Belmont Village Senior Living Memphis

Not so good yesterday, the gentleman in the wheelchair that is typically in the lobby area was looking for the remote to the TV. There was a new person at the front desk and she was so rude to him. There is no excuse for that. About a week ago (I always check) my mothers bed did not have a mattress protector pad, so I put one on the bed, today there was no fitted sheet which means she was sleeping on plastic! There was also one pillow on her bed without a pillow case? In addition every time, no exceptions, all of her linens are crammed in the top of her closet and her clothes. Her clothes are hung in many different ways and directions, a lot of her clothes are just wadded up in her drawers. I might add, the bathroom linens are put away in the same manner. No one pays me to fix all of these mistakes. I went back this evening and she was still in her dirty clothes. I’m sorry there is no dignity for these seniors with dementia.

It has taken me a long time to write this review because my mother used to say, "If you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything." But some things needs to be said to paint a different picture of the almost 5 star reviews listed. My mother was in memory care here. The Good about the facility: Stephanie worked with me regarding financials. Whenever I would email her regarding a discrepancy, she would take care of it. I appreciated that. Jill was a jewel, assisting me in getting my mother to the facility. I was grateful. Weekend nurse, Caroline-very forthcoming with information regarding my mother and what she was doing. The evening shift nurse(her name escapes me right now) treated my mother like she was her own. That is the kind of care you would want from a nurse when you are far away. The lady at front desk was always so kind to me. When I finally met her, it felt like I had known her for a long time. Oh, I almost forgot the PALS- the "nursing helpers". They were worked together every time i would show up.They took pride in what they did in caring for my mom when they changed her or turned her. They worked together a lot, and I was so grateful and thankful for them that they showed dignity to my mother, despite the circumstances. But this place is deceiving. The BAD: that DON(director of nursing), Natasha. The only good thing she did was to do a thorough assessment at the onset to get my mother admitted. During the course of my mother's stay, I would reach out to her. No call back. She would only call me IF she felt I was not listening to her nurses regarding my mom's care regarding hospitalization. No other time would she call, even though I would have called her regarding other issues. She was very argumentative when she finally decided to answer. She would say that she would look into something and never followed up. I remember our 1st telephone encounters where i was trying to express to her my concerns regarding my mother, and of course she started throwing her title around about being the director of nursing and her tone changed being very stern. Lady, your title means nothing to me. I have worked with countless DONs, and not one of them would still have their jobs talking to people like you did me. But I took her rude condescending tone because everything I did was for my mother. I could go on and on about her, but she's absolutely not worth the words on this page. The day shift nurse(I can't recall her name) seemed like she was very helpful in the beginning, but all of that came to a screeching halt. But she couldn't follow orders. When my mother went on hospice, my specific instructions to the hospice nurse were, "only to give pain meds IF my mother was in pain." She had been giving it often not as needed. Of course I called hospice and got the meds discontinued. Another incident that occurred when I popped in again at another time. I was giving my mom water thru a straw, but the water kept coming back out. Something whispered to me to check her mouth. So, I asked her to open as I held my flashlight and what do you know? Her tongue was swollen and was blocking her airway. I had no faith in day shift nursing or the DON at this point. So, I reached out to hospice and they came over in 10 minutes because they were in the area. I told her my findings, and she used her flashlight and saw the same thing. She immediately called the Dr and they rushed mom to the hospital for treatment. Had I not been there, noone would have come to her room as they didn't check on her like they said, and she would have died from obstructive airway. She was diagnosed with angioedema from having an allergic reaction to pain meds that were given by the day shift nurse when she shouldn't have. When we got back to the facility, the nurse comes in and tells me that she's a new nurse there-that this is her 1st day-she was picking up shifts because the regular day shift nurse was working to cover for the evening nurse..and she was sorry. Not good enough. God called mom to eternal peace a month later. God knows...yes, He does

Just have to say what a blessing Belmont Village is to our community. I moved my Mom from Hawaii where we are from to Belmont to be closer to us in Memphis. We explained to the staff that Mom had been a professional hula dancer in her youth and wanted to live her last days in Hawaii. With Alzheimers, it's really tough not to have your loved ones close but we were naive about the disease and tried our best to long distance for three long years (my entire family is still there, but I am the primary care giver) After touring ALL of the facilities in Memphis, Belmont was the perfect fit. From intake to end of life care, Belmont always made sure to honor Mom's Hawaiian heritage and took the absolute best care of her for her remaining years. The staff is incredible, the facility is clean and the team really understands the importance of taking great care of our loved ones. I can't say enough good things about this special place that made my Mom's last days some of her best!