For profit memory care

tucson anne

Virtually all the MC facilities in Tucson are run by big nationwide (for the most part) companies. All of them no doubt are responsible for generating income for their investors, who expect returns of 8-10%, All of them have issues related to the need to cut costs so investors may profit. Today I heard of a local entity that is very high end now cutting way back on their food choices for the entire community, not just memory care. Most of these have high staff turnover. Almost all get cited by the state for failure to update care plans, failure to document proper training for staff, and the like. So I seem to be left with the choice of small, 10 person homes, which are private, with few activities, or one of these communities with seemingly more going on but huge inconsistencies in care. Have any of you had good luck with MC run by big entities (Brookdale, Sunrise, Grace Management, etc)? Or should I just readjust expectations, start looking at all the smaller facilities and give up on the idea that MC could give my person more to do than looking at a t.v.? The one notable facility that is non-profit has a one year waiting list and is attached to an assisted living center that no doubt feeds the memory care beds.

Have any of you had experience in placing your person who is stage 5-6 in a small home? Or positive experience in one of the corporate places? Just wondering.

harshedbuzz

@tucson anne

I toured over a dozen places before dad was placed. I am fortunate to live in an area that is well served in terms of such places which gave me options that included non-profit religiously affiliated (Quaker and Lutheran), not-for-profit-corporate, a state VA home and a small community CCRC run by a charitable trust. The option for care homes doesn't seem to exist where I live. Years ago, my grandmother was in one for a short time. Dad and his brother were very unhappy with it, but I suspect that was as much that it was a distance from them and making the adjustment to their mom needing care in a facility.

Dad ended up in a non-profit corporate facility and we were quite happy with his care. FWIW, the Sunrise chain is a not-for-profit entity. One thing I did notice, and it could be specific to my area, is that the places that cherry picked residents tended to be corporate.

The place I chose had a lot of activities, but by the time mom agreed to place dad, he was so apathetic he didn't care to join them. My aunt, on the other hand, positively blossomed with the many activities on offer until very late in the disease.

HB

PS In defense of the high-end community cutting choices. Some of these operate almost as a restaurant which leads to a lot of food waste. A friend lives at one and dinner sometimes has 5 entree options. Dad's place had a lot of food waste as well. These communities are required to make a specific calorie level available so sometimes more food is offered than a person would eat. Dad would often turn his nose up at lunch (their big meal) and be quickly offered a soup and sandwich offering.

Jazzma

My experience with a corporate memory care facility was not good, although the hands-on staff were excellent. The managers (administrative and nursing) were quite young and didn't seem to take their jobs seriously. The head nurse ignored doctor's orders to taper DH off of a particular medication, and even denied that those were the orders when we'd talked about it a month before. When I complained again she decided to discontinue not only that drug, but another anti-agitation med. It caused a crisis in his behaviour that they didn't tell me about until a week later. I pulled him out that day.

CindiEC

I didn’t have a good experience when I placed my DH in a large corporate facility for much the same reasons as Jazzma.
He is in a 15 bed facility now. Few activities but at the stage he is at he isn’t interested in activities. A lot depends on where your LO is at in the disease. I’ve found the smaller facility to be more flexible with much less staff turnover. In the large facility the caregivers were in a big hurry with residents. Also they often lost track of my husband and had to help me search for him when I visited.
After five weeks I moved him

Good luck

Karen711

Hi Tucson Annie-

I had to place my father in a large corporate facility. There were lots of activities, but along with that the staff, (which had a low staff to resident ratio) was overworked, undertrained, and had lots of turnover and so there was a certain amount of chaos (residents wandering into other residents rooms, etc) and inattentiveness from the staff. When I realized this I hired an outside caregiver to supplement his care (I didn’t live in the area and was flying in each week to visit), who ultimately saved his life when she arrived one morning and found him on the floor in serious condition and called 911). He had to go from the hospital to skilled nursing and then I moved him into a residential care home after that, 6 beds, not less than 2, often 3 full time staff during the day. And they were a wonder loving group who he came to know and love. They did not have activities, as you say, but he attended Adult Day care during the week, and his girlfriend visited him nearly everyday. So, there are ways to make up for lack of activities.
I have the same concern where I live, as I currently develop my Plan “B” for my wife. I wish you luck! Let us know what you learn.
Best Wishes,

Karen

tucson anne

Thanks for all your comments. He does need activities at the stage where he is and though we have some very nice 10 bed residential care homes, they have very limited activities. There is no adult day care available even though Tucson metro is over a million people! I'm thinking try the corporate bigger ones and then move when activities are no longer an issue? And Harshedbuzz—Sunrise is totally for profit; I know of no chains of MC other than religiously affiliated ones, which don't exist in Tucson, which are non-profit. May I ask you what non-profit corporate one you used? We have two non-profit ones (one that is part of a larger assisted and independent living community; the other smaller) that have activities but one is very congested in its space and the other has a year waiting list! I'll keep looking and thinking. And if anyone moved their person once they were fairly far along, was the move difficult? Thanks again to everyone; this site is so helpful.

harshedbuzz

@tucson anne I'm sorry, you are correct. I confused them with Sunrise, Inc that offers support and housing for adults with intellectual disabilities. My bad.

Dad's SNF (Arden Courts) was operated by this corporation which was, at the time, a not-for-profit entity much like a hospital. I'm not sure of the status as much realignment and rebranding has happened post-COVID. FWIW, there was a Sunrise less than a mile away from dad's MCF. It was lovely and well regarded by the folks in my local support group. They cherrypicked their residents for the pleasantly confused and that was not my dad.

One thing I saw at both dad's and my aunt's MCF was that a few families hired an outside caregiver to provide socialization and activities for their LO.

HB

MN Chickadee

I found the ones run by non profit religious groups have better reputations, at least in my community. One near me is a spin off of a Lutheran group, though it's ecumenical these days. Another is a large Catholic group. My mother was in the Catholic one for a while despite us not being catholic and it was a good fit. While I find it reprehensible that most facilities are for profit and are more concerned about share holders than the care, I think a corporate one can be decent with a good executive director and/or wellness staff. My mother was in a corporate one for a while (New Perspective) and the director was very committed to his work and found ways to make it really nice despite budget constraints. A good work place culture helps cut down on staff turn over even if the pay is the same as other places. Though I didn't love all aspects, they had an exceptionally talented activities director who really made the place shine and a few CNAs I got to know who were very good and had been there a while. My mother moved in late stage 5 and the activities were extremely important for her, she was still busy and engaged. The activities were the number one thing I looked at when evaluating places. The food wasn't great, a bit cafeteria like and there was pretty much just one option at each meal, but the staff knew their residents well. They would know Sally wouldn't eat this entree and find a substitute, they knew John loved campbells soup and would buy it special for him etc. They found ways to make sure nobody was unhappy about the food. And always plenty of treats, baking etc.

jfkoc

Profit v non-profit…someone is making money so please do not make that a deciding factor.

psg712

My mother is in a Brookdale facility, one of their smaller ones. She started in AL where there were 65-70 residents and eventually moved to the MC with 24 residents in a separate building. There have been pros and cons there, but I will say that the key factors in my satisfaction have been the core of consistent caregivers and the responsiveness of local management whenever I have raised a concern.

Yes, there are periods of staff turnover. That will happen anywhere. Yes, corporate sets policy and they do have to turn a profit, but the people who provide and directly supervise the face to face, hands on care are the real difference makers. I hope that you find the best possible setting for your LO.