Northstar Senior Living

The person that was supposed to give us a tour was giving someone else a tour, we waited an hour and the person did not come back. This was not the best experience for us and we left after this happened.

The place has really gone downhill since the new director took over. She likes to make things about herself but presents as someone who cares about the folks that live here, when in reality she only cares for herself. She speaks to us residents like we are dumb half the time and does not seem to care about our opinions. I believe multiple residents here are not receiving the care they need and we continuously have new move ins that are not at all appropriate for independent living or even assisted, but it’s rent money paid every month so management does not care who moves in. Too many recent changes for the negative and I will be actively looking for better places to live that are run by someone who actually cares about the PEOPLE and not the money.

This is the worst place ever to send the elderly - they will talk a great talk but cannot live up to expectations. The food is the absolute worst, cleanliness is terrible, and the care givers do not care about the quality of care they give to the elderly. From a dirty dining room and silverware, to mishandling of medications, to slow responses when called, to even letting people lay in soiled garments because they would not take them to the restroom. I drove 16 hours straight to rescue my parents from this place. The management is more concerned about putting on a "good show" to new people, that they do not take care of the current residents. Tenants Beware!

This is an amendment to my initial review from March 2019. After move in, be prepared for changing of staff frequently. My mom was in assisted living after she had a heart attack. She was able to care for herself, however; she needed to be observed for any additional heart issues. She was to be watched four times per day--breakfast, lunch, dinner and medication time. Unfortunately, there were many issues that came up during her last two months that lead to her decline in health. My mom unexpectedly passed away. The final days and move out process was absolutely intolerable. In retrospect, I am sorry that my mom and I chose Vineyard Ranch.

We moved my father into this location after we had a medical emergency at his previous adult home. We stressed how important quality care would be, particularly given the memory and movement issues he struggles with following brain cancer treatment. Unfortunately, after four months as a resident, we are now looking for a new location. While the apartments and property are beautiful, the care has been inconsistent and ultimately hazardous to his health, from bedsores to medication issues to a lack of consistent bathing and eating. The communication between staffers is horrendous, and therefore the communication to family regarding residents is equally as dismal. We've addressed issues with staffers, management, and corporate office, but nothing has changed.

My mother lived here for a little over a year. They recruited her, but this was when it was Brookdale. As soon as Elmcroft purchased and took over the facility last spring to summer, things took a really bad turn. Mom no longer got the care she needed. She has dementia, but so do a third of the people living there and much worse than my mother. It was more important for Elmcroft to purchase high end looking menus for the dining room than to hire enough people to care for the people living in this facility. I changed moms bed, washed her clothes and cleaned the apartment many times over the last six months she was there. I would press the button to get help when I needed to shower her or help changing the bed and no one would show up for 30-40 minutes. Thank God my mother wasn't on the floor. This happened several times over the last six months she was there. I was also harassed by the manager and one of the nurses by phone about my mother. It was very stressful. Mom even knew they were not taking care of her and expressed this to me many times. She would sleep in her clothes and they would come get her for breakfast and not help her change many times, she stayed in same clothes and a dirty bed many times. I contacted the CEO and he referred me to one of his underlings in another state to take care of any complaints. She was nice and asked for a list by email of our concerns. We did just what she asked and received no reply. I know she opened and read it since I got a read receipt. Her concern or lack of it was not encouraging. I would not recommend Elmcroft to anyone who has a loved one that needs care. Don't get me wrong, there were some people that actually cared about my mom there, but they had no control over how things where run. I am grateful to those staff who tried and really cared, but without proper leadership, it is hard to do the best job.

This place boasts a great sales pitch but doesn’t follow through with any of it. Management is poor quality, techs are not certified and just come for paycheck, not caring individuals. Safety alert system is poor and response time is poor. Food is ok but needs to have better menu rotation. Housekeeping is poor quality. Employees are allowed to bring small children to work which causes a safety hazard to residents.

Be Warned!! Do not leave your loved one here. When my 86 year old sister suffered intense pain, we were told the Gardens did not believe in pain killers. They let her lie in her own excrements and gave little care unless demanded. We visited daily to assure her well being. She died 9 days after the final monthly payment of $5700.00 plus, but they refuse to return any prepayments, saying there were additional charges for not picking up her belongings immediately, etc. etc.

I for one had a very bad experience, during the time my husband was there. First of all every time I went to visit my husband, he was always pushing the same female resident around the facility and, calling her by my name.The problem with this is my husband is Passive Aggressive, meaning if anyone was in his way while he was pushing her he would just run them down. Also he is very unstable walking and, always uses a walker but, he leaves his walker to push the female resident which is a safety,volatation Also while I was searching for his clothes in his dresser I found 2 pocket knives, another safety issue. He was there seven months and no one thought to check and see what was in his chest of drawers. Other patients were allowed to wander in and out each others rooms, any one of them could have found those knives. Then I find out that even though they are aware of his Diabetes, they never gave him his special diet for Diabetics, they stated that everyone gets the same thing to eat at every meal. And I found out that the only time that his blood sugar level was checked was when he went to his DR. appointments. When I brought these concerns to Human Resources there reply was; Patients Bill of Rights with that smirk on her face. When I was picking him up because, we were moving him out, my daughter stated to the nurse, well I guess that female resident will be lonely now ,and she said oh no we have her lined up with someone else. So if that someone else is your husband be ready for a big heart break. I have Congestive Heart Failure, and this whole ordeal just about did me in . So the bottom line is that this facility is playing Match Maker, to make their job easier by, someone else occupying this resident. [Removed] I paid alot of out of pocket money a month, and this type of care is not acceptable. they also said that it is ok for the residents to interact this way because she is single and has Alzheimers.

The activities and outings are wonderful. The lack of staff is concerning. There are multiple times when a staff member can not be located (even with going on each floor and yelling for help). The meals are either really good or not good at all. There is a large language barrier with the current RN and it can be very hard to understand her. It's very difficult to get a hold of anyone in the telephone in the cottages and numerous times messages go unanswered. Some of the carestaff need more training as they tend to talk to the residents like children. Not a place I would recommend.

Very disappointing experience....incompetent care....did not honor contract regarding care needs

This place is seriously understaffed and at all times of the day/night as far as our experience has been. The employees are friendly enough but that is a moot point when it comes to providing a safe environment for patients. The food appears to come out of cans or freezer for the most part. Plain meat and bread sandwiches with fritos are often a lunch or dinner meal. If your loved one is sleeping, they don't get fed. Take a good look at the weight of the inpatients there...they were not admitted at that weight, you can be sure. In our case, our loved one has been seriously injured there but no one ever has witnessed it! I would never recommend this facility unless you want a quick end for your loved one. I can't understand why A Place For Mom would ever recommend this facility.

The staff are very nice and helpfull. They seem over worked they are always understaffed. The management department could care less seems like they're in it for the money not because they care. I've heard them yell and be very rude to the staff they're not professional they have a lack of communication. What they promise you on the tour are lies. Those are just a few of the reason we decided not to put our mom in there

If I could pick zero stars I would. The staff could care less about your family. I am pretty positive they pick the "cheap of the cheap" employees...if not illegals...not sure... but would suspect. I guarantee with the exception of a few, these employees that will take care of your family are not fit to take care of dogs...and I love dogs... GO SOMEWHERE ELSE!!!