Parkland Memory Care

My mother was dead four months after moving to Parkland directly due to staff not following appropriate safety procedures that they, themselves recommended. Despite earlier conversations with the executive director, nothing was done to educate or address gaps in care. After a fall, about which nobo...

My mother was dead four months after moving to Parkland directly due to staff not following appropriate safety procedures that they, themselves recommended. Despite earlier conversations with the executive director, nothing was done to educate or address gaps in care. After a fall, about which nobody could explain or provide any specifics, my mother was supposed to be in a wheelchair. An aide left her unattended in the bathroom where she fell and broke her hip. I made several requests to review documentation of the fall, but records were never provided. I was told they don't share that information, although when I contacted the State license agency, I was told they are required to share it. One example of the care provided occurred when I stopped by early one Sunday evening and found my mother dirty, discombobulated and with her room in disarray. Based on her usual demeanor, it was obvious that she was suffering from a delirium. (We later learned that she had a UTI, which does typically trigger a delerium for her. So much for having clinicians on staff.) Staff were sitting on the sofa watching television - without any of the residents. And this occurred while I was there, when they might have at least made an effort to appear to be caring for residents. I learned my mother had been like this before dinner - nearly 3 hours - and nobody took the initiative to clean my mother or the room. I cleaned my mother and helped her change clothes. I was told they were waiting for me to leave then they would clean the room. But I had to ask three times, then waited over an hour for someone, who then they said they couldn't find a vacuum. While disappointing, I thought the executive director would use this as a training opportunity. I was wrong. When I communicated all of this to the executive director, she attempted to make excuses, inadvertently contradicting herself in the process and certainly not expressing concern. To cap off the wretched experience, I was told that I didn't need to know about what happened there as they were "used to it." If my mother is exhibiting unusual behavior, I most certainly do need to know. We were so concerned that we were in the process of researching other places for my mother when she broke her hip. The facility is new and looks lovely. They are very good at keeping up appearances - in more ways than one. I don't want anyone to go through what we went through. If you are even considering Parkland, I would strongly encourage you to visit often, especially at unusual times on weekends and evenings.