Brighton Gardens of Winston-Salem

My mother resided at two different Sunrise assisted living properties: Sunrise of Hunter Mill (HM) in Oakton, VA, and Brighton Gardens (BG) of Winston Salem, NC. Given my two separate experiences with Sunrise properties, I can provide a unique perspective on the experience. Part I: The pitch. It''s ...

My mother resided at two different Sunrise assisted living properties: Sunrise of Hunter Mill (HM) in Oakton, VA, and Brighton Gardens (BG) of Winston Salem, NC. Given my two separate experiences with Sunrise properties, I can provide a unique perspective on the experience. Part I: The pitch. It''s very slick and full of promises. We''ll do activities all the time. We''ll take your Mom on rides in the activity bus. We''ll be very responsive. We''ll keep the room clean. We''ll feed her well. This was the same at both facilities. Part 2: The first month. There were activities and the food was alright, but the response time was sorely lacking. I visited my mother on a daily basis, and would often measure how long it took a caregiver to respond after my Mom pushed her call button. Being fair, it was always a minimum of 10-15 minutes, but sometimes well past a half-hour. But overall, I was quite pleased in that first month and even wrote a positive review of HM. This may have been a mistake because conditions and care degraded rapidly following the review. Part 3: The wind-down. After about 4 months at HM, and after just a couple of months at BG, the following behavior became the norm: With the exception of waking and dressing my Mom in the morning, rolling her in her wheelchair to lunch, and putting her to bed at night, the caregivers rarely checked on my Mom. I literally lived next door to HM and spent lots of time with my Mom so I got to see their routine. They frequently forgot her dental care. They rarely bathed her despite their promise of providing a hot tub bath once a week when I signed the contract. The bathroom was frequently filthy and smelled awful. Part 4: The exit. By the time my Mom transferred from HM to BG, the transportation van didn''t work and if/when it did, there was no driver available. Virtually all activities had ceased. Most significantly, there was pressure from the Executive Director to move my Mom into the "reminiscence" section. Obviously this would have been more profitable for Sunrise. It''s been nationally reported that this is part of their business model. The problem?...my mother doesn''t have Alzheimer''s. Caregivers turn over so frequently it''s hardly worth learning their names. This same trend was later repeated at BG. My Mom''s departure from BG was disturbing, and frankly, surreal. When my Mom had previously moved into HM, they provided a dresser and table in the room. When my Mom moved to BG, a similar dresser and table were provided along with a chair. When we moved my Mom out of BG about 20 months later, we cleared the room of everything but the dresser, table and chair, since they did not belong to us. When we tried to sign out, the Executive Director informed us that we wouldn''t be released until we moved out "all furnishings." We emphatically pointed out that the furnishings WERE NOT OURS. He insisted they were - and how do you prove you DON''T own something? When I pointed out that the upholstery on the chair matched the upholstery of all the chairs in the dining room, he conceded that the chair belonged to BG. He still refused to release the room until my wife and I moved the 6-drawer dresser and table out. We promptly delivered both items to Goodwill. I can only guess that a new Sunrise policy determined that they would be getting out of the furniture-providing business. To save money by leveraging the "remove all furnishings" section of the lease, those with furniture in their rooms are forced to remove this furniture before departing. Epilogue: My Mom is now in a much better facility that is much more adequately staffed. The people work harder to help than they do to avoid helping. The new facility has been recently renovated and is significantly cheaper. Bottom Line: Don''t be fooled by the slick marketing and initial promises; there are almost certainly better choices for your loved one than Sunrise.

Recently, my aunt had medical issues that affected her ability to be self-sufficient in her daily life and went so far as to disable her ability to walk. After researching several places in the area, Sunrise Brighton Gardens appeared to have the best outpatient rehabilitation services, as well as co...

Recently, my aunt had medical issues that affected her ability to be self-sufficient in her daily life and went so far as to disable her ability to walk. After researching several places in the area, Sunrise Brighton Gardens appeared to have the best outpatient rehabilitation services, as well as comfortable housing and competitive pricing. My aunt ended up residing at this facility for nearly 3 months. During this time, she made great friends, enjoyed the restaurant style dining with several options every meal. The staff was caring, supportive and welcoming. In the end, my aunt regained her independence and ability to walk. She is well enough to be back in her home but has stated that she wants to return to Sunrise if her health declines again. I can not say how thankful I am for this facility.