Brookdale Brookhurst

Its hard to sufficiently review this outstanding residential care facility in such a way as to do it justice. Descriptors such as "amazing", "over-the-top", "incredibly professional in ALL areas", are hardly adequate. Please indulge me....... Our mother has been a resident at Brookdale AL/Memory Care Facility on Brookhurst Street in Westminster, CA since March 2016. We were recommended to Brookdale by [name removed] from "A Place For Mom". I was in quite a desperate frame of mind at the time, very worried about finding somewhere that would be a good fit for our mother. [Name removed] walked me through every step of that process, assuring me that she was doing all she could to make sure I would feel good about our ultimate decision. [Name removed] is by far one of the most kind, sincerely caring, devoted and professional women I have ever known. I hope anyone tasked with needing to make living arrangements for their parents, will have the good fortune to work with [name removed] or someone like her!) In the more than four years since our mother has lived at Brookdale, we have watched this stellar staff rise to difficult situations to treat our mother with dignity, genuine care and grace. She might be considered by some to be a "tough customer". Moving to Brookdale from her independent life after suffering a CVA (stroke) in November 2015, was exceptionally hard on her. Accepting her new home at Brookdale was even harder. Yet this staff has successfully enabled our mom to accept her limitations, giving her a sense that she is safe and cared for by people that will do, and have done, just about anything to ensure her comfort and happiness. The attention they gave our mother and all the the female residents on Mother's Day was SO special, making up for the fact that we are not able to visit our mother because of COVID-19. This is not a "high end" facility. The team members are hard working employees that don't make nearly enough money for what they are entrusted to do for all the residents. Yet, they come to work at Brookdale, ready to serve, treating all residents as though they are family, respecting them and seeing them through the challenges that a come with accepting that they may be not able to live as independently as they once did. The care our mother and the other residents receives and the services available to them, might only be expected in a "high end" facility and yet Brookdale does what those places do and more. Our experience with Brookdale tells us that is it unlikely our mother would receive the kind of care she does, even if she were in a higher end facility. Brookdale has truly become her home and the staff has become her family. This incredible staff does not just show up for work. They carry out their many tasks on behalf of the residents as though they are caring for their own family members. It is indeed a group effort and they do it seamlessly: [Name removed] the very capable Executive Director of Brookdale Westminster, is invested in every resident and employee, availing herself almost 24/7. [Name removed], the Business Office Manager makes sure the lights stay on, and manages the tricky business of collecting rent each month with pure grace. [Names removed]and the other front office staff, answer phones and greet people as though they are the only people there in spite of how busy they are juggling multiple tasks simultaneously. [Name removed], the Activities Director brings her many years of experience to Brookdale, going all out to provide meaningful and appropriate social activities. [Name removed] and his entire kitchen staff prepare and serve meals as though they were cooking for their own fussy families, assisting the residents with their own specific dietary needs. The dedicated custodial and housekeeping staff go all out ensuring that Brookdale is ready for inspection every day (and no, this place NEVER smells of uncared or forgotten members of society!). In addition to weekly housekeeping, this staff goes in to our mom's apartment when necessary to make sure our mom's apartment is well maintained and little tasks that need attending to are done. [Name removed] (I know there are more and I'm not spelling names right!) are just a few of the miracle working caregivers, med techs, LVNs who work SO hard and with such ease to get our mom to take her life saving medications as though it was her own idea (what would we do without you girls!?). Our mother feels particularly "connected" to the people on the housekeeping/custodial and caregiver teams. its easy to understand why! [Name removed] , the Nurse Practitioner from Caremore (so aptly named!) is absolutely on top of our mom's medical needs doing everything she can to ensure ALL residents receive the medical/psychological attention they need, especially during this time of COVID-19. Her communication with me is invaluable. There are many more unnamed members of this team whose efforts are every bit as vital as those listed, working together, all for the benefit of EVERY resident and their respective families! To this team, we will always owe a debt of gratitude that cannot be paid! If I sound like I'm gushing a bit.... it's valid. Im truly not overstating the facts. My life is exceptionally complicated. It keeps me away from our mom far more than I would like, COVID-19 notwithstanding, I absolutely could not attend to the many responsibilities I face daily if I didn't know our mom was being cared for by such capable, caring people in such a nice, clean, well run facility. My sister lives on the East Coast misses our mother terribly and takes great comfort also knowing our mom is being so well cared for. The communication I enjoy with the staff is open and almost daily because our mom's various needs. I trust them to be truthful with me and appreciate them responding to my many emails and calls, knowing they are very busy with other residents and their families. In this era of COVID-19, the staff's workload has increased considerably. Yet each resident is seen in their "shelter in place" apartment daily, their various needs and health are assessed. To date, NOT ONE resident or staff member has contracted the virus! Well done Brookdale Westminster, very well done! You are what I can only hope all care facilities aspire to!

The place was pleasant and had a great dining area. The amenities for needs were great!

I would not recommend to anyone ,they do not really care for loved ones.They medicate rather then deal with there needs and way over priced .and rooms are not cleaned .and thy charge you for everything even it was not done .please if u love your loved ones this is not the place pulled my father in -law out after five weeks .