Suite Living Inver Grove Heights

If I were advising a friend who was going to be moving their mom into this facility and coordinating with hospice care; I'd tell them to get every single thing written down, don't take their word, and take your own check list every time you visit. They'll tell you one thing, but will only do what they can get away with. Make sure that you have records in regards to what care is required for your loved one and create a check list yourself. Compare your checklist to theirs and make sure it lines up, because YOU will be the one who's responsible for overseeing the care of your loved one. If you fully trust them, you will be surprised by how short they fall. If I had to do it all over again, that's what I'd do. I decided to fully trust them, because I'd heard such wonderful things about hospice care, but that was not our experience. The lead nurse was just wonderful, whereas some of the daily staff we interacted with were not. My loved one was there for six weeks before she passed. She had late stage dementia when she moved in, and I was with her everyday because I lived close by. When I tell people the story about the end of her life, I rave about A Place for Mom. My Senior Living Advisor [name removed] facilitated things for me, and she was just wonderful. During intake for my loved one, the hospice care staff from [agency name removed] and Suite Living were awesome, but they didn't follow through on any of the stuff they said they'd do. So I wouldn't give either of them high ratings. A Place for Mom did a great job, but the community did not. I thought maybe it was my own grief and being with my loved one throughout the end of her life. So I had to take a step back and evaluate it, as if it were someone else's experience. Now I'm pretty clear on how I feel. The care got worse towards the end of her life and I don't know if they didn't know what to do, or if they just didn't care enough. If I wasn't there to feed her, she wouldn't eat. Suite Living staff said, "We don't have enough people to sit down 1 on 1 with residents to feed them, that's hospice's job". It then felt like it was my job to relay that message to the hospice agency, but I thought there was an ongoing communication between the two. I asked to see the notes that they've communicated these things with the hospice agency and of course, they never showed it to me. When it comes to meals and dining - if you're someone who can fully take care of yourself, it's great, but that wasn't the case for my loved one. She needed assistance to eat, and there were times I'd visit and there'd be food all over the front of her and in her lap because she tried to eat, but couldn't get the food to her mouth. I asked them to put a napkin or apron on her to protect her clothing and they were not willing to do that either. My loved one was not vain, but she did take pride in her appearance. She was always clean and well groomed. During intake I asked if they had a hair dresser and they said yes. I told them my loved one would love to have her hair done once a week, when can we get this setup? Their reply was that it could be done that upcoming Monday. As it turns out, she only got her hair done one time - which was five days before she passed. It's like they didn't do it and didn't care to do it. She was also supposed to be getting eye drops for glaucoma 4 times a day. I noticed that her eyes were changing, so I asked when will they give her the eye drops because I'd never seen anyone do it. The caregiver replied that they give it to her at night. I then asked to see her chart. Other times I asked to see the chart, they wouldn't allow me to stand next to them. This time I was adamant, and she allowed me to stand next to her. The instructions said only once a day. I looked through all of her medical records and even called a family member who was the administrator of medication for our loved one. The records I found, alongside my family member, both confirmed that there were no changes made by a doctor and it was still supposed to be administered 4 times per day. At the end, I don't think she could hardly see. Another example would be the laundry. Yes they would get it done, but some of her items came up missing. I but bought new towels for her upon moving in, and some of them disappeared. I'm the one who moved her in and I'm the one who removed her belongings out when she passed. So I know that some of them are gone. I told them this and they said they'd look around for them, but they never got back to me about it. The facility was only open for about 6 months and that might be of value to some people. They say they provide end of life care in hospice, and I think my loved one was the only one there in hospice - so it wasn't like the agency had a high level of need or demand from other residents. The day we did intake for my loved one, [name removed], from Suite Living's corporate office was filling in for the director. I told her I had names of hospice agencies and asked for her opinion on who could provide the best care. She recommended [agency name removed]. She said they were excellent and how she used to work with them. From her recommendation, that was my experience. Again, It's up to YOU to oversee the care of your loved one here at Suite Living.

This is a nice and clean community. It feels more homey as it is a smaller community. We are overall satisfied here. They have activities for the residents, and try to engage the residents in the activates.

They took automatic payment out of my checking account on the 5th of the month and my wife passed away on May 6th. I figured that they would have had the courtesy or compassion to refund me some of that money especially after her passing away to help me out.