Chatham Ridge Assisted Living

Very clean and caring staff! Prompt calls on any issues and easy to get in touch with the staff including the director who gives out her cell number. They are more like family than a facility. No place is perfect as you rely on people who have ups and downs - but I've never seen so much personal attention given to the residents. Everyone knew my mom's name (and my name as well! )I wholeheartedly give a 5* to them. I've never seen this level of personal attention in the other two facilities my mom was residing prior to Chatham Ridge.

Chatham Ridge has been home of our mother & mother-in-law for the last 4 years. It deserves a '5 Star' Rating because of the quality of care provided there. When you first walk in, you see a pristine, decorated & welcoming facility. Resident pictures adorn the walls & sometimes their 'works of art' are on display. Residents are walking around the halls & seem very happy. The staff is very personable & caring. There are countless activities for the residents to participate in. There is Physical Therapy on site which is a plus. If any concerns arise, the administrative staff is very willing to solve them. We feel very comfortable having this be our relative's home.

I was unpleasantly reminded that I had not left a review for Chatham Ridge(CR) when just this afternoon I sat in the same dining hall as the director, Patricia, and witnessed her putting her hands in front of her mouth and lowering her voice to a whisper to make comments to her companion about my wife and I as we sat down to eat our lunch. I did not initially recognize her but these indiscreet and disrespectful actions brought her presence to my attention. My experience today brings me back to last year when my loved one was relocating to the area from Brooklyn. As a family we did not realize that we were going to be faced with such devestating news on her 81st birthday that she had vascular dementia and UNC Hospital informed us that she would have to spend the remainder of her life in a memory care unit and not be able to return home, as we had hoped to line up in home care. We were given one option from the hospital and that was CR, however they did not have a room in the memory care unit and offered her a room on the assisted living wing. This option also required my relative to have a sitter around the clock. Not only were we required to pay a hefty community fee but we also had to pay an independent care giving company that CR recommended that was consistently late to relieve my family members and I as we personally were providing our relative with 15 hours of direct care. We are a small, young family that had no experience when it came to facing this situation and finding a placement for a very sick family member. This option ended up being a nightmare for various reasons. This was my relatives first experience in an assisting living facility so not only was she acclimating to receiving care from strangers but was also in an unfamiliar setting. She was a fiercely independent woman before her illness became full blown and unfortunately became combative when toileting and showering was recommended. When we came to the facility for the first time we were assured that the staff members would take on the responsibility of encouraging toileting and changes as necessary and were not given a tour of the memory care unit that was the location where she essentially needed to receive care. The staff that provided her with direct care for the most part appeared to be untrained to deal with a resident suffering from dementia and were affiliated with the assisted living wing, not the memory care unit. My family members and I never were told that it would be our responsibility to pull on a string to alarm the staff to stay on schedule to change our relative every four hours. On Memorial Day weekend I sat with my relative for a good 6 hours when no one even came into the room at all. My relative was so desperate to receive care that I had to personally change her pull up and care for her in that instance and she allowed me to with no aggression. Ive learned that it is all about the approach and patience when dealing with someone with this horrible disease. I do not believe that the majority of the staff that directly cared for her(not very present) took such an approach. My relative was taken to the memory care unit for meals where we got some real personal insight. I think most of the caregivers thought that we were caregivers as well and not necessarily family so their actions and words were raw and candid. All three of us individually heard the staff refer to the residents as that one not him or her or by name. This demonstrated a lack of respect for these human beings that still deserve dignity in their illness. When I brought this to the attention of Patricia, the director of the facility(glorified sales person) she responded that never in her years there had she heard such a thing from any family members in the past as if our experience was made up. The staff was also often on their cell phones and talked amongst themselves but rarely directly engaged the residents. My recommendation is to not believe the facade that the management presents, look beyond all of the fluff and new construction and trust your intuition.

We are researching Assisted Living Homes for my parents and took them to visit Chatham Ridge. Kim and Julie met with us and treated our parents very warmly and respectfully. They answered our questions thoroughly and even contributed answers and thoughts from their wealth of knowledge working in the senior care business that would be helpful in making a decision. My Dad was not ready to move quite yet but we highly recommend checking out this facility for your loved ones! Thank you Chatham Ridge for your time and warm and caring manner and for your professional assistance.

Chatham Ridge took great care of my grandmother. The staff is very professional and supportive. They treated my grandmother like a queen. This is an awesome place.