Juniper Communities

In our time and experience at Juniper Village at Chatham, the environment has changed. Some cost cutting is becoming evident, and some of the better staff have left recently.

The facility is clean, but I don't think they are adequately staffed. Small needs (like making sure a phone is within reach should help be needed) are just not a priority. Mum has fallen numerous times since she arrived and has had to go to the hospital twice. The staff blames her for not following instructions, but she has Parkinson's dementia and does the best she can. Her bedding disappeared and she was left to sleep without blankets one night. Those are indications to me that they need more hands on deck. The director, [name removed], who is the "go to person" for resolving issues, has never once returned a call from me. Dad found a cup of pills (8 different meds) on Mum's bedside table. No one knew how they got there or who they belonged to. If she had found and taken them, I can't imagine what might have happened. Even then, [name removed] did not have the courtesy to speak with my father or return my call. Last week, my dad was sitting outside with Mum and witnessed a resident escape. There is a busy highway at the front of the building. The staff ran to catch the woman, which of course they had to do, but then no one was available to help take my Mum to the bathroom. So I would say that if you are reasonably self-sufficient the facility is ok. If you are unable to fend for yourself, I would not recommend it. We are considering other options as we are not sure she is safe there.

Junipers ability to communicate effectively (or at all) with residents during crisis is lacking. My loved one frequently doesn't go down to eat because the choices are not very good. They also have very few condiments. For instance: fried chicken strips with nothing to dip in, not even ketchup is available.

Very nice community, great care staff. Unfortunately the cost of medical care has just increased by [removed]% supposedly due to inflation? That is unacceptable. Have not been hit with the rent increase yet but will post it when we find out.

I toured Juniper Village at Monroeville and the facility looked very institutional, especially from the outside. I also had a weird experience with the Sales Manager. She called to tell me that a room opened up and basically wanted me to come in that day to sign papers and put down a payment. I explained that I couldn't come that day, but could come in the next day. In less than 24 hours, she filled the spot with someone else and wouldn't return my calls or emails.

What's good about it: there are a lot of men for my husband to interact with. They have a nice camaraderie. However, I do have concerns about his care - especially medication management. The staff are great from a personality and helpfulness standpoint. I think they just don't have good processes in place. I see the same people working there which is good, but I've noticed turnover among the residents. My impression is that they're trying to get there, but they're not there yet.

The therapy at Juniper Village was just the best we ever had, it was absolutely wonderful. However the care services were truly lacking, we know staffing was a struggle but responsive time was far from quick.

It's a very good place. Had to have money. They charge you for every little thing. The place is fancy.

My Mother was in the assisted living side for over 2 years and transitioned to the skilled care side. The skilled care side is 5 stars from management to staff. Excellent caring side. Hard to imagine anything better. The assisted living side was also excellent from a caring and daily staff side. The management and front office help on the Inn side was slightly below bad. Response time to normal questions was weeks or months. In fact the manager ducked out of sight when my sister came in to clean out my Mothers belongings. We asked for help in getting my Mother's long term care insurance to kick in and they were not helpful, and when they did respond the answers were almost like it was for another person. There was no written long term care program for her and after we asked multiple times for one we got one but it was was well after she had moved to assisted living. If that management was under my control there would be at least one person redoing their resume.

DO NOT allow your loved one to live at Juniper Village if they have a memory disease (Alzheimer’s, dementia). While they are a good for assisted living, they are not equipped or staffed to care for those with memory issues. If you search the internet for memory care, Juniper Village populates, meaning that Juniper has entered those key words to describe their service. We moved our precious Mom there in Sept after she was evaluated by their staff and were assured they could care for her safely. Unfortunately, after only six weeks, we had to move her to an actual memory care center. We have never dealt with Alzheimer’s and relied on the expertise of the Juniper staff. After moving our Mom, Juniper would not refund the $[fee removed] “community fee” even though they acknowledged they had not assessed Mom correctly during a home visit prior to her moving in and she was only there for six weeks. When Mom moved to New Haven, the care was excellent and geared for those with memory care issues.

Less sitting areas,less dog friendly and smoke friendly,great alcove room

They are very caring and compassionate. The food is okay, which is important. The room is spacious.

They paint a pretty picture and talk about all the things they do but it's not exactly what they say it is. If your loved one is mobile then I would recommend if not I would look elsewhere.

They have some super good people there, and the direct care people are great. However they needed our loved one to leave because he was exit seeking, and they did not give us any heads up which left a bad taste in our mouth. It was not handled well. The food there is not that good, the portions were small and very bland.

Mom was in juniper for rehab for a few weeks after a broken hip. We never got to visit her due to COVID, so do not know of the physical conditions. However, they wanted to "send her back" within a few hours of receiving her, as she was combative and uncooperative (she has dementia). We had to tell the nurses how to approach her and what to do to get more cooperation. The staff should have known all of that! Lack of training on their part? Should be standard in nursing school!

The main negative I have is the billing was always messed up. I feel it was expensive. It was an average place. It is geared more toward younger independent living folks who do not need much care. They have tons of activities. Not so good for folks that need help with higher end care needs.

My main reason for writing this review is the poor quality of food at Juniper Village. I have visited a loved one of a close friend on several occasions and am appalled at the food and service in the dining room. How does this happen? Please eat in the dining room at least once before you sign a contract.

Originally I was very pleased for the 1st 6 years when I paid for a separate private aide in the assisted living building, but now I'm thinking there's been too much of a turn over in staff & care is moderate with the staff in the dementia building trying to keep up with the demand. I'm sure other facilities aren't as involved but disappointed staff doesn't appear to care for the loved one in the caliber expected & previously provided. Personal possessions items have been lost or misplaced & apparently not respected, found or looked for. Other people's personal property with their names were in my loved one's closet. I returned them to the staff. In spite of the Alz. Association had deemed Juniper as the only facility in NJ for memory care as the best, it seems the needs of advanced Alz. patients are overlooked as in "there's not much we can do for them so we'll do the minimum." It can be degrading for the residents especially for the exorbitant fees being paid for the care & trust for loved ones. There also doesn't seem to be actual dr.s who see them regularly but lesser substitutes utilized who devote little time. I feel my loved one would be better cared for back in assisted living with a private aide paid for rather then the staff in the dementia building. I'm not convinced they are following my directives or that of my loved one. I've become disillusioned & have lost much confidence in Juniper. This is not to say, they're not a good facility, only pointing out they seem to be slipping & I can't in good conscience recommend them over any other facility. They need to try harder to regain their standing.

I chose this community for my aunt because her good friend lives there. I wanted her to be able to feel comfortable and with someone that she knew and at first it felt like it might be a good fit. I started getting bills with hidden fees and charges that they had never talked to me about. There’s a fee for assisting my aunt, they charge her a deductible for her prescriptions even though she’s supposed to be getting them for free, and they charge for monthly assessments. No one ever told me about any of this. Getting someone to care for my aunt when she needs them is also difficult. She has a bell around her neck that she uses when she needs help, and more often than not they don’t answer. It took me calling 6 times once just to get someone on the phone. She’s missed several appointments with her hair dresser because no one will help her get there. She’s blind and isn’t able to walk on her own, so someone should be helping at all times. Which brings me to this – I came to visit her one day around lunch time and her room was an absolute mess. There were feces on her bed, the floor, her towels, her nightgown, and no one had done anything to help or to even clean until I said something about it! That is disgusting and completely unsanitary. There are only a few things this place offers that are good and that’s bingo, exercise classes, and happy hours. I’m already considering finding somewhere else to take my aunt because she deserves a great resting home and this one is inadequate.

Some areas very good - some not so good ([removed] and some aides are quite rude and don't care to listen to resident). Never get to have interaction with [removed] - PT/OT people are pretty good - resident complains about food but I have never had anything that wasn't good (maybe their tastebuds are shot) - overall, Juniper is okay as far as I have compared with other people with loved ones in other places.