Avenir Memory Care at Scottsdale

Avenir is run by Kristie Chadwick who is truly one of the worst people I have ever encountered. My mother was under her care for 6 months and it was a disaster. I found Ms. Chadwick to be incompetent and extremely manipulative. She presents herself well, but press her for more information about h...

Avenir is run by Kristie Chadwick who is truly one of the worst people I have ever encountered. My mother was under her care for 6 months and it was a disaster. I found Ms. Chadwick to be incompetent and extremely manipulative. She presents herself well, but press her for more information about her background and you will realize she is in over her head. She is a former horse trainer who lacks the formal education, experience and expertise that would be expected of someone in her position. She repeatedly displayed poor judgment in areas that seriously impacted the lives of my mother and other residents. For instance, it took me less than a week to realize that there were almost no activities for the residents; they would eat and then spend most of the day in bed with minimal physical or mental stimulation. As a result, my mother lost her ability to walk during her time there. The lack of activities was one of many ways Ms. Chadwick saved money. She did arrange four outings per year for the residents (most facilities have one outing per week!), and the first outing she planned while my mother was there was a “Casino Day” which involved taking all the residents to a casino for the day. Anyone who knows anything about memory loss knows that casinos are the last place you should take someone suffering from memory loss, as they are loud and chaotic and confusing by design. When I mentioned this to Ms. Chadwick, it was like it had never even crossed her mind. It seemed clear that Ms. Chadwick was much more focused on advancing her own career and covering her own a** (including by blaming everything on the residents or their families) than ensuring quality care for the residents. The worst part was when my mother was seriously assaulted by a nighttime caregiver and ended up with bruises all over her body. When I reported the incident to Ms. Chadwick, she denied any involvement by her employee yet refused to allow me to see the surveillance videos. She tried to blame it on my mother by claiming my mother bruised her wrists walking through a doorway (despite the fact that you could see finger marks all over her bruised wrists). Ms. Chadwick’s defense fell apart a week later when I witnessed the same caregiver engaging in the same abusive conduct with another resident late one evening. Ms. Chadwick didn’t give a damn and still did nothing about it. My mother absolutely hated Ms. Chadwick and claimed she was verbally abusive to her and other residents. The bottom line is I would serious think twice before putting your loved one in Ms. Chadwick’s care. At a minimum, do your homework and ask a lot of questions about her background, education, training and experience.

I stayed here for one over night shift as a caregiver. The staff were the most rude, bossy, condescending people I have ever met. They treated me like I was the stupidest person alive. I refuse to ever work in this facility again.