Bell Trace Family-first Senior Living

My mother-in-law was here for 2 weeks. During that time her bed was only changed 1 time and that only happened because I went to the nurses desk and asked for it to be done. They only offered to help her get a shower twice. Once at 8 o'clock at night (she declined at that hour) and then the rehab nurse asked her if she had been given a shower (after she had been there for 10 days without a shower) and offered to help her. They are not very responsive to patients requests. Sometimes making them wait for a half hour and longer to get a drink and even to have help to the restroom. The lady beside my mil was completely helpless and she put her light on for help to the restroom. After 20 minutes I tried to get a nurse and was told they knew her light was on but they were busy going over patients. After another 15 minutes the lady was trying to move to the restroom on her own. I again went for a nurse because I was afraid she might injure herself. There were 3 nurses behind the desk working on their computers. One of them did come help the lady to the restroom. I then left. My mil called me 20 minutes later telling me the nurses had left the lady in there and she was calling for help. She wanted my mil to call 911. My mil is on oxygen and had to have a walker so she is not able to help anyone. My mil tried to get the nurses attention to help her. They finally came back in after 20 minutes. The next day they left the same lady in a soiled bed (because again they didn't come to take her to the restroom when she needed to go) for an hour. The food they served was sub par. They don't always come ask what you would prefer for their meals and the patient is just stuck with whatever they get. There was a mess up with prescriptions getting sent to the incorrect pharmacy when my mil was discharged. In all, it was not a good experience.

Because I lived alone at the time, orthopedic surgeon Dr. Surdam sent me to his wing of Bell Trace for two weeks of post-surgical rehab following total knee replacement. I don't understand why other reviewers are so complimentary about Bell Trace. I had a memorably terrible stay there. The kitchen never did stop sending me food items I told them several times I was allergic to, specifically orange juice and pork. This happened despite my asking to speak with a member of their staff in person, which I did twice. One day, at lunch, I was brought a plate of three foods--chicken salad sandwich, pasta salad, and something I forget--that were all loaded with some sort of cheap, nauseating mayonnaise-like dressing. All three of them. I ordered a pizza from a delivery service. One night a nurse's assistant (I don't know what else to call them) who was grossly overweight stepped on my foot as I was trying to get out of bed. He was so fat he couldn't see his own feet or mine, but how in the world did he not feel my foot underneath his? I had to raise my voice at him to get him to move. The female nurse's assistant who was on duty during the day miscalculated my weight on two occasions as she tried to convert from kilograms to pounds, which she calculated to be 20 pounds higher than I had ever weighed in my life. I kept telling her I had never weighed that much, but she ignored me and recorded the total as she saw it. Eventually, several days later, she came back around to all the patients whose weight she had measured and changed her totals. The same assistant didn't know how to help me get out of bed. A mere day after surgery, she kept releasing my leg, allowing it to fall to the floor, which caused me extreme pain and could have caused injury. I also found that the night nurse was bad-tempered. One night I was scolded severely for not having taken every last drop of Milk of Magnesia in the proffered plastic cup. I would have had to LICK THE INSIDE OF THE CUP to achieve this. In addition, I discovered after my release that that medication is supposed to be followed by a glass of water, but the nurse never gave me this instruction. The last thing I remember is that the Bell Trace van that takes patients home wasn't equipped with anything for passengers to hold onto, and the driver took corners so fast that I almost fell to the floor several times. If I ever had to go into rehab again--God forbid--I would fight like the devil to avoid Bell Trace.

it will be 2 months tomorrow i have worked there. I also worked here 7 years ago. The Staff is awesome. I love the residents. Its a great place to work.

My mother is 96 and has lived at Bell Trace in their Independent Living Apartments for 3 years. It has been a wonderful experience for all of us. Transitioning from her home in Northern Indiana to a new city and smaller residence was a big change for her. But when my father died after 70 years of marriage, it was important to mom to be closer to children.. Bell Trace has opened up so many new opportunities for mom. She attends many performances at the IU Auditorium and enjoys being 'chauffeured' right to the entrance. She is taken on weekly shopping trips with other residents to the grocery store and to the doctor as needed. She looks forward to her creative writing group and social hour.Bell Trace provides a beautiful home for mom. The staff is friendly and goes above and beyond to keep their residents happy and safe. The Chef cooks outstanding, fresh meals with lots of new choices daily and the baked from scratch breads are a huge hit.Thank you Bell Trace! I would highly recommend this to any senior looking for a wonderful community in Bloomington or to any child looking for a home for their parents.