Chatham Ridge Assisted Living

We picked this community because, we didn't have much of a choice. The whole system needs to improve. The elderly need more advocates. My words of advice to other families, looking to place their loved one at this community is; no matter how nice it looks, you still have to make sure your loved one is being taking care of and don't give up.

This is a wonderful community. They are dealing with staffing issues like everyone else; however, the staff that work here are wonderful. The communication between the staff and family is good. There are three meals a day served, along with snacks. There is no choice of meals on the memory care side. There activities are here; however, there are not as many as there could be due to the lack of staffing currently.

On the surface Chatham Ridge looks like a great place which is why we picked it for our loved one, however they were very understaffed and undertrained. The bottom line is we strongly encourage families not to just pick this community based on looks or based off a singular tour, we encourage them to ask all the difficult and detailed questions to ensure your loved one is going to get the proper care and attention.

My family I feel does not get enough of the food that is needed. It needs to be monitored a bit better. One particular meal am thinking about they gave her a small chicken leg, a small scoop of veg-all. Small bun, they asked for another piece of chicken which was provided. But they must ask for seconds which many of the residents will not ask so they are not getting enough at all times. They do not have options nor ask the residents what they do like or would not eat. Need to have more individualize the meals better.

My 85 year old mother was in Chatham Ridge for 2 months. Within that time frame, my mother's health deteriorated so dramatically that she went from a physically fit woman with dementia to a helpless woman in a wheelchair. These were the factors attributing to her decline: 1- My mother was never bathed and her clothes were rarely changed. In 2 months I recall only 1 bath given. Residents would walk around with a diaper full of feces and feces would be smeared over the walls. 2- My mother was sent to the hospital 7 times in 2 months! 3- A family member and friend went to visit one day and found a staff member sitting on mom's lap. The staff member said they were trying to keep her from getting up. 5- During the first few days, mom's purse, dentures, prescription glasses and cell phone were all "lost" and never found again. 6- Caretakers did not seem to be interested in the residents. 8- The Executive Director would not return my calls and I later found out that she had quit.

They are under new management and they have hired a new activities director and new memory care director as well as additional staff. They are working hard on their training and leadership and making improvements around the facility.

Chatham Ridge seems about the same as the other places I looked at- pretty average, not great. While I think the caregivers are good people, and I think they try to do the best they can with what the company allows, I don't think they're very motivated. My loved one had a bad housing situation - an incontinent neighbor who didn't have the care that he needed. And unfortunately I couldn't leave my loved one there. If he had been in a room by himself, things might have been better. But he was too sentient for the lack of care and interaction from the staff going on there.

They're having serious staffing problems right now. With the staff that are there, you have the good and the bad. The food was terrible in the beginning, but it's getting better. They especially have trouble keeping kitchen staff. The facility itself is okay. Recently they have new ownership, and I don't know yet how that will go. I don't know what their feelings are on certain things and if things will get better or not.

The nursing care here is absolutely terrible. My mother was sick for weeks and the nurse never even came to see her and was rude when I called her about it. I had to complain up the the executive director just to get someone to take her to the doctor. This happened more than once. I also heard other people complaining that their mother hadn't been bathed for days. They also make frequent medication errors. The food is a joke for the price you pay...they often don't even have the food that they show on their menus. They also raised the rent $[amount removed] at the beginning of the year with promises of improvements, and things have only gotten worse since Navion bought the place. Don't put your loved ones here, I truly believe you will regret it.

Most of the staff is really good. I know how hard it is to take care of memory care patients. You really should make a care plan to review before you come in and review it every 2 weeks to make sure staff is addressing any changing care needs. Be mindful that no place is perfect and they try to do their best but you need to oversee your loved ones care. I would like to see a higher staff to resident care ratio.

We've really appreciated how welcoming they've been. They've been wonderful and kind in helping our mom navigate her situation, where she's still at home but her husband is in memory care here. One thing that has been less than ideal is the staff level. Sometimes even if there were just one more person, situations could have been better dealt with. But Dad loves the food. It's a good variety and high quality. They have a lot of wonderful activities, the bulk of which seem to occur in the morning or early afternoon. Sometimes in the late afternoon, I've noticed that the activity that is scheduled is not necessarily the activity that's going on, but maybe that's a part of dementia care, working with the people and the situation you have in front of you. And on the other hand, I'm glad they're not rigid. For instance, if we come to take Dad out on a walk, they never say "No, you can't do that. We're in the middle of something." Which has been nice.

We went with Chatham Ridge because of the value of the money, a lot of the stuff here is new so it is like a brand new facility, and it is relatively close to my dads hometown. He was in a hospital and they made the transition for h im very easy on us and on him. The room sizes here are decent, he has a private room and it is very proportionate for his needs. They have a program where they bring in doctors and charge for that but my dad does not need that because the VA takes care of his medical needs. We have had a couple of issues but overall I would recommend to others looking.

My loved one was to stay there for 10 days, that is what we paid for. He ended up staying for only 4 days. My loved one fell and broke the headboard, and they didn't seem to care about the fall. He was in the memory unit. Some of the staff didn't seem as concerned about the residents as they should. I felt the staff weren't watching the memory care residents and there was a resident who was trying to leave. There was a woman who laid down on my loved one's roomate's bed and the staff would have to move her. There was a funny smell in the memory unit, compared to the other units. I went out and told the staff I wanted to take my husband home. At first the staff didn't want to have him leave. This community wasn't for my loved one. I wouldn't consider putting my loved one back in this community.

I would want people to know looking into Chatham Ridge Assisted Living that the memory care unit is BEAUTIFUL. It smells very good and clean. They have beautiful designs on the walls, the interior design, the pictures, the colors everything is bright and cheerful. The staff are extremely helpful and attentive to the residents here. They have an activities director name [name removed] in the memory unit and she is fabulous, she is so tech savvy and is able to include the families in all activities, even if you cannot be present. She keeps the residents involved and active. They had a carnival outside, they do beauty salon activities, sing alongs, outside performers, great holiday activities, etc. I would recommend this facility.

Very impressed at our visit! Facility is bright and welcoming. Liked the concept of a circular layout in the memory care area which keeps residents close to the action at all times. Feels very much like a home and quality of care seems excellent.

Helpful friendly staff. Beautiful rooms and very clean. Lots of activities provided. Lovely dining hall and delicious food. Staff respond carefully and pay attention to the needs of residents as well as family and friends. Very close to shopping and nearby dining, shows, nature/gardens etc. Strongly recommend consideration

Beautiful building, very well laid out, all of the residents we met were very happy. Rooms were very spacious. Dining room was inviting. This would have been our first choice but there was a waiting list and we did not have time on our side, but very easy to see why there is a waiting list!

My sister has been at Chatham Ridge since it opened. It is the third place that she has been in. We are very happy that we moved her to CR because it is definitely the best place that she resided in since her stroke. She is well cared for and very happy. It amazes me that she could have such a great outlook but I attribute this to CR. Every time I leave CR, I leave feeling good because I never have to worry about her care. It is so comforting to know that our loved one, with her disabilities, is well taken care of and very importantly, happy.

My loved one was placed in Memory Care incorrectly. They should have placed in assisted living. Changed the care plan without consulting me, the POA. Beware