I'm writing to share my profound disappointment with our experience at Friendship Village, where my…read moreaunt and uncle lived for years. My aunt transition from independent living, to rehabilitation care, to memory care, with the family pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars into FV over the years.
Having seen most of the facility and levels of care over the past 5+ years, it is clean and generally well maintained. It is understaffed and the level of turnover indicates poor compensation for frontline workers. This underfunding occurs despite the fact that the "non-profit" that owns it, Lifespace, is worth over $500,000,000. A nearly $100,000,000 expansion occurred at FV over the past few years, too.
If you are looking for a socially vibrant place for your loved one, please keep looking. Common areas are not structured to encourage gatherings; there is a dearth of social interaction opportunities and when you roam the hallways on walks or tours you will hardly encounter a single soul.
The week of my aunt's entry into hospice (at Friendship Village with an outside provider) I drove from out of state to spend what I soon found out would be her last hours at her bedside. We received barely a check-in from the staff. When I asked questions, someone would tell me they would find out for me and I would never see them again. Upon her passing, I was left on my own to navigate move-out procedures, cleaning, sorting, etc. Every question I asked was met with confusion, a promise to return with answers, then no answers. The morning after she died, when I was coming and going with her belongings, no one checked in with me or offered any sympathy. Questions like "Where do I put the trash? Do you offer clothing to other residents or do I donate to Goodwill? What about extra medical supplies?" Crickets. Wherever your money is going, it's not going toward keeping employees current on policies and procedures with residents/patients. It also should not fall to the PCAs and MAs to do this work-- staff a place adequately to handle issues once someone dies. I was in a constant state of disbelief that such an expensive place wouldn't even acknowledge a death until two days after it happened.
Calling the business office a few weeks later to handle remaining paperwork, the individual on the phone was so cold I actually asked if she knew that my aunt died, because her behavior did not seem to match the topic. The response? "Yes."
The first communication I received after my aunt died was two days later, via a brief email expressing sympathy, with the rest of the email detailing the cost we would incur due to leaving things behind and asking about various items remaining in the room. Now, had anyone answered my questions the day after her death, I would have been able to dispose of things appropriately. When the social worker who sent the email did not hear back from me within a few hours, she called me (I was traveling back home). I suggested that if she wanted to truly practice social work, she should find a new spot, because being the fee enforcer is probably not what she went to school for (the contacts I had with the RD, RN, and SW were generally very good, to be fair).
If you do move your loved one here, plan to pay exorbitant amounts of money to do a lot yourselves. This is a sentiment I now see I share with other reviewers. Your money and your loved ones' last days are better spent someplace else.
