Atria Collwood

I must give credit to Joan who was our sales rep that provided us information and tours on the facility. It is highly evident that she is passionate about her position and well loved by so many of the residents. Joan was a big reason why we selected Atria Collwood. The facilities are fine and very comfortable for any seniors that do not require much more than just having someone do their laundry, help clean their room and have meals prepared for them. It's a good community to get to know other seniors and be active in activities, outings and even exercise. That is where my positive feedback ends. My father was only at Atria for one month and passed away. He was on a walker and oxygen and had CHF. About one week after he moved in, they went on LOCK DOWN because of upper respiratory problems in the community. This lock down confines each and every resident to their rooms and meals get delivered. It sounds like that makes sense to keep people healthy, but that went on for 3 weeks straight while my dad was still there, so who knows how much longer it lasted. It is a small room to be confined in and have no contact. They encouraged guests not to have visitors, but that didn't stop us from visiting him daily. Imagine being in a new environment, away from your home and family and then being stuck in a room for weeks on end without leaving? Awful! So depressing. To make a very long story short, my father's health continued to decline and we put him under hospice care there, which they said we could do during the orientation and they also said that we could up his care level based on his needs - i.e. med management, incontinence assistance, etc. We had paperwork on these services and their related costs. This is also where is say do NOT put your loved one here if they need anything more than help with meals, cleaning and hygiene care. The med techs are unknowledgable about medications, irresponsible with timing and dispensing and they were lead by a lady - Y'Lon - that had zero compassion and made critical errors leading to our father's sudden passing. He had CHF and was not being given his diuretics as prescribed by Hospice. There was a full paper trail of faxed med orders, repeated phone calls from myself and hospice to administer his meds and he was weeping fluids out of his skin, because of this. He swelled up so much that we rushed over there and called 911 to remove him from the premises and bring him to ER. The poor med techs were clueless and thought his compression socks were wet from an accident! It was fluids coming out of his skin because he was off his meds for 3-4 days! When we got there, the hospice nurse was by his side holding his hand and told us he needed help ASAP - they were horrified by the medical assistance from Atria as well. My father died 3 days later. He was obviously sick enough to be put in hospice care, but we feel his entire family and friends were robbed of precious last moments with him because of this very sudden passing. DO NOT put your loved ones here if they have serious illnesses and need proper medical assistance and med management. The med techs are not qualified for this service. I will say that there were a couple of super friendly and helpful aides that assisted him with other problems and I wish I could remember their names to give them credit.

I am writing this review to aid your decision making if you are considering Atria Collwood for yourself or a loved one. It is difficult to rank all of the problems with this organization and facility, so I will just give you highlights of my experience with my disabled brother who resided there for about 16 months. It is always a difficult decision to move, and a difficult and expensive one for a disabled person. There is an application process which is both time consuming and expensive ($2500 for Atria). 1. First off, Atria Collwood went through at least four changes of executive director and four changes of nursing staff (there is one nurse for up to 150 residents) during my brothers stay at Atria. During the 16 months, the facility was under quarantine seven times, ranging from 1-3 weeks at a time. This means that residents were confined to rooms. This is a difficult proposition for a resident. The reasons for the quarantines were ambiguous at best.2. My brother, who wholly resided and slept at Atria contracted scabies from the facility. Their nursing staff did not even know that he had it even after I complained about terrible rashes on his body. This infestation went on for six months before I was able to get him cured through repeated trips to a dermatologist that I had to arrange. During this time interval, Atria raised the level of care in order to apply the scabies creams and dispense additional oral medicines despite the problem being caused by their laundering facility. Not once did their staff call to report his condition to me, despite my close involvement with his care and frequent visits to the facility The executive director refused to allow Atria transport him to the doctor's appointments necessary to cure the condition, despite the agreement and assisted living arrangement. This necessitated an outside health agency for transport, not covered by insurance and expensive.3. Supposed quarterly nursing reviews were almost never done or at least not communicated to me (as his POA). For two flu seasons, they did not even attempt to give him a flu shot, which you would expect in an assisted lving facility. 4. I paid Atria more than $1100 per month for assisted living services to care for my brother (this is additional to the rent of $2300/mo) This included nursing services. Despite this large payment, the facility never took the initiative to provide any nursing care other than dispensing pills. My brother contracted a cough and pneumonia that were never evaluated by nursing staff.5. Routine hygienic services, such as haircuts and nail care were haphazard at best. Clothing, showers, and incontinence diapers changes were infrequently encouraged.6. Billing was innacurate and could never be trusted, with frequent communication to correct problems, some of which never did get corrected.In summary, I lived nearby and made frequent visits for the care of my brother, but many people would not be in that position. I don't believe that you can trust Atria to care for someone who requires assistance and this facility would be unsuitable for most. It would be most appropriate for those who live independently, with no assistance requirements.

I recently visited and was pleasantly surprised by how friendly and welcoming the residents were- they must be happy here! The staff made me feel special, like a guest in their home. I met Michelle, their nurse, and I would definitely trust her to care for my Dad. Joan was a pleasure and was so knowledgeable and comforting. A fun and supportive environment for sure!

Caring staff, comfortable facility, lots of activities.