Cedarhurst Of Columbia

Not only is Cedarhurst a beautiful community for your loved one, the Executive Director, Alicia Karst is kind and professional. It is easy to see that she is passionate about her role and genuinely cares about her residents and staff. Being a director in assisted living cannot be easy but she handles it with class. Take time to meet with her if you are looking for senior housing!

UPDATE: shortly after posting this review, the director called me to address my concerns. The community at Cedarhurst is wonderful—staff and residents. This review is not directed at the people who live and work at Cedarhurst. I would give them a 5 star review + (or a thousand star) for their kindness, caring, and love. Unfortunately, the Cedarhurst corporation prioritizes their greed, not giving the good staff (that goes above and beyond) the resources they need. I have posted a few pictures to show their loving kindness and how much they love my mother. My main concerns are professional sanitizing during & after contagion, security, and family and healthcare professionals having access after hours, and the unhealthy food. The director and I had a good talk and I’m reassured that there are solutions in the works. I hope to be able to give a better update soon and to add stars. The building is lovely but there are problems. Weekly cleaning is included in the cost and the housekeeper does an excellent job. Unfortunately, if there are unhygienic conditions in the apartment between weekly cleanings, there’s unlikely to be someone who’ll clean. They were on lockdown because of norovirus, one of the most contagious viruses, spread initially from feces and then through touch and surfaces. The virus can remain on surfaces for two weeks. A contagion requires professionals with PPE to thoroughly clean and sanitize the whole building. My husband and I ended up catching norovirus. I had to be hospitalized excruciating pain and suffering and had to be hospitalized. The security is poor, I won’t detail the problems publicly for obvious reasons. Ironically, people who should be able to get in the building—family and healthcare professionals—have difficulty getting in the building after 8 pm. Someone needs to be at the front desk 24/7 and should be a 24 hour number to call with a human being answering every single time. I had to hire Visiting Angels for in-home care, to do light cleaning, provide companionship, and help my mother with basic self-care. I got a call from Visiting Angels that my mother’s blood oxygen level had plunged and she was panicking about breathing, which makes it hard to breathe, which creates more panic. The Angels said she needed more comfort care meds to help with her breathing and her panic. In other words, my mother was suffering. I called hospice and the nurse at Compassus and he kindly offered to go to Cedarhurst to check on my mother. He couldn’t get in. He tried several times. I called Cedarhurst repeatedly to get someone to let him in and there was no answer. A healthcare professional could not get in. Everyone was doing their job, Compassus, Visiting Angels, and the staff at Cedarhurst—but the staff cannot do the work of two or three people at the same time. The people who aren’t doing their job are the obscenely rich and greedy people of Cedarhurst corporate. We’re paying $7k a month and there’s no one to let a hospice nurse in and no one answering the phone when my mother is in distress. I want yo emphasize again that this review is not directed at the Cedarhurst community, which really is a community in all the ways we hope for. The staff and residents have a created a culture of love that can’t be faked and I have no regrets about placing my mother there. P.S. There isn’t, as claimed, “all day dining.” The food is unhealthy and unappealing. But the food is a question for another day.

Nikki and her staff in the memory care unit treated our mother, as well as our family, with respect and compassion during her time at Cedarhurst. We have nothing but good things to say about this facility and would highly recommend them if your loved one was in need of a memory care home.