Avanti at Augusta Pines

After spending over $140 thousand dollars for my mom to live at Avanti for 27 months I have alot to share. Real truthful facts. First , The website shows amazing restaurant style food…FALSE!! 75% of the meals are not good. My mom threw it in the trash. When she got a decent meal it was maybe 1 out of 5 that she would consider eating. Yes we complained. They try with the resources they have. Facility is beautiful. Kept clean. Concierge Patricia and Jenifer are the sweetest and very professional and helpful ladies. They make it better there. The assisted living side of AVANTI is good. The med techs are loving and attentive (Stephanie and Maelyn are amazing) but then there is the Memory Care side. As soon as I moved my mother to memory care her health declined at a rapid pace. We were warned of this happening by employee of Avanti and now we understand why. The exercise classes were amazing. The instructor is so caring and helpful. A few of med techs were knowledgeable and helpful but a couple not so much. I strongly advise anyone considering putting your loved one in memory care to install cameras. The 10pm to 6am staff was bad. They are not watched or checked in on and bad things occurred. However when I exposed bad behavior it was handled asap. But it continued in other aspects. My mother was on hospice the last 2 weeks of her life there and if she had been well enough to be placed in a private care home we would have removed her. Communication and employee training/knowledge is on the low side for some med tech employees. Group texting doesn’t get it done! But a few med techs are very experienced (Kiki, Nikki, Raven, and Paris) and they saved us more than once. My mom was put in some dangerous scenarios, ( meds/food given while in comatose state) but luckily Hospice was very helpful. Oasis Hospice is wonderful. Avanti has some really good caring employees. They are overworked and under paid (IMO) but have the heart for loving the elderly. Management of memory care did not impress us. Would we advocate for Avanti for other relatives of ours? On Assisted Living yes, but without the expectation of eating high end meals…would we advocate for memory care absolutely not unless those employees got proper training, had better communication within their med techs between shifts, if director was professional, and late night shift employees were screened, and cameras were installed in hallways. Who wants to spend almost 7 grand every month and not get top knotch care, food and meds safely given? My mom is gone now. I fought hard for her care and have zero regrets sharing the truth of her experience navigating through her journey to meet Jesus. My advice after spending years with both my parents in several facilities in different towns, when touring a facility, sit in the parking lot. Wait for a family member or a resident to exit and ask them how they like the facility and what they don’t like!! The blessings.. people who show up to work to keep elderly safe and as happy as possible and there are some here. It takes a special breed to do their job. ( P.S Chris… see Bill gets his coffee at breakfast) 🙃

Both of my parents are now living in the assisted living part of Avanti. Becky, was amazing from the moment I inquired about the facility, to the tour, and providing me with all the information I requested to assist in making a decision. I got the sense that she genuinely cares about the residents and their family members. I chose Avanti because of the facility and the care that I saw other residents receiving during my tour. Since my parents have lived there, they have flourished. They were at another facility that was really taking a toll on their mental health. The lighting in the facility also makes a difference. There is a lot of natural light which really improves the mood. I can't say enough about this residential facility.

Decisions regarding the proper care and lodging of a family member that is experiencing dementia and other related mental disorders can be filled with anxiety and sadness while praying the decisions ytou make on their behalf is in their best interest. I know because I/my family have faced these decisions. Our loved one was moved into the Avanti Senior Living and Memory Care facility last year and has most recently been relocated to the Memory Care wing of the Augusta Pines facility. Fiest of all I must applaud Avanti leadership and staff. They are the most professional group of care-givers I could have imagined. Their sincere empathetic approach to giving love and attention to my family member and others under their care has been very rewarding and sincerely appreciate by me and our family. The facility is extremely attractive and comforatble for me as a visitor and to my loved one. The room that she occupies is big enough to be comfortable with a right sized bedroom and ample bathroom. The facility is very clean and well-maintained both inside and in the outdoor sitting and lawn. I attended the Thanksgiving dinner celebration. It was very festive with entertainement supplied. The food was absolutely delicious from the Turkey to ham to sides and desert. I initially thought food this good must have been catered but it was in fact prepared onsite by an outstanding team of cooks/chef and support staff. It was a great evening for me and my family member. I want to mention by names the staff and care-givers of whom I have been so impressed. Chris Holland, Executive Director. Having met with Chris a number of times, I find him to be totally interested in the residents and their well-being and very helpful and available to me. Thank you Chris. Tony is responsible for the Memory Care wing. He is fantastic in his role and has made such a great impression on me and my loved one. She is very happy to be under his care. Thank you to Melynn, Raven, Jax, Kiki , Wynonna and the others that have been so attentive to her needs while under their care and support. To Ms. Jean the head chef. What a wonderful sweet woman that takes great pride in her food prep and to her stsaff that are so willing and caring to please. To Mary Chris who invigorates any space she is in. She takes care of all physical activities to keep the residents engaged, doing exercises and leading in games and activites. She is a wondeful person and as I stated her energy in infectious. To Becky that is responsible for community outreach and marketing. She is well suited to her role and is always willing to meet for discssion about your loved ones needs and progress and affirmation. To Ms. Penny in billing, to Ms Kay, Nursing and also to the concierge team of Patricia and Jennifer at the front desk. Wonderful perople to be around and to deal with on behalf of my loved one. I heartily recomend Avanti Augusta Pines for anyone making decisions for their loved, as we had to do. Thank you Lord for leading us here. We coud not be happier with the decsion.

I was hopeful when I first moved my mom to this community 3 years ago. For the most part staff seemed helpful. I considered my mom’s unhappiness largely a result of her own attitude —she is embarrassed about being deaf and won’t leave her room. However, as time has passed, service and food has become increasingly worse. She has had many instances of her dinner not being brought to her room. Christmas Day lunch was a cold sandwich and chips. Response time to falls has exceeded an hour numerous times, especially in the past few months. The thermostat was often too hot, the vents were rarely cleaned, and staff turnover is a big problem. Most problematic of all is that my mom was paying current/former staff to bring her alcohol, which continued even after I made management aware of this. She had a minor medical, in no way life threatening incident a few nights ago and the med tech made the decision to send her to the ER at 3am, which I was informed of by text message. After about 6 hours in the ER she started experiencing alcohol withdrawal symptoms, which then became life threatening. How do I know alcohol was coming from the staff? I am the only family my mom has in the area, she has made no friends, does not have a phone, and wouldn’t know how to place an online order even if she did. In the 6 days between my last visit and the night she was taken to the ER she had been brought at least 3 bottles of wine, 3 cans of wine, and 4 canned margaritas. My mom is responsible for her own drinking and her own outcomes. However, at nearly 9k a month I would hope the staff would have enough ethics and intelligence not to provide alcohol to an 87 y/o woman in poor health. For what? $20 and a gold necklace? Do not entrust Augusta pines with the care of your loved one. I had already made the decision to move mom out prior to this last incident. I just wish I had made the decision earlier,