Benchmark Senior Living

In one month's time, between [date removed], over 30 beloved family members perished while in the care of Arbors of Bedford. Approximately 1/2 of the vulnerable lives entrusted to their care. A year into a global pandemic. How could one community be so ill-prepared to protect those who needed them the most? "A BENCHMARK MIND & MEMORY EXPERIENCE" - I think not. Shameful.

In one month's time, between the 2nd week in [date removed] and the 2nd week in [date removed], over 30 beloved family members perished while in the care of Arbors of Bedford.  Approximately 1/2 of the vulnerable lives entrusted to their care.  A year into a global pandemic.  How could one community be so ill-prepared to protect those who needed them the most?   "A BENCHMARK MIND & MEMORY EXPERIENCE"  - I think not.  Shameful.

Stay away from Benchmark all together! My suggestion is keep looking - Benchmark's "benchmark for care and quality is VERY low! Terrible experience at not 1 but 2 of their communities! The Arbors is owned and operated by Benchmark Corp - their entire focus is on making money NOT providing quality care. No better at Bedford Falls in fact it was actually worse. Poor care - lost count of how many medication errors they made. Safety - my father was able to get out of his bedroom window at The Arbors without any staff knowing....and it's a secure community! We moved him there from Bedford Falls because they also were unable to keep him engaged and safe! No communication between departments and or shifts regarding care, issues or updates. Documentation is almost non existent at these places and they like it that way so it's hard to hold them accountable. No proactive communication with family. We made them host care plan meetings to provide updates to us and even with those we were constantly chasing them for information even when we specifically gave to direction to call us any time of day or night if there was an issue. More than half of my father's belongings were "lost" regardless that everything had to be labeled by us when we moved him in and their response was "oh that happens....". Activities lacked diversity and personalization. Corporate Benchmark has been completely unresponsive to any and all issues we've brought to their attention. If it were not for covid we would have moved my Dad after the first few months even with them promising us repeatedly "it will get better, it will get better". Well, it never did get better and then they blamed him as being " a challenge"! And if all THAT isn't enough to make you run as fast as you can away from Benchmark, sadly my Dad died of covid in their care over a month ago. I have yet to receive any sort of condolences from them and we still have not received much of his personal belongings back! I'll say it again - My recommendation is keep looking - Benchmark's "benchmark" for care and quality is VERY low and your loved one deserves better!

Terrible experience! Keep looking! Benchmark is a corporation with the soul focus of making money - NOT on serving your loved one and their unique needs as it relates to dementia even though they tout themselves as the "Benchmark for care" for that population. It is money over substance on every level! Staffing - Under trained staff and unprofessional. This is supposed to be a place to respectfully care for people with dementia so training should include working with THAT population. Personal items - you are required to label all items you bring in but they lose so much of it any way! More than half of my fathers clothes were "lost", his glasses, his watch and 2 sets of rosery beads - items we were assured they would manage - LOST and their answer was "oh that happens in places like this"......Seriously??? And if you try to reach out to Benchmark Corporate - good luck! No one answers or returns an email or voice message but they sure do know how to send out invoices timely! How do I know this? My Dad was a resident in Benchmark for a little over a year. Pretty place but I'd much rather have quality care over fancy wall paper and nick naks! My father died of covid in their care over a month ago. I have yet to receive a call or a card with their condolences. I assure you, if it weren't for covid we would have moved him after the first few months he was there! Benchmark is about money NOT quality of care! Keep looking!

My LO entered the Atrium in May of 2018 with a diagnosis of FTD (Frontotemporal Degeneration), a form of Dementia that affects a younger population and affects their behavior, understanding, executive thinking and their speech. Upon acceptance into the community, I was assured that they had experienced staff that would be able to provide the care that my LO needed. What I didn’t know is that their approach was “one size fits all” and not a customized approach to my LO needs. Given that there is always a transition period, my LO refused to bath/shower and they assured me that this was very normal. After 1 ½ years of not bathing/showering or even sponge bathing, I took my concerns to the Benchmark corporate offices. They assured me that the staff in Danvers, MA would be better educated on how to handle the behavioral issues that come with FTD. Finally, he was showered after 1 ½ years and with the help of Benchmark corporate office using the “hand on hand” approach! There were many other concerns with the Atrium starting with their housekeeping, (or lack of). My LOs room would only be cleaned when I visited and insisted that they clean and sanitize the bathroom. It got so bad that I started taking photos of what I encountered while visiting, sending those photos to the Executive office and being told that they were understaffed and trying to hire someone. Another concern was their communication (or lack thereof) between staff and Resident’s loved ones. I called every day to check on him and each time spoke with the Nurse on duty and was told that my LO was doing the same, no changes. This included urinating in the common areas of the facility. Their Nurse told me that this is a very common trait of especially men with Dementia. I then purchased a one-piece outfit for him to discourage that behavior and was told that it didn’t help and they would try to adjust the environment instead so I was asked to provide “pet pee-pads” that they would place in the areas that he urinated. Never heard another complaint, until during a scheduled visit with him, I was asked to meet with their Executive Director of Resident Care where I was told that there were two options for my LO, I either hire a one-on-one person to stay with him (in addition to paying the private care of over $8,000 per month) or move him to a hospital or facility that can better manage the FTD behavior. Their staff may understand Alzheimer’s Disease or other Dementias, but certainly were not educated to understand FTD. Had they been honest with me during the application process, I would have researched another facility, but I was assured that they could handle FTD. Thankfully my LO has been moved to another facility that does have other FTD residents, a full staff of Nurses familiar with this disease and he is doing much better. A “one size fits all” approach is NOT ideal, The Atrium should be working with the individual to see what those needs are and customize the approach to their individual needs.

My LO entered the Atrium in May of 2018 with a diagnosis of FTD (Frontotemporal Degeneration), a form of Dementia that affects a younger population and affects their behavior, understanding, executive thinking and their speech. Upon acceptance into the community, I was assured that they had experienced staff that would be able to provide the care that my LO needed. What I didn’t know is that their approach was “one size fits all” and not a customized approach to my LO needs. Given that there is always a transition period, my LO refused to bath/shower and they assured me that this was very normal. After 1 ½ years of not bathing/showering or even sponge bathing, I took my concerns to the Benchmark corporate offices. They assured me that the staff in Danvers, MA would be better educated on how to handle the behavioral issues that come with FTD. Finally, he was showered after 1 ½ years and with the help of Benchmark corporate office using the “hand on hand” approach! There were many other concerns with the Atrium starting with their housekeeping, (or lack of). My LOs room would only be cleaned when I visited and insisted that they clean and sanitize the bathroom. It got so bad that I started taking photos of what I encountered while visiting, sending those photos to the Executive office and being told that they were understaffed and trying to hire someone. Another concern was their communication (or lack thereof) between staff and Resident’s loved ones. I called every day to check on him and each time spoke with the Nurse on duty and was told that my LO was doing the same, no changes. This included urinating in the common areas of the facility. Their Nurse told me that this is a very common trait of especially men with Dementia. I then purchased a one-piece outfit for him to discourage that behavior and was told that it didn’t help and they would try to adjust the environment instead so I was asked to provide “pet pee-pads” that they would place in the areas that he urinated. Never heard another complaint, until during a scheduled visit with him, I was asked to meet with their Executive Director of Resident Care where I was told that there were two options for my LO, I either hire a one-on-one person to stay with him (in addition to paying the private care of over [amount removed] per month) or move him to a hospital or facility that can better manage the FTD behavior. Their staff may understand Alzheimer’s Disease or other Dementias, but certainly were not educated to understand FTD. Had they been honest with me during the application process, I would have researched another facility, but I was assured that they could handle FTD. Thankfully my LO has been moved to another facility that does have other FTD residents, a full staff of Nurses familiar with this disease and he is doing much better. A “one size fits all” approach is NOT ideal, The Atrium should be working with the individual to see what those needs are and customize the approach to their individual needs.

In the month of October 2020 the Salem facility is a sham // 3-4 days of no phone contact // my wife is very upset with the fact of no contact with your facility so she can talk with her mother // we spend a ton of money to your facility and you have a phone system problem // in this day and age this is NO excuse // what is wrong with you system that you can not contact anyone plus if you leave a message no one call's you back //get your act together // what kind of an organization are you running ??

This place is the worst! Staff lack the proper training to do their jobs. There are a few special LNAs and nurses, but most are too burned out and don’t care about the residents. The building is old and in need of upgrades to their heating and cooling system, phone lines, cable, and internet. Cooling and heating is a major safety issue and temperatures in the resident rooms can be unsafe. Food is not great. A lot of processed and canned food and no fresh fruit or veggies. Concerns and complaints are not addressed and all you get is lip service. It is a full time job to advocate for your loved one to receive proper treatment and care. I would look for any other place before going here.

The overall appearance of the community was fine, however my father's room was always unclean and continuously had an odor. They should be checking on high risk residents more, especially during the night. For those who are known fall risks, it didn't seem that they had adequate protocols in place to protect them. The staff communication with the family could have been better. We felt that a lot of times aspects of my father's care were not being properly communicated with us. Now that my mother is in a different community with better care, I can see the lack of communication much clearer. We did not feel Orchard Valley was a good value. My dad was only there for a few days and the price was very steep. We saw a lot of fees, like community fees and service fees, added up quickly. We thought it would make a lot more sense if they could have charged us one flat fee for care and prorated us for the time he was there.

Horrible. Loved one has been there for a year. Staff doesn't care about residents; they are not attentive, do not try to engage residents beyond giving them their meds. They have zero patience but they make up for that with their attitudes. It's like they're doing us a favor by giving meds to him. Um, we pay $8500/month to be there, that's the least you can do. The aides can be downright mean. It's awful. Who treats elderly people this way? A lot of the staff are not native English speakers and choose to speak another language with each other in the public areas of Evans Park. It's unsettling for those of us who are young and there visiting. But for elderly people, for people with memory loss, it's just not OK. There are no nurses there regularly, no one over night to give even Tylenol. The residents fight amongst themselves and say who can and cannot sit at certain tables in the dining room (which really isn't big enough anyway). The food isn't very good, either. Upside: they bring musicians in regularly, so that's nice.

The staff is friendly and painted a beautiful picture for me so, I moved my husband in on [date removed]. He has Alzheimer's and was fairly high functioning on that date. Activities consisted of music videos and occasional low impact activities probably perfect for the docile and/or immobile, If you expect them to have activities slated for the higher functioning patient, forget it. My husband was left with nothing to do except walk back and forth in the hallway with nothing else to do. For the first month, there wasn't even a TV and then only UTube. They promised me people he could talk to. With the exception of 3 or 4 women, no one leaves their room except for meals. The meals are terrible; he refused to eat and lost weight. I would visit him and rarely see a staff member. You DO NOT want to be here.

We visited to place my parents but hated the lack of smile and major attitude we witnessed from the " boss" [name removed] towards staff. He did " pretend" to be friendly with us but was bothered by any question asked and on the pushy side. Place did look nice.

Our family was heartbroken by the lack of care our parents received here. Alzheimer's is hard enough on a family but to be sold lies was so traumatic. We were led to believe our parents were still well enough to be in the assisted living care, not within their memory unit which shocked me the day of my tour. After our parents assessment, I was told they qualified for still living in the their main assisted living building. They could have a care plan put in place in the regular assisted living. We moved them in and our parents were ignored, unclean and sick. We had countless meetings and exchanges without any changes. A simple task of getting their laundry cleaned and put away couldn't get done. While the facility makes a great impression for it's grand appearance, the actual care was non existent. It was a year long, astronomically expensive experience of devastation. We are still seeking better options for new care and are very cautious.

The memory care community at Benchmark was depressing in terms of dinginess and lack of natural light. The common rooms were not inviting. Staff seemed friendly but there was no evidence of stimulating activities for residents - physically and intellectually. More $$ needs to be invested in care for those living with dementia across the board.

This facility was not very helpful. They booked a tour and then tried to switch us to one of their other facilities. Felt like a little bate and switch.

I found the experience with my husband was terrible. Was called at 5:00 pm to come and get him. Was told he was too aggressive. When I got there I had no idea what I should do with him, because he could not come home. No offer of assistance was made available and I had to transport him to NW hospital at rush hour traffic with an aggressive person. Then I tried to get my deposit back and a refund for the month that was all paid for and I got the run around. Money is what is all about...screw the family and the resident.

This is a place you go to when you are desperate. This is a deathtrap. Very little activities, no one in the offices when you have a question or comment, food is very salty and all the same every week, no fun activities other than the arthritis group zumba seated workout or cookies bakes... Really! For more than 4k per month, give me more. For the same price, I can rent a studio and have a private care coming every day and taking me out shopping and dining. I really felt trapped here, I am glad I am out.

We are looking for placement for our Aunt , saw the sign out front offering tours so we stopped in. We waited nearly ten minutes before being spoken with until a gentleman from the kitchen came out to say hello and offer us some refreshments ( very nice [name removed]? ).The tour was brisk and the building felt dreary. We felt it had a dirty feel and aroma but we could't put our finger on it, lots of air freshener smell.Overall we did not feel comfortable,I am sure the people who work there are nice,but not for us..

we chose haverhill crossings because my aunt lived there six years ago. my how things have changed.. first off the smells in the building remind us of a bad nursing home, mom's apartment is filthy,suppose to clean bathrooms etc, housekeeping is non existent. supervisor very nice,but is not taken very seriously,always seems to pre occupied with out of work activities. bathrooms in hallways have a dirty feel.mom is happy here but we feel guilty for placing her at haverhill.she loves the dining room and chatting with girls,playing bingo etc. we hope this review helps

I gave them a $3,600 refundable deposit to be on the wait list for a cottage. On May 22, 2018 I asked them to refund my money as I found other accomodations. It is July 7th and I am still waiting for the check. Lots of excuses, check got lost, sent to wrong address, sent to the village, but no results!! Andrea D. Seems to be the only one who can help yet she is rarely there or available. Big run-a round so far. Have documented over 8 telephone calls to them with no results. Maybe they need to see public postings to finally produce results. Beware, do not be so quick to give them the “refundable” deposits as they have kept mine for almost 2 months.