Andara

Reviews

My 96 year old father was living in another local retirement community. When it came time to renew the lease the price of his apartment was going up dramatically, so I decided to compare where he was living to other facilities. I found Andara (Arte at the time) and it was a much more affordable community. While it was price that motivated me to move him at a very healthy 93, it is so obvious now that we did the right thing. First, Andara is a smaller more intimate community. The whole staff is very attentive to my father's needs and treat him with dignity and respect. When I am not in Scottsdale, I can rely on Mary, Executive Director, to give me a call if she or one of the staff become concerned about my dad. I am then able to address the situation. It has given me peace of mind. There is also a new quality care program available through ComForcare with qualified people to assist in many different ways. I have chosen the GoodMorning/Good Evening service where they check in on dad twice a day/7 days, and so far he is very pleased. You pay by the visit( and you decide how many per week), not the hour. Dad doesn't want or need someone in his room for a whole hour so this has been well worth it. Secondly, the food is excellent! Chef John and his staff prepare meals with fresh ingredients and no repetitive, frozen "institutionalized" types of foods are served. Our family often joins dad for Sunday brunch and we have even opted to enjoy Easter brunch there instead of going out each year. Dad always say there is plenty of variety. Thirdly, the activities are numerous. Dad enjoys the nightly movie in the theater and the puzzle room, but there is so much more to do. Being Catholic, he also appreciates receiving communion at Andara on Weds. when local church people visit and having his blood pressure taken at the wellness clinic. Transportation is readily available and dad gets a ride to church every Sunday. Our family is more than delighted with the move to Andara, but it is my dad whose opinion matters most and he enjoys living there.

Sometimes a beautiful place covers the issues of incompetence for its senior customers. This was our family’s experience. The paramedics were called in the middle of the night, when my mother hit her call button. No protocols were followed. [Removed] called my cell phone, not my home phone or any of my brothers contacts at 1 am. Mom was alone in the ER. Mistakes were made. I called the director at [Removed] seven different times. She never returned my call until I tracked her down three weeks later. No one from [Removed] ever called to find out how my mother was doing. She had been a resident for two years. We had another episode a year earlier at [Removed]. She had not hit her buzzer to say she was ok early that morning as all residents should do. the front desk claimed they saw her. She was accidentally found nearly 24 hours later. Had a fall could not get up, was extremely dehydrated, almost died. The buzzer for emergencies in her room wasn’t working. Maybe the reason this place has changed directors three times in two years is because there are serious safety issues that need to be addressed. Also, they are very good at making promises of improvements that never happen, don’t buy into what they will do in the future, look at what they are doing now.

The staff members are absolutely amazing they would be a 10 out of 10, they have just been fabulous. Even though our loved one is in assisted living, he does not need much help but if he ever did they would be there immediately for him. He absolutely loves the food, and the activities are still pretty limited but they do allow live music. This had been great for the residents they can and mingle with each other while social distancing. One of the best selling points is the value and it is in the best location. The biggest thing for our loved one is he only has to write one check a month for his payments, and not a bunch of separate checks or payments, it just makes things much easier.

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