The Bristal at Lake Success

Seven months ago our 90 year-old Dad was living independently when he caught the flu. He recovered, but after several hospitalizations, emergency room visits and two rehab stays for other medical issues, he was diagnosed with dementia. It was no longer appropriate for him to stay in the house. This was not what we were expecting and another difficult situation for all of us after losing Mom K. two years ago. We have been through multiple experiences with eldercare and housing for Mom M. over the last five years and in two different states. This includes long-term stay and assisted living, for-profit and non-profit. So we were not un-familiar with what is out there.The day that we toured the facility, we were warmly welcomed by many friendly caregivers and other employees. Then we sat down with Stephanie, who answered our questions for a long time! On move-in day, Dad was immediately welcomed into the community by numerous staff members and has been there for about three months.Dad is never wanting for activities. There are daily movies in the theater, live music, patio barbecues, and scheduled excursions. The food is appealing and alternatives are always available. At night, he is checked upon every two hours. There is always an RN on the premises. The RN's, LPN's and CNA's are caring, informative, and attentive to any concerns we might have. Dad's demeanor has improved a great deal - he calls the Bristal home and always has a smile on his face! Making this move has improved the quality of his life tremendously.We can't say enough good things about the Bristal at Lake Success.Nancy and Alan

The facility has no systems or policies in place to assure services are rendered as promised. The turnover of staff in every department over the past three years has been astounding (activities, wellness, administration, maintenance). Past employees all blame administration. Medications ordered by doctors aren't given regularly and reliably. Wellness has lost medications on several occasions, medical charts are adjusted not to reflect missed medications, and families aren't notified when residents have missed medications. A large part of this is due to the extreme high turnover of staff. Kim Bent, the executive director changed company rules in Jan 2019- she won't provide receipts when families bring in over the counter sealed medications, which doctors have said families are allowed to supply. She knows that wellness department is likely to lose them. Calls from doctors offices and hospitals to the wellness department aren't answered and not returned. Most of the time, the wellness department doesn't answer the phone when called. The current executive director, Kim Bent, also refuses to have an answering machine for the Wellness Department, and her regional manager (Winsome Bent, Kim's older cousin, who is supposed to oversee the facility) has repeatedly stated that it takes at least 5 years to get a facility running as it should, they know they have unresolved issues'. Therefore, current residents and families are subject to a mis-managed, un-experienced staff who aren't given the resources needed to do their job correctly.When you go to the owners - Engel Berman Group in Garden City, NY and you explain to them the issues - their answer is 'we're developers, Ultimate Care Management deals with the day to day operations, we don't care how well or not well they do it '. Tape recordings and video evidence of these facts will be posted soon to YouTube.As seen in the picture - 'The Gym/Fitness room' - to prospective residents/family, they claim that they have fitness activities here. After residents move in and start paying $10,000 a month, they find out they don't have access to it. It's only for use by Northwell's Feinstein Institute Research projects, which are narrowly selected studies for short periods of time. As seen in the picture - the Bus - They haven't had a steady driver in three years and no one is in training. Weekly bus trips they put on the calendar are fabricated and don't happen. The three that did occur over the past three years 1) They went to view Christmas lights at noon in mid-December. They couldnt see anything because it was a bright sunny day 2) They went to an apple picking farm, when they arrived the farm was closed. The recreation director and staff didnt call ahead 3) Shopping at Walmart the two staff members allowed the one resident to purchase a large bottle of Tylenol and alcohol which she wasnt allowed to have. You would think that they would tell the resident they couldnt purchase it, but by their lack of action, they show that they dont provide proper care. The Wall Street Room an open, non-locked, non-supervised computer room - it's a tremendous vulnerability to dementia and Alzheimer residents. This was put in by the Engel Berman Developers with no thought given for the personal and financial safety of memory care residents. Several psychiatrists called the facility regarding the risks of it, but the administration chooses ignore it. They don't use or incorporate it for any 'therapy' or activities. They consistently mis-represent and fail to deliver on the care and activities they provide residents.

As a 'memory care facility' where residents with severe dementia, bipolar, Alzheimer's reside, the Engel Berman Group developers thought it would be approprate to have 'Wall Street computer rooms' on the first and second floor, completely open for anyone to go online without restrictions. This is totally inappropriate for residents with severe memory care issues. After two years of repeatedly advising the management about this, nothing has been done. Perfect environment for memory care residents to be the victims of identity theft or accidentally trade away their much needed retirement and savings accounts.