Harmony Senior Services

Our family had an in person tour with Harmony at Hope Mills and the community just came across as very sterile and not so friendly and just did not really feel as welcoming.

We got off to a rocky start with aids not getting mom taken to dining room for meals. That's been resolved and we have no complaints now. Transportation to doctor appointments has been unreliable. Not sure if it's been a scheduling problem by front desk staff or an unreliable driver. Cleaning is superficial. They don't get into corners. There are some activities, but mom can't get around by herself and aids don't encourage her to go and take her/pick her up. I totally understand that there aren't enough aids to go that extra mile. It's expensive, but I like that mom has an apartment and not just a large bedroom to live in. She uses her pendant call button as needed and the aids come promptly. That brings peace of mind. My mom does like the place. She truly loves her aid, [name removed], who gives her great care and lots of hugs.

My loved one resided at Harmony at Spring Hill from [date removed]. Before selecting Harmony, I read reviews where people loved it and thought it was great. I think it's really important for people to understand there are two different parts - assisted living vs. memory care. I can see how assisted living potentially could be pretty good. But memory care had a lot of serious problems. We as a family had to advocate for our family member who lived there because he was not getting enough care. And the staff were not communicating issues with us. Other families we spoke with were experiencing the same lack of communication. Ultimately, the things that were promised to us were not what we were getting. The facility might look nice, and the food might be good, but the care was not good - and that's what is most important. Because of that, I would not recommend anybody go there for memory care. Our most frequent problem was when our loved one declined help when they asked, they would simply take that at face value. He required supervision and some assistance getting ready for the day and getting ready for bed - taking his hearing aids out to charge them, taking his two partial dentures out to clean them overnight, getting in/out of his clothes, etc. But if he said "I don't need help," they wouldn't do anything for him. They claimed they couldn't force him, but there has to be a way to help a dementia patient who isn't thrilled to be helped or doesn't remember that he needs help. They would just leave him alone to fend for himself. This happened frequently and after addressing it with them, any improvement was intermittent at best. We just couldn't count on them to provide consistent care. And it was RARE that the staff would communicate any incidents like falls to the family. Some of the staff was actually good, and I want to give them credit. But some were just okay, and one was not good at all. Again, it came down to inconsistency.

This facility presents very well. It is extremely expensive, but unfortunately that is just part of the business. As a family member I can say upper management communication skills are extremely lacking, especially regarding healthcare. Everyone has busy lives; however, if you are moving your family member into a facility please have someone routinely showing up. On an individual level the staff are very committed and it shows. They are not being managed well though. There was a recent change in directors which will hopefully change things, but from my family’s experience so far, they simply do not deliver the amount of communication and care that is worth over 6 thousand dollars a month. They are definitely short staffed & there is only ONE medical doctor at this facility currently. this is the best option my family could find, and we understand the general state of the healthcare as a whole is lacking, but this facility definitely generates enough revenue to step it up.

You still need to follow-up, that your loved one is actually receiving the attention they SHOULD be receiving. Example: checking on family member every 2 hours, if staff is supposed to assist with showering, they need to be there, if supposed to change bedding and do laundry 2x a week and it isn't happening (and it is included in monthly rate) tell the manager. Don't let it slide. Overnight staff (11-7am) seems to do what they can get away with. Residents are supposed to have 3 meals + 2 snacks a day, and they hardly have snacks.

The residents who live at Harmony all seemed to be very friendly and nice when I would visit my loved one. The staff was friendly and tried to accommodate any of our requests. When the power went out they need a better backup generator. People that couldn't walk the steps were forced to stay downstairs for approximately 5 hours.

Harmony is a beautiful facility. Harmony has been great for my mom. Communication isn't the greatest. But it's ok. No one will care for my mom like me. However with her having Alzheimer's, I can't care for her. They're the next best thing that I've been able to find

I found the staff at Harmony Hope Mills to be helpful and friendly and caring towards their residents. They kept the residents busy with activities throughout the day. I didn't appreciate the fact that I gave a 2 week notice and moved my mother out on time only for Harmony to withdraw another month's rent on April 3. Now I'm the one being inconvenienced with the missing funds in my account until a check from corporate arrives.

I visit twice a week. They never put her hearing aids in (as in her orders). She's always out of toilet paper. Her laundry is always mixed up. She has other peoples clothes in her room. They don't serve her water at her meals unless I ask for it. They won't let her order off the menu unless I'm there and go to the head nurse.

My mother has lived at Harmony for 3 years. 2 1/2 years were fine and she was happy in her independent living apartment. Last October she fell and ended up on the floor for 2 days before her neighbors’ request for a wellness check were granted and she was found. She was hospitalized and then spent about a month in a rehab facility getting strength back. We then tried to get her moved to an assisted living apartment and that is when the experience went south. It took almost a week to get any response from Harmony, problems getting the contact printed, being charged for the new apartment even though it was still occupied, no follow thru from the business manage or new director in fixing the billing. Too bad administrative staff drops the ball because other staff do a pretty nice job. A lot of staff turnover which is concerning. Consider carefully before placing family members here.

There was definitely an issue with dispensing medication correctly. If I had concerns, I had to go to the director to get things taken care of. She was very responsive, but if I talked to the staff directly, they were not responsive. There was quite a bit of turnover. The food started out pretty good. But they started making changes to cut costs, and it was really awful - much lower quality, and they changed some of their recipes (started putting iceberg lettuce instead of romaine lettuce in the "Caesar" salad, etc.). When a new resident comes in, they need to do a better job to explain things and better welcome them into the fold as they become adjusted to the community. Some of the people there were wonderful, but I would not send a loved one there again.

I would tell others looking into Harmony at Columbia that the staffing shortages that they are having is impacting the level and quality of care.

Overall, things have been really good here. It's just that most of the staff are CNA's that are supervised by LPN's. There really are no RN's here overseeing the care. The medical staff will only do things through a dr's order. Our issue is that our loved one is diabetic and they aren't checking her blood sugar. Her dr is trying to get that worked out so that it's monitored and that he can prescribe medication for her. Communication with family is not that good. I would recommend this facility for Independent Living, but not for a resident that would need medical care or another level of care.

When we toured, Harmony at Kent wasn’t open yet - they were still finishing up the building. It was clean, even though they were still working on things. The layouts that I saw were very nice. I was not crazy about the location though (an industrial space across from the highway).

They are going through a lot of changes. Being a brand new facility, they have changed Director of Nursing 3-4 times already. I think it's more of a growing pains problem until they get going and get better established. Currently they have a communication problem. They listen to my concerns, but they don't always get back with me.

Starting out I would have rated Harmony a 5. But beginning in November when the administration changed, it has gone downhill. The care started out very good but has been very poor the last month and a half. And my loved one is not getting the care that she needs.

Overall, the options for the activities, they are doing well. They have been short staffed. It would be nice if they had an employee, to guide the new residents/family members through the onboarding process. In addition, they could do better with communication.

The care has declined since my mom has been here, especially in area of activities. They used to go out to lunch, take rides in the van, ceramics class, parties for special occasions, therapy dogs, etc. Currently they don't do any of these activities. The previous Activities Director would encourage participation and include family members-I rarely see the new Activities Director. Laundry is done inconsistently and her clothing is often missing even though it's labeled.

Activities could be improved. I do not see any art being offered and bingo is only twice per week. It is not bad but the staffing is an issue. Cleaning crews are great.