Colonial Oaks Senior Living

The Best Community in Garland! posted September 2018 is from the current marketing director of Arbor House of Garland. Several of the reviews, the positive ones, are from current employees of the facility which makes me think that the staff has been directed by management to post said reviews. The marketing director will promise you the sky. e.g. You want a sandwich at 3 am, she will tell you they can do that. They can't or won't. When you run into issues with the care provided and approach her she will make a pathetic face and tell you in a whiny voice, "I wish I could help but I don't have any influence over the operations." The food is not fresh but rather delivered by a food distributor (Sysco) and then microwaved, boiled or reheated in whatever manner. The food choices remain the same day to day with one or two "specials" on a rotating schedule week to week. Most of the food is so bad that residents will not eat it. Food has to be brought in to your loved ones if you want anything tasty and nutritious. If you are not able to leave your room they will deliver to you, late, after they have wheeled other residents to the dining area and served them. The one nurse, who is not there 24 hours, has limited hours and arrives late, leaves for lunch, and leaves promptly at 4:30 pm, is an LVN. What is a licensed vocational nurse or LVN? They are also known as a licensed practical nurse (LPN). Becoming an LVN is one of the quickest ways to become a nurse, as there is not an extensive amount of education required for most other types of nurses such as registered nurses (RN) or advanced practice nurses. She has no ability to perform anything other than what a doctor has written in the chart. If your loved one should experience difficulty such as severe pain, adjustments to prescriptions, etc. the stock answer is, "I can only do what's in the chart." And that is all she does. Medication is administered by med techs, often late, and frequently incorrectly (missing or wrong medications). The nurse is often not aware of the med-techs actions (i.e. not delivering the proper meds or changes in when meds are delivered). The nurse has no special connection to a doctor of any kind. If you or your loved one has any medical need outside of "what's in the chart" your only recourse is to go to the ER or make an appointment with a doctor on your own. While the building is attractive and the decor that of a modern apartment complex marketing to millennials. The building is a square with the only outdoor space being the interior courtyard with a few short concrete walkways in the middle of some poorly maintained ground-level plants. There is no other space for your loved one to enjoy the outdoors. Any form of complaint is responded to with the management teaming up and defending the management and the following retaliation (providing meals and medications even later, not following up on request for medications, and idle emotional threats to the resident(s) even if the complaint is not by the resident themselves. The staff is way underpaid and walk around as though they are fearful of management. Otherwise, they are the most pleasant people to interact on a social level. In the past year all of the management and staff, except the marketing director, were fired or quit on the spot, within 24 hours. A month later, management sent a rather patronizing notice to the residents written as if the former staff and management had retired or found other positions by choice. These were the people residents had come to know and trust and in many cases had visited the resident's home prior to moving to the facility. What they didn't count on were the relationships that residents and their families had built with the former staff who they were still in touch with and were able to learn the truth. For all intents and purposes, it was some sort of coup. And that is the point that services became worse than ever. I urge you to be very cautious when considering this facility. Ask for credentials, visit after hours, speak with current residents in the dining area (not those hand-selected by management). And by all means, DO NOT TRUST what the marketing director sells you. It won't be what is delivered.

Arbor House Garland is a beautiful home with lovely decor and is very clean, but that's where the positives end. My stepmom was here for just under four months and after the first two weeks, it was nothing but problems with the caregivers and management. The first issue occurred when they allowed my her to run out of her much-needed meds and didn't bother to reach out to hospice or my Dad to let him know. (For anyone who has a loved one with dementia/Alzheimer's, you know that a disruption in meds is serious.) The only reason he knew something was off was that she was acting agitated, hallucinating, and crying for no reason and not allowing the caregivers to change her one night. When he asked if she had taken her meds that day, the caregiver nonchalantly told him she had run out the day before. The head nurse and hospice both visited with my Dad and assured him it would never happen again, and it didn't. However, the nurses/caregivers often did not follow hospice's instructions on when/how her meds should be administered the rest of the time my stepmom was in their care. Other issues included: 1) Allowing my stepmom to sleep outside for three hours when it was 95º. It may have been longer had another resident's loved one not called my Dad to let him know what was going on. She was still outside when my he arrived and was very hot. When my Dad complained to the caregiver, she claimed they left her out there because they couldn't wake her up. No one bothered to get a nurse or doctor to check my stepmom out to make sure she was okay. This was reported to the Executive Director but nothing was done to rectify the incident. Weeks later when my Dad listed this as one of the many reasons he was moving her out in an email to the Executive Director (CCed to the Regional Director or the CEO), only the ED replied and none of them bothered to address this or any of the reasons he was abruptly moving her. That was on June 17. After my Dad asked for a refund for his deposit and 10 days in June my stepmom was not there - citing neglect and breach of contract - the CEO finally got involved and she too had little compassion or concern for what my Dad or his wife had gone through. On July 6, the Executive Director called my Dad to discuss a refund at which time she made excuses for everything and told him that the day my stepmom was asleep outside in the heat, they had a video of her coming in several times to get water. She said on the phone and in an email July 8 that she would "gladly" set up a time with my Dad the following week to review the video. This never happened. My Dad called her bluff and emailed about it again on July 17. That's when the Regional Director (who hadn't been involved at this point) replied and said the video had been written over. We don't believe there ever was a video or that my stepmom ever came in to ask for water. She has late-stage dementia and is unable to communicate like that. Besides, had there been a video backing up their claim, they would've have shown it to my Dad weeks prior when he reported the incident or at least when he said he was moving her out. This incident, in particular, was the last straw and the ultimate reason my Dad moved her out as quickly as he could, as he feared for his wife's safety. 2) The A/C was out for several weeks during the heatwave where temps reached the high 90s, maybe even triple digits. My Dad asked for weeks when it would be fixed, only to get excuse after excuse. When I mentioned this on my call with the CEO on July 6, she was oblivious about the A/C having been out and indicated she had not been informed of this issue, which means the Executive Director and/or Regional Director failed to tell her. Either way, they dropped the ball (again). 3) My stepmom's clothes, towels, and bedding constantly went missing, despite having her name on everything, and were never found. When my Dad would tell the caregivers about it and ask them to look for the items, they'd claim they couldn't go into other rooms and look for stuff due to privacy reasons. The Executive Director was no help either, no matter how many times my Dad complained/asked about the missing items the money he was losing because of their incompetence. It got so bad, my Dad started taking clothes and stuff home to wash them himself just to ensure they weren't lost. On July 6, over two weeks after he took my stepmom out of there, my Dad requested reimbursement for the missing items. The Executive Director told him she and her team would look for the items for a week and mail what they found. The next day, the CEO offered a reimbursement for the items, probably because she knew as well as we did, the ED wasn't going to locate them. These are only *some* of the issues that arose in the short time (< 4 months) my stepmom was at Arbor House Garland. Overall, they did not follow through with their verbal or contractual promises/obligations. Most of their caregivers acted unprofessional, ill-mannered and inexperienced. After dealing with management (Executive Director of Garland, Texas Regional Director, and the CEO) these past two weeks, I found they were no better, which may explain the high turnover my Dad witnessed in four months. Their responses to my Dad's and my emails were condescending, dismissive and rude. The CEO and Executive Director were even worse on the phone. I wouldn't let Arbor House take care of my houseplants, let alone a loved one. We don't trust them. Mind you, we can only speak for the memory care side but given how bad the management is, I can't imagine the assisted living side is any better. If you are seeking a memory care home for your loved one, make sure and do your homework and ask all your questions up front and in writing. Don't just go off what you see online or what the Marketing person tells you or how pretty the place looks. Be sure you meet ALL staff who will be involved in your loved one's care, directly and indirectly, particularly the Executive Director, head nurse, and whoever is in charge of the caregivers. VISIT OFTEN and stay for a while and observe not just how *your* loved one is being treated but how others are being treated as well. People with dementia and Alzheimer's don't really have a voice so it's up to their loved ones to make sure their loved ones are being taken care of properly in their final years.

My mother has recently made the move into this community and things have not been going the best for her. The staff are very organized and the management have been difficult to work with. The quality of the food has been poor and my mother is not impressed with it. I also am disappointed in the lack of activities they have for the residents throughout the week. The community is a newer one so I am hoping they get a grip on things sooner than later.

I toured 2 weeks ago. I arrived at shift change apparently. I was greeted by a woman who identified as former sales but could show me around. She left for a few minutes as I was treated to the Administrator berate the staff as lazy and disrespectful. Everyone was in her office. She was discussing how the staff wasn't toileting people. My tour started, all seemed fine. I was introduced to the nurse and an activity director. As employees walked out several discussed how they hated this job, wished "Suzanne "would leave.At the end of the hall 2 more employees discussed how rudely staff is treated. I think if staff is reprimanded it should be in private, not right at the front door. My concern is if staff feels this way , will they take it out on my mother? Patients seemed pleasant, many sleeping all around in chairs, some walking around. I ended my tour. Staff was friendly to me, introduced themselves.

This place has a director and a nurse that are very uncaring, the place is dirty, they cannot keep help, the maintenance man and a caregiver have been cooking the food for all the residents and they do not know how to follow the residents individual food cards, they ran out of food the other day,residents that were suppose to get pureed food got regular food and couldn't eat and no one tried to fix it or help them! The caregivers are very frustrated and hate working for the very hateful director thats why they have a new employee every week. They do not change the residents underpants like we were told they would The nurse takes residents off their meds without telling the family which causes major problems, the nurse is very rude and they very seldom have a nurse in the building! The caregivers were told by director they are not allowed to speak to the family members when they ask if their family member ate their food, etc. They DO NOT give the residents enough fluids during the day. They leave dangerous wheelchair parts and leftover food from snacks laying all over building! They have also had marketers quit because they said quote "the director is a [Removed] case". Do not leave your loved one in their care you will regret it!

This was a wonderful place, until there was a change in management. It used to be a very loving place, but now it's gone down hill. There is not enough care staff, and there is only 1 housekeeper for 50 people! It's a shame to see this! We are moving my mom this month.

Management is very rude.Very overpriced, and don't appear to know what their doing.! Caregivers seems to care about the residents, some seem overwhelmed.