The Hearth at Castle Gardens

June 2024

Google

J LYNN2

The Apartments themselves are nice. I have a friend who lives here. Many of the residents don't like the food served at the restaurant and they have been resistant to changing it. Also, the heat and ac are very hard to get regulated, most of the time the temperature i way to hot during the day and too cold at night from what my friend told me. There are several helpful and kind employees and a couple that are not.

February 2023

Google

Christina Cascadilla

Part 1 This review only applies to the memory care section of the building and this facility very well could work for you. The care here is in no way bad, you just have to do your research and make sure this is a good match for your parent, grandparent, or whatever's needs. Realize that the job of an admissions officer is to get you into the building—after writing very large checks—and after this, don't expect this person to be your friend. Do your research as far as what questions to ask at your interview and then do the work needed to confirm the information you were given. What sold me on Castle Gardens were these two things: 1. When I toured the facility, every worker I encountered was wearing a mask and wearing it correctly. (I'm writing this in the third year of the pandemic—still a dangerous time for the elderly.) I was very happy to see this. 2. I was told that someone would be checking on my mother every hour. I found this news very comforting that even at 3:00 a.m. someone would poke their head in her room and make sure she was all right. Unfortunately, both of these things turned out to be fiction. They must send out an announcement that the child of a perspective resident will be touring the building between 10:00 and 11:00, and everyone should wear their mask, and wear it properly, because once I had written $14,000 in checks and we set up the room, on an average day 50% of the workers had their mask under their nose, which is the equivalent of not wearing a mask at all. And—this next information comes from a worker there—the facility does not test workers for Covid, so someone could walk around the place with their mask under their nose acting as the modern day Typhoid Mary and infect everyone until they felt sick enough to go home. Workers rarely checked on my mother. It's not like the workers at night are overburden with work and can't get around to doing this. There were a few times I was there as late as 9:00 or 10:00 p.m. and most of the workers were gathered in this little work area off the dining hall, talking to each other, or looking at their phones. Sometimes one would be using the big screen TV to watch a movie. One day I had a tremendous amount of yardwork to do so, I put on a headset, called my mother, and we talked on the phone for four consecutive hours while I raked and trimmed bushes. During that time, no worker walked into my mother's room. She was positioned right by the door. The most absurd thing was that a month into her stay, they put my mother on a two hour bathroom check. Someone was supposed to come in to her room every two hours and ask her if she needed to go to the bathroom and make sure she didn't fall on the journey there. I asked the nurse manager why my mother would need a two hour bathroom check if someone was coming to check on her every single hour. There was no answer to this question. At your admissions interview, some important information will be omitted. I asked how many nurses and nurses aids they had working during the day and how many nurses and nursing aids they had working the night shift. The answer was two nurses and eight aids during the day, and one nurse and four aids at night. What wasn't mentioned is that they may have nurses working in this facility, but they don't actually let those nurses do anything other than hand out medication. So this is the most important thing that the admissions officer should stress when you are considering Castle Gardens yet won't mention until you're actually there: THIS IS NOT A MEDICAL FACILITY. They will say this often once you are a resident, but never beforehand. Sent from my iPad

February 2023

Google

Ruth Malenda

Update: Pauline appears to be getting more support now that the holidays are past. She is participating in some of the activities and eating at least one meal a day with the other guests. She feels more accepted. This is great. My initial contact- George W continues to be approachable and helpful. The initial sales crew were very attentive and I would score them highly. They gave the impression Pauline would be supported through her transition to living at the Hearth. The place is pretty. The food is fine. The staff is mostly very friendly and kind. But it would have been helpful if the social aspect of living at the Hearth had been addressed more fully. Small things like being given a mentor and being introduced to the other residents would have been helpful. Recently she was actually frightened by the person assigned to pick up her garbage when he banged on her door. It takes time to adjust. Pauline felt like she was being snubbed by the other guests. Being frightened was not helpful. It would be a more positive experience if attention was given to helping the new person “fit in” to the new life style. Moving is hard at any age but missing friends and feeling vulnerable makes it especially difficult at an advanced age.

January 2023

Google

Met Fan since 1968

Christina Cascadilla wanted me to post the second half of her review. So read her Part 1 first, then continue here. Part 2: What this means is that if your parents or grandparent has any kind of medical problem, or a host of different problems, Castle Gardens probably isn't the place for them. Otherwise, you will be going off to the hospital in an ambulance every week or two. For example, early in her stay, my mother had a cut on her leg. This was the result of an ace bandage on her lower leg scrapping off some skin. Blood started to drip down the outside of the ace bandage. I went to the nurse who had earlier handed my mother her medication. He said he couldn't touch the leg, and that our best course of action was a trip off to the hospital. I'm not sure why I listened to this bad advice, as I could've just driven home, gotten a big Band-Aid, and some alcohol and some Neosporin, returned to Castle Garden and patched up the cut myself. Instead, this night involved an ambulance ride to the hospital, and a four hour wait to have a Band-Aid put on my mother's leg. So your parents or grandparents should only be suffering from cognitive loss if they are to become a resident of Castle Garden. If they have any other medical problems, you may have to opt for the memory care unit at one of the local nursing homes, and I will then pity you, because I can tell you from experience that ever since the pandemic, the level of care in the local nursing homes has gotten really bad. The admissions officer was so friendly during my interview, and when I asked when the best time to bring my mother would be, and was told 10 o'clock, I just assumed that this time was chosen because the admissions officer was going to do a little meet and greet, and then tour my mother around the facility so she'd be familiar and comfortable with her new surroundings. I was surprised to find that was not the case. I brought my mother to her room, spent two hours setting it up, and then it was time for her to go off and eat lunch. No one from the facility had any contact with her until an aid took her to lunch. I stayed another hour after lunch and still, my mother was just left the room alone. Eventually, I had to go home. The rest of the day was very difficult for my mother. So just remember that as friendly as the admission officer is when you first speak with her, the minute you write checks for the room, she doesn't know you. I would highly recommend that your parent, or grandparent, has a significant degree of cognitive loss otherwise the stay at Castle Garden may be traumatic and not work well. That may sound counterintuitive, but if your relative has any ability to recognize what is going on around them, and how bad off the people are around them, the environment is likely to be very scary. They may be sitting at a dinner table with a man who keeps his head down on the table the entire time. I would suggest that you choose Castle Garden only if your parent or grandparent will not realize that they are no longer living at home. Otherwise my advice would be this: If you are retired, I highly recommend that you stop being a wuss and take your parent home and take care of them yourself. It won't be easy, but they did it for you when you were a helpless baby and now it is time to pay that back. Commandment #5. If I was the admissions officer at Castle Garden, this would be my speech to the children of perspective residents:

December 2022

Google

TomandJoan Dinnel

The care at Castle Gardens has been excellent for my mother in the Memory Care unit. We are thankful for this excellent care. They are always very pleasant and keep up with all aspects we expect.

November 2022

Google

Suzanne M Lachman

My husband Everett resided in your enhanced memory care unit until he passed away a month ago after yet another emergency room visit (unbelievably, my notes indicate there were 17 in all). I wish I could write a more positive review, but quite honestly, after all the disturbing events that have occurred, I am left to believe that no one who represents your facility there really truly CARES. And to some of us who are seeking a place for their loved one, that is an important criteria. While I believe there are some very honest and capable staff members who did care enough to make Everett's day-to-day living manageable and comfortable, there seems to be a lack of communication, staffing and follow through on the administrative end to really be able to meet the changing needs of the residents. Clearly, you are lacking a social worker who could have communicated to us when Everett should have gone into palliative care, which you do provide, I was told. I do believe that approach would have served him better and would have avoided many emergency room visits that did him nothing. There are numerous items that still remain missing, but not as significant as Everett's lost marriage band, (of all things!) his Jewish Chai that he always wore around his neck (we found the gold chain but the Chai is missing), and a favorite hat. And yes- I DID make the staff aware of these items but again, no one has followed up with me about this issue as I believe now that they just don't care and/or don't have the capacity. I would always ask the staff to remove these items prior to being transported by the EMS and to place them in a safe place until he returned. I was proudly told by the receptionist at the main desk that you've never lost an item of jewelry. Well, either this is a first, or you are just saying this. Worse yet, after my husband passed away, there was absolutely no gesture of condolence or sympathy extended to the family or me from ANYONE at your facility. (I did phone and left a voice mail message with the Case Manager at Keepsake the day after he died.) Visiting hours at Allen Memorial was basically right around the corner and across the bridge from your facility, yet no representative from Castle Gardens bothered to come to pay their respects. i received no card, no phone call, absolutely no acknowledgement of his death whatsoever these past four weeks. And he resided there for well over a year. I guess this how families are treated by you after their loved one dies. Can you even begin to imagine how this treatment must make the family and me feel, let alone what we now think? A protocol seems to be lacking when one of your residents passes away AND a social worker on your end could have prevented this hurtful and glaring lack of respect from occurring. Additionally, since Everett's death, I continue to receive emails regarding events, etc. that are occurring at your facility. You really do need to install a protocol that will enable your staff to not send these out to bereaved families. After your ghosting since his passing, getting notices from you is like rubbing salt in the wound, so to speak. And the most recent one that was received this morning got me upset enough to write this public review. I think, at this point, others need to know what they are signing up for. I suppose the only thing you could do right about now to begin to make this right, would be to make an attempt to find and return the missing items. A letter was mailed from me on 10/2/23 detailing these items to the Executive Director and Case Manager at Keepsake. Included were photos of those items. At this point, I am not surprised there has been no response or reassurance that you are even looking for them as of yet. Please feel free to phone or email me regarding my concerns as I have no plans to check back on this portal to view your response. Thank you, Suzanne M. Lachman

October 2022

Google

Tristen Wagner

October 2022

Facebook

Tiffany Hodges

hr is the worse the lady's in the office have been nothing but rude stuck up and won't help me talk to somebody over them. they stole my money from me fired me due to covid 19 won't pay for the days I was told to not come to work by my boss . I am not giving this a 4 star rating . 1 Star not even 1

October 2022

Google

Carolyn Colon

From our first inquiry to moving in, Hearth has been amazing! They were friendly, thorough, professional, and most of all listened to what we need. Choosing Hearth was one of the best decisions we’ve made!

February 2021

Google

Amy Martin

My father-in-law recently moved to The Hearth at Castle Gardens, and we cannot say enough good things about the entire staff. Everyone has been extremely friendly and professional. We worked mainly with George Welge, and the service he provided was outstanding. Moving in during a pandemic had its own set of complications, but every situation was handled promptly and efficiently. George went above and beyond to help us feel comfortable with the process from beginning to end, and he was always helpful and quick to respond to our questions. We feel very fortunate to have found such a caring group of individuals who continually strive for quality and excellence in the services they provide.

December 2020

Google

Miriam Aronowitz

My Mom has been a happy assisted living resident for almost 3 years. I cant imagine her as well cared for any where.

May 2020

Facebook

Debby Tennant Wagner

FRIENDLY AND CARING STAFF, THEY CARE FOR OUR FAMILIES JUST AS IF THEY WERE THERE FAMILY.

February 2020

Google

Betty Joyce

I have observed the staff members there, Victoria and Elizabeth, in the activity room being extremely kind and compassionate to all of the patients. They show them individual attention. Such special people.

August 2019

Google

Courtney Butler

February 2018

Google

Jill Schramm

Ok place to work

September 2017

Google

Peggy Wheeler

My mother has been a resident at Castle gardens for one month and it has been a wonderful experience for her. The administration and staff are caring, kind and knowledgeable. I would recommend Castle Gardens to those looking for a community where you can feel confident that your family member is well cared for.

March 2017

Facebook

Courtney Butler

February 2017

Google

Marshall Carter

Excellent accommodations, activities, and meals. Very friendly and competent staff.