The Oaks, A Merrill Gardens Community

Our family had an in person tour and the people we spoke with were fabulous. However, the director who did the follow up with our grandparents were very pushy and all about the sales but in the long run they weren't even able to accept our grandparents. The people were still very nice and informative.

The carpet needs a little bit of cleaning, but other than that everything is very clean and the house keepers do a great job with my apartment. The staff members here are just wonderful. The meals and dining service is very nice, I am used to my own cooking so sometimes i miss a few things but everything is nicely placed on the china so i cannot complain. They also make wonderful soups. When it comes to the activities they do a great job each week creating more things to do. I really enjoy the movies and I am looking forward to participating more in the activities once i heal from my surgery.

We chose The Oaks because of the staff members during our virtual tour. They were very attentive and responsive to any questions. They actually made us feel like we were already part of the family and they checked in on us even after the tour, they are great with communication. My mom really enjoys the meals, they are chef prepared and she enjoys the activities provided as well. If I were to have to go into assisted living I would pick here and I would highly recommend

It is a safe place and nice way to meet other people in similar circumstances. The apartment is perfect for my mom and she likes it. The food is average but they offer a variety of options in restaurant style dining. The building is very nice, bright, and comfortable. i would recommend this community but be sure to continue visiting your loved one and be there for them.

A little challenging with mom in quarantine, she is not able to utilize many of the amenities. Generally it is a friendly staff, some staff members have heavy accents so it is hard to communicate with residents who are hard of hearing. Overall good caring staff. Food is good. Medical staff is not as well educated on medical equipment as I would have thought they would be.

My Grandma was living there until a few months ago after you all decided to change Management and a lot of staff. Pretty faces don’t make your business successful. The staff is not all the experienced there was no real nurse on the staff team just LPN which are not a real Nurse. The food has changed for the worse and the place is not clean silverware is always dirty or just maybe needs to be replaced. This place just does not seem to really care about there patients and the staff got worse since August or 2019 once all these changes took place. The Kitchen staff changed the nurses changed Med Techs do not know how to care for people. The you bring you complaints to the New General Manager an she just does not care. This place needs to take a deep dive into who is really running the OAKS

I have family there and since the place has changed management and staff in the last 6 months it’s falling apart the women running the place seems sweet but she is just trying to get people to move in. They over bill they do not care for the people living there the management is the worst I have ever seen before. The food has to be the worst. Silverware always dirty. The staff looks very nice but that comes with a price because it’s all smoke and mirrors to get your business. The place is dirty and you here the people complaining all the time and nothing ever gets resolved. We will be moving our loved one and I am sure there are others to follow I would never leave my loved on there.

What is written here is only the tip of the iceberg. I have since moved my husband to another facility. Four days after my husband moved in, the nurse in charge of memory care called me into her office and said that after my last visit, my husband was very agitated and upset (that I had left without saying goodby) and was kicking at the doors, looking for me and setting off the alarms. "She would appreciate it, if in the future, I would say goodby to him and not just leave". I told her that in the 32 years we've been married I've NEVER left without saying goodby, He is in memory care, do you think he might have forgotten saying goodby to me? Then, at the end of the month, she had a glowing review of his behavior. My husband was at the Oaks 6 months and that was the only written review I was able to get from her. I repeatedly asked for reports and she said she would have the activities director e-mail me weekly. I got 3 emails from her. The list of problems and neglect goes on and on. Showers were not on a regular basis. He would be in the same clothes 24 hours a day sometimes for a week. He slept in his shoes, socks and clothes and in a recliner. his feet were not even looked at until I had him take his shoes and socks off because his legs were swollen (another problem) and saw that his toe nails were not trimmed in 4 months. They eventually had a podiatrist come out to attend to his feet. I asked him how he trimmed his fingernails because they were short, he put his fingers up to his mouth and made a biting gesture. I guess if he had been more limber he could have done his toes the same way. If you decide to do business with them, get EVERYTHING in writing. Its a beautiful facility, the food is very good, some of the staff are truly caring and attentive. There is a new director, head nurse in memory care and change if other staff. It may happen that they are able to turn the many issues around but not in time for us.

My husband spent a few months here. Looking back, it was a nightmare. Valid reviews can hardly be submitted unless you've moved in. The building is attractive, and they can put forward a great face while trying to woo you. The real care is what matters, after move-in. I visited my husband every day, usually had dinner with him. More often than not, silverware and glassware were not clean. I complained to a kitchen worker several times. Finally he said, "We want you to be happy, but sometimes we don't even have hot water here." Seriously? One night at 1:30 a.m. my husband fell and got a bump on the head. I was called and immediately got up and went there (a 12-minute drive). There were 2 night caregivers for 40 residents. I found my husband in a straight chair in the hall outside of his room, all alone, and the two caregivers were in the TV room down the hall on their phones. All of the skin was off his knees down to the flesh. My daughter suggested it looked like he'd been drug along the floor. Some of the caregivers were good. Others not so good. Every invoice I received had an error...charges that they could not identify, so they crossed them off when I questioned them. Some of these kinds of places have a rule that there always has to be one caregiver with residents such as in the TV room or activity room at all times. Evidently that is not the rule at The Oaks. Often no worker was in the room with a large number of people. One woman fell out of her wheel chair on her face about once a week. The "nurse" (LVN) would often call paramedics to take residents across the street to the hospital asking that they be medicated for aggression, which is common in dementia. One of the paramedics said to me, "They do this all the time when they shouldn't. It's their business to take care of these people. I'm not going to medicate them. They can't run their own business. If they call us, we have to go. Do you know a new place is going up down the street?" I could go on and on, but I think you get the point. Keep looking and don't place a lot of value on reviews of those who haven't spent a fair amount of time in the facility, watching what's really going on daily. The activity director left a lot to be desired.

Not a place I would bring my grandma. The staff did not seem to know anything. The place was not very clean. We heard the entire staff has changed and the people that use to be there were great

My mom was taken with The Oaks from our first visit. The decision was hers and she is doing so well. Staff is caring & concerned. They see to all her needs & more. [Name removed]’s daughter

I am so thankful that my family removed my grandma from The Oaks. Assistant Living and Memory Care are ran terrible. I know this is a business and it is has to make its money to operate but A Big No To The Oaks. Uncaring no activities in memory care. My observation is the staff that brought warmth are now gone.

Didn’t care for it. Old. Cold. Did not look at independent living when we were there.

beautiful complex but just too expensive for the level of care for my Mom

Newer facility, near huge hospital/health clinic complex. Food was good; 'anytime dining'.

Administration is not helpful and they have violated my mother's Resident's Rights mutliple times. They will not provide her charts to me despite my written request following their handbook. I was told because the Director is sick despite the Garden House Director, regional nurse and VP were all included on the email. I am her POA. I hired a nursing consultant and provided written authorization for all records to be provided to her and the General Manager refused to provide my mom's charts and is refusing to give them to me. There were unauthorized medication changes and was a struggle to get them back per her doctors order. It took almost a month to get her care plan, despite my multiple requests. This is to be reviewed and signed within 14 days if changes.

Administration is not helpful and they have violated my mother's Resident's Rights mutliple times. They will not provide her charts to me despite my written request following their handbook. I was told because the Director is sick despite the Garden House Director, regional nurse and VP were all included on the email. I am her POA. I hired a nursing consultant and provided written authorization for all records to be provided to her and the General Manager refused to provide my mom's charts and is refusing to give them to me. There were unauthorized medication changes and was a struggle to get them back per her doctors order. It took almost a month to get her care plan, despite my multiple requests. This is to be reviewed and signed within 14 days if changes.

I toured The Oaks while looking for a new place for my loved one and I to move. I thought that the community was nice, but for only being two years old, it already seemed well worn. I also didn't feel that they offered as many amenities as some other places we had looked.

I toured here. It was nice, it’s a 2 story facility, and one of their big selling points is that you can eat any time of day you want but it didn’t seem great because most people need more of a set structure. It was a nice facility and they had a lot of amenities to provide. They have a gym available, though I don’t think that’s something that my mom would ever use. Other than that, I think they provide the same activities that a lot of other places do like crafts, movie nights, and sometimes entertainers will come in and play music for the residents. In the end, the decision really boiled down to the price and the fact that they had a waiting list so we went to a different community