Sunrise at Fair Oaks

Reviews

My mother has been at this community for 6 months. We selected it based on the high ratings and PR provided by the sales team. We’ve tried to be understanding and allow for a “break in” period. We’ve had experience with other communities for my father and mother-in-Law at much lower costs. I must say that most of the healthy residents really do like it here. Those that need to depend on their services, not so much, based on the complaints from the residents’ council meetings. Medications are not delivered on time. If an emergency button is pushed by a resident to request a medication, there is no rush to get it to that person. Things disappear from residents’ rooms. Food is often served cold, dessert may be dropped off before entree’s are eaten. Although there is a menu, servers seem to drop off food randomly without waiting for an order. I stayed for dinner recently and found ice in the middle of my slice of meat loaf. Caregivers seem to order services w/o asking permission from the people who pay the bills. Though i’m perfectly capable of cutting my mother’s toenails, apparently an appointment was set up with a podiatrist who charged $67 to trim her nails. Before she moved in, all of her medications were carefully gone over with the staff (including the nurse) of the community, prices given, etc. Two months in, she needed one of these drugs, only to discover it was never ordered. I had planned an outing with my mom through the activities’ director who explained how it would work, where the people going on the outing would sit to have lunch, etc., etc. I arrived to discover that my mom had not come down to the designated area to join the group for lunch an hour earlier, but no one had thought to send someone up to her room to see why not. So when I got there to get on the bus, she was still in her room in her pj’s. Of course we missed the trip. But how could the activity director sit there for an hour of lunch and not check on one of the participants who wasn’t where she was suppose to be in an assisted living community? Despite the high cost of this community, I don’t believe they pay very high wages. I have absolutely nothing against any nationality or minority, but due to accents, inflections or pronunciations there is a communication problem with a high percentage of the staff exacerbated by poor hearing by many of the residents. This is true of the physical therapists, the caregivers, the nurses, the dining staff etc. The more assistance you need, the bigger the problem is. Those that don’t need physical care seem to be happy here. It is noteworthy that though the community is close to capacity of 100 people, there are rarely more than the same 15 to 20 (at the absolute most) people at an activity, an often a lot less. The same people monopolize the sofa and chairs in the living room ALL the time and the same 4 or 5 people monopolize the big screen TV room all day although they are just sleeping in the room. So those two rooms with comfy chairs are always unavailable. The facility is well taken care of, with unused staged seating areas throughout the second and third floor. My mom can no longer walk, doesn’t like to play cards, and finds most of movies offerings incredibly boring (I would agree if you have a TV in your room.) The Fireside chats are dominated by the crew that lives in the living room 7 days a week, so that’s a predictable activity. The community says they have a resident dog, but it is apparently very old, in poor health, comes in with a staff member and my mom has yet to see it. The pet therapy dog comes in to see the living room crew and Valerie. No one ever takes the time to explain the activities to new residents which would be nice, or to give them a personal invite or introduction to others. You are sort of own your own. Activities don’t necessarily happen on time or at all. If you don’t like lemon flavored water, you are out of luck, because that’s all that is offered. And forget about the constant availability of some yummy sweet snacks which i’ve found at every other community I’ve ever visited. If you’ve still got good teeth there are often apples. Otherwise, there are packs of teeny tiny graham crackers.

First Hand Experience: I recently visited a relative at Sunrise of Fair Oaks in the Memory Unit and I was sicken by the way they treat the elderly-without a voice. The place stinks with a foul smell and residents were walking around with wet clothes from not being changed. Staff just sit residents in front of the TV and chat with each other. I can't imagine treating a dog the way they treat People that live there.

They were very welcoming. When you walk in, the place feels like someone's home. It was very clean and well-maintained. Walking through the hallways I felt like I was in a nice apartment building. The staff are very professional and friendly. The dining area feels like a nice restaurant,and I was impressed with the menu choices and the care given to meal planning. The garden areas are beautiful and inviting. The residents seem happy and well cared for. I also appreciated how they keep records and document everything. I left there feeling like I'd be very comfortable having my loved one live there.

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