extra mile for you. They could improve by frequently distributing an updated contact name and number list for who to contact for what.

They are really working on cleaning up the independent cottages (my dad lives in one of them). They are definitely in need of clean up and repair. Nice size for independent living. Food service is delivered daily to cottages. This took some time to get delivery time ironed out but new director was very responsive. My dad seldom if ever goes into main building. This is for assisted and memory care. However, he is welcome there any time. That building just did a big make over and it's very nice.

The facility is very new and quite nice. What I like most is the transportation. There is no additional charge for transportation wherever needed. But the staff response time could use some improvement.

Activities Director truly cares about the residents! She goes above and beyond to get people involved. I wish they had better security. My Dad was opening back doors to let visitors in so they could avoid signing in.

For the most part, the staff are great. When we moved my loved one in, the cleanliness wasn't great. I had to do some cleaning myself. The wait times for maintenance/repair requests could be quicker. Overall, I would recommend the facility to others, though it is pretty expensive.

Get all numbers/payments written documented in a pre-contract or some other form you can refer back to. I think our sales mgr was new to the position and while she's a lovely person, I don't think she had her process in place when we were touring and discussing prices. Avamere was our choice anyway, but we were surprised that it was more expensive than we expected due to unexpected expenses because I had forgotten to write them down.

My loved ones aren't happy there. But I didn't think they would be, they want to be in their house. But they don't have to (have us) shop or fix food. It's not real friendly, but that's more the treats l residents. It's cost to medical appts, yet they're so far not willing to use the van. They haven't involved thanks in any social activities. It's independent living, so NO CARE. Staff friendly yet at times food service is a bit overwhelmed. My loved one complains of the food, yet they complained at their homes even if we brought it. Facility seems nice and basically clean, no attempts of staff to involve my folks in activities. I am trying to get them into assisted, but it's SOOO MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE, YOU HAVE TO BE RICH! Again getting them involved or checking on them would be helpful. They don't reach out as they see the move as depressing. It's almost as though I should have kept them in their home, as besides for food, I'm doing everything including their entertainment/ socialization. They need to try to get residents involved in activities, show them the van so they aren't afraid of using it. Shoes them around more, not all exciting them to come out of their shell. Elderly need TLC, encouragement, suggestions with seeing up dates to see if involve in activities and hand holding or they retreat into themselves.

As you know, they're all pretty much, the same Ash specific prices there is some variance in the appearance, and the perhaps the food, I thought the Avamere was at the bottom of that particular range. It was cold and sterile.

The main reason we chose Avamere at Bethany was because of the fact that they offered all levels of care, independent living, assisted living and memory care as well. Based off of our experience so far, we think that they try the best that they can to do well with what they have.

Our family had an in person tour with Gilman Park Assisted Living and they seem to go through facility directors every six months or so. We didn't feel that the tour guide was as knowledgeable as he could have been.

Our family had an in person tour with Aspen Ridge Retirement Residence and overall from everything we saw on the tour we thought the experience was good, but at the end of the day would not be the best fit for our loved one.

My loved one ended up getting out in the middle of the night. The door was unlocked, and the alarm did not sound. She was found 5-6 hours later, but she never recovered from the traumatic experience. The facility was nice and clean. The staff was nice. The food was okay, not great. Up until the time she got out she was doing okay. After her getting out and subsequently declining, it was just a bad experience, and I would not recommend it.

The tour person was awesome and wonderful. It was a grat place. The residents were nice. The distance was too far, and it needed a little updating.

The lady who led our tour at Avamere was just in a hurry. Which I understand happens. But we didn’t like that there was a stove in the room. That was just not a good situation for our loved one.

Compared to the place we ended up choosing, I didn't feel as upbeat about Avamere at Rio Rancho. I can't describe it, it was just a feeling when you walked in. I didn’t feel like they were prepared, and they even admitted that to me. They basically just showed me the rooms, which didn't have any patios.

The weakest thing is the food and they are trying to work on it. Management is trying to improve things and I think they will get better.

I would recommend always being cautious on what is going on there and to make a lot of notes about the community. Avamere could be better at communication with residents and families. There is a lot of turnover of medical techs in this community. The food isn't great.

[Name removed] was welcoming, professional, knowledgeable and thorough in learning about my mother, touring the facility and answering my questions. Recent issues around staffing and employee satisfaction makes me unlikely to pursue this option at this time.

Avamere South Hill does not have good facilities for people with Alzheimer's. As more assistance is needed the costs keep going up. My father with Alzheimer's is here and I will move him again soon. They cannot handle people who need extra care. They don't have the staffing.