Compared to other assisted living facilities that I researched, my mom's overall time at Brightview was fine. Some employees were very kind while others presented as if they didn't want to be there. However, their end of life and after death care was terrible.
First, we were charged over $10,000 for her last month of care, yet they let her die alone, even though they were aware that she was in the immediate dying process. I had jury duty the morning she passed away and Brightview left a couple voicemails that I needed to come right away, but I didn't get the messages until I was released around 11:00am. Since Brightview was charging over $300/day, one would think that someone could sit with her until they could reach the next of kin, but that didn't happen. The hospice nurse, who is not employed by Brightview, called me on my way there to tell me that she walked in to check on her, but she had already passed away.
Weeks after she passed, I got a partial refund since we prepay, but I did not get a statement, like I usually do each month. After I requested a final statement, they finally sent one to me with a $1,300 deduction. Again, I had to request additional information since they were being evasive, in my opinion. Finally, I heard back that it was to replace the carpet. I asked them why, because I had video evidence upon move out that the carpet was fine (aside from a stain that his staff likely caused, which he said was not the reason anyhow). Mr. Cooper, the director, told me that there were indelible furniture marks and hydraulic oil stains from the month that my mom had an electric hospital bed. I told him that I also had video evidence upon move in that had furniture marks. In regard to the hydraulic oil stains, if they were, in fact present, since they were not visible in my video-he told me that hydraulic oil is clear. I researched whether hydraulic oil could be removed from carpet and it can, but that was not done. Instead, they charged me $1,300 to replace approximately 150 square feet of carpet, which is very high, in my opinion. Maybe they don't have to follow Fairfax landlord/tenant laws since they're an assisted living facility, but if they did they are required to give me evidence of damages. Even though my video proves that I should not be charged for carpet replacement, Mr. Cooper wouldn't budge.
After speaking with a friend whose dad also lived there and recently passed away, she shared a similar story with me. read more