Elmcroft of Downriver

My mother-in-law moved in here about a year ago. She has nothing to say but fabulous things about the staff, service and food.

Take your loved one and run the other way NOW! Lovely place if your loved one is independent, but if any level of care is needed, this is NOT the place. Sales promise the moon but in reality the management is incompetent, at best. Promises all over the place, but no follow through. My mom was in hospice care when we moved her there, and they promised they could are care for her to the end. Why else would we move her there? Not even close. She was a fall risk but where were the alarms they promised? I lost track of how many times she fell. We think she had a broken hip the day we sprung her from that 'hell-hole' as she called it and admitted her to Angela Hospice Residential Center. A few times I found her medication on the floor next to her bed! I talked with several families who take their laundry home because it always gets lost. At one point my mom went through 8 pairs of pants that she wore only once before they were lost. Putting room numbers on them didn't help. Having no control over something as small as the laundry (and the supervisors admitted it's been a long-term problem) is one indication of the deep-seated problems with this facility. Billing was a nightmare (bills not sent, overbilling for items covered by hospice). The aides all mean well, but the training is suspect and the turnover is extremely high. When she entered Elmcroft they asked that we continue with the independent night aides we had for mom 'until she gets settled'. It makes sense now... even our independent aides expressed concern over mom's care. Shortly after my mom became a resident she was asking to be moved. I wish we would have listened. Oh, if you use the on-site laundry facilities, be prepared for the dryer to take HOURS. I (and at least one other person) told them the vent was plugged (and an extreme fire hazard), and nothing was done for months. It may still be plugged. And if the fire alarm does go off, you better hope someone has finally learned how to turn it off...

Management is disconnected from what really happens here - and caregivers are understaffed and overworked. We moved my Mom here because we were told they could provide a higher level of care than another local assisted living facility. We were also told that Mom would be fine unless she had a feeding tube or ventilator, but that wasn't true, at all. Mom needed a higher level of care than Elmcroft could provide, and instead of admitting that, they kept promising they could handle it. Don't even consider this place if you have a parent that needs more than room and board and you aren't able to check on them every day. The only reason I'm giving them 2 stars is because most of the caregivers really did care.