Brookdale Meridian MC

When we needed help caring for my grandma, we chose Brookdale Meridian Memory Care. I was nervous about the transition, but they made it as seamless as possible. From day one, everyone was welcoming and supportive. The facility was clean and festively decorated. I was impressed most by the sense of community Brookdale creates. The caregivers are hardworking and compassionate. They were very interactive and accommodating to our family. The resident care coordinator is experienced and genuinely cares for all her residents. She was attentive, ensured my grandma had everything she needed, and was an excellent resource for our family when times were hard. I was also impressed with the various activities and social events available for residents. The activities coordinator is encouraging and offered things for me to do with my grandma even when activities were not scheduled. The culture here is exactly what you would want for your loved ones, even maintenance goes out of their way to help.

We do not participate in the activities but our loved one loves the activities which is what matters. Our loved one has been able to acclimate very easily and it feels like home to her. We like the smaller scale of the community, it is not as overwhelming. Based on the experience we have had so far with Brookdale Meridian we would recommend them to other families.

Mom had a horrible break and was unruly. They help keep her calm and comfortable. She does not know us anymore but she smiles when we come in and likes her caregivers.

The staff are really good. They made our intake job very easy. They set up my fathers room really good and I was happy with that. My loved one is a challenging patient and they take care of him well and do the best that they can, they are doing a great job.

I like Brookdale Meridian a lot. They haven't had any cases of COVID. There are separate buildings for memory care and assisted living. The memory care area has a low number of residents. They have a nurse on-sight most of the time. There is a doctor that visits once a week. If there are any changes with my loved one, Brookdale calls and lets me know. They did have outdoor visitation that we sat 12 feet apart to see our loved one; however, that has stopped. They do allow me to drop off items for my loved one and call her from the sidewalk. If there are no phone in the resident's room, they can go to the office to take phone calls from their loved ones.

Brookdale Meridian is a memory care community. I believe they could have had more engaging activities for the residents, instead of listening and watching the TV of songs with a singer. The residents had since this before. This wasn't the best experience for my loved one, from what they had said. The room was lovely, colorful, had plenty of space for my loved one, clean, and new looking. The food seemed ok.

Excellent services and staff, but very expensive and they so not take medicare.

We were very fortunate that the director of this community came in on a holiday weekend to do our tour with us for my mom. They did a great job showing us around the beautiful community, they took their time and answered all our questions. We did feel that the location was further away from our home than we wanted but I would definitely recommend this community and taking a tour here.

This is a great place with great care. The staff is outstanding and very nice and helpful. A clean atmosphere that is enjoyable. They have excellent activities. The food is very enjoyable. I would recommend this care to others.

We recently moved my parents to Brookdale from independent living. The first few weeks of transition for them was difficult, but the staff at Brookdale were so patient, caring and wonderful with them. It was a difficult decision for my siblings and I to make the decision to move them to assisted living. But we are so happy we did. The staff at Brookdale is wonderful, They are always available to answer my questions and go the extra mile to make my parents feel like it is their home. I feel like I have had the bricks lifted from my shoulders knowing, they are safe and well taken care and any emergency can be handled by their excellent staff.

My mom lived at Clare Bridge for a couple of years before her death. Everyone there was loving, caring, and so wonderful throughout her time there, especially during her last days. The staff is absolutely wonderful, treating our family like family. You can tell they love their work. My mothers dementia got very severe towards the end of her life, and the staff always found ways to keep her active and social in whatever way she was able. Although more expensive than other memory care in the area, you truly get what you pay for. I would recommend Clare Bridge to anyone looking for their parent who has memory problems. I had a great experience there, and I know my mom did too.

Clare Bridge has a clean, homey atmosphere with caring staff. Any issues we had were addressed immediately by a caring, compassionate Director. My husband is at risk for falling and I wish they had a better call, or warning, system as with dementia he does not understand and will not use the pull string. Molly

My Dad has lived at Clare Bridge for nearly two years. I am there almost every day to spend time with him. I selected Clare Bridge for my Dad after researching area facilities online and by phone, and then touring the several facilities on my short list. My initial visit to Clare Bridge was a drop-in visit on a cold, snowy Sunday afternoon. Inside it was bright and warm, and caregivers were sitting at tables in an activity room doing an art project with residents. There were dog dishes and a dog pillow for the resident dog, Lily, in the living room. I could smell supper cooking. I was welcomed and given a walk-through introduction to the facility. I came back to talk to the manager during business hours, and another time to eat lunch there and sit in on an activity. I was made to feel welcome every time. Clare Bridge feels like home, not an institution. The smaller scale (all one level, with a circular walking path) is a good fit for my Dad. I like that he has his own bedroom/potty, but that the private rooms for baths are separate and supervised. The staff/resident ratio was comparable to other facilities at the time I was researching. The caregivers at Clare Bridge are kind, patient, responsive, and positive. They undergo training when hired, and continue learning every day on the job, as they mentor each other on what is helpful with individual residents (for example, how to best help an individual resident to use her eating utensils, or what need an individual resident is expressing with his behavior). Each caregiver is a valued team member. Their ideas and input are encouraged in “stand up” meetings. Call buttons are responded to in a timely manner. The daily structured activities follow a predictable schedule and are seven days a week. My thought is that the repetitiveness of activities allows residents to feel comfortable in mastering the activities and secure in knowing what to expect. I have also observed individualized one-on-one activity time with residents, as well. Residents are individually invited and encouraged to come to activities, and made to feel welcome. There are occasional field trips on the Clare Bridge bus, for example, trips to a Lugnuts game, to the mall, lunch out, bowling, and visiting an apple orchard. Recently there has been a musical performance once a month in the evening. . Also, the Lansing area offers many additional opportunities for me to take my Dad out for enrichment activities when he has desired additional stimulation and activity, for example, classes, concerts, and museums. You can tell that a great deal of thought has gone into creating a pleasant dining experience. There are tablecloths on the table, cloth napkins, and “real” dishes. Caregivers are aware of interpersonal relationships and work to encourage social interaction through seating patterns. Individual help in eating is provided for those who need it. Food arrives at the table ready for specific individuals. For example, chicken is served chopped finely for someone who has trouble chewing. Another resident is given food that can be eaten with her fingers. Meals are relaxed, and accommodate slow eaters. Sometimes classical music is playing in the background. Also, snacks are offered three times a day. Residents’ families are invited to join their loved ones at special dinners several times a year. I enjoy the opportunity to meet other families who are in a similar stage of life. Clare Bridge sponsored two family information meetings, which were very helpful. One discussed dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, and the other one was about holiday family times. My Dad’s monthly cost has varied (both up and down) over his time at Clare Bridge, according to his needs as outlined in his personal service plan. When I have seen the need for change in the type and frequency of care (more service or less service) I have requested a meeting for a review of his plan, and adjustments have been made. I feel that Clare Bridge is a safe, supportive, and protected place for my Dad.

I am sorry that I can not give a glowing review. I have first hand knowledge of facilities in the area. I felt Clare Bridge would be in line with what they promised...I unfortunately didn't find this to be the case. Cleanliness: "fluff" on the bedroom carpeting-maybe dead skin and blood on the carpet-this was from frquent falling and bleeding on his arms, but no attempt was made to clean it up-4 wks. later it was still there. Friendliness: aids were friendly but untrained in most areas of care. Lily, the resident dog, was wonderful. She seemed to know how to spread herself around to all the patients. Value: The starting fee was $5300 and within the first month the prices were raised approx 50%. They charged for providing/storing bathing supplies. Isn't that a bar of soap and a towel? I understand the need to raise fees as the patient's needs change, but this was not the case. He became less mobile...mostly in a wheelchair or bed...less care necessary Activities: What activites? Care Services: The aids are not trained at all. They are friendly but don't know what to do in case of emergency (i.e. if patient falls he lays on the floor until another person can be freed up to assist.There were 2 aids standing over him but they did not feel comfortable is getting him off the floor. He is only a small man---approx. 120 lbs) They don't have enough aids. I had to request a wheelchair pad and bed pad to prevent bed sores. It took over a week to get those items. The patient sat in urine which soaked his pants and his socks. No one was overseeing those patients and so he just sat there in his urine until a visitor complained. Again lack of supervision. One day the patient sat choking and gasping for breath...fortunately, a visitor arrived and help was called to assist. Again lack of supervision. There seems to be a lack of concern for their patients. Coordination of Services: non-existent. The hospice care and the management don't seem to communicate,,,i,e, bathing- hospice said 5 times and management said 2 time per week. After delving into the bathing issues it became obvious that neither knew what other was doing. If the patients life expectancy had been longer I would have moved him from the resident. Each time I visited I dreaded the fact that he was there. I made sure that several friends and family people went over daily as well as myself. We all concurred that Clare Bridge is not the care facility we would want a loved one to reside. Sadly he passed, but no longer has to suffer the indignity of living at this facility.

Unfortunately, I had a pretty poor experience with Clarebridge. The staff tells you in the sales pitch that there are many "brain stimulating" activities for the residents but whenever I visited my 85 year old mom there (daily, at different times), she was either playing Bingo (which she had never enjoyed before moving there) or circling the facility endlessly in her wheelchair. There aren't enough caregivers at any given time so sometimes it's hard to get anyone to let you in or out of the facility. Once I came upon two workers who had just taken my mom to the bathroom and they were talking about "how gross" it had been. Mom's room was not kept clean; sometimes the trash wasn't emptied for several days. What finally caused me to move her was the medical attention that she received, Clarebridge encourages you to use the services of their staff doctor. This seemed like a good idea to me, having someone on site - but I never once met or spoke with this individual. His messages were relayed to me by a nurse. Expensive medications were constantly being prescribed for her - things like vitamin C that were much more costly than over the counter items, Finally, I was told my mom had lung cancer and needed Hospice services. Great Lakes Hospice, a visiting service, was recommended. My mom fell shortly after this and Great Lakes did not come to examine her for 4 hours. They then called and told me that my mom seemed fine and, even though she told them her pain level was an 8, they wrote down a 4, since she "did not seem that bad." Shortly after this, I moved my mom to Sparrow Hospice where she received several medical exams (as well as kind, excellent care) which showed no evidence of any sort of cancer. I would not put another person I loved at the Clarebridge facility after these experiences.

We are fairly pleased, the staff is very attentive and knowledgeable. They are focused on her needs and are aware of the path of Alzheimer's . It's clean, and the staff is friendly. There is a good value. They are responsive to needs or requests.

The staff at Clare Bridge is really friendly and very caring. The do not treat the residents are customers but rather like a part of the family. They really took a personal interest on my mom and my dad so it really makes me feel much better when making this type of decision. They could offer a bigger variety of activities but they do offer exercising, bingo and several others. The availability of a double room and the way the staff really made us feel welcome when visiting this community really made it an easier choice. It is a very nice small community with only about 30 residents so it really gives it a more home like atmosphere. The community is very well kept and really does not have the institutional feeling. Everyone knows everyone by first name and is a really close community. We are very pleased with our decision.