Brookdale Goodlettsville MC (TN)

Today we moved my mother-in-law from Brookdale memory care after 2 years and 8 months of giving chance after chance for that community to make things right. The peace we feel today getting her out of that place is unmeasured. We are very unhappy family members of a resident. The money wasted there for less than mediocre care is unsettling. We will never recommend this facility to anyone. It is run like a Medicaid facility. -Phones rarely answered. Hard to get in touch with anyone. -Asked for resident to be clean and ready for doctor appt., didn’t happen multiple times. -Go for visits and resident is wearing the same clothes for days and days in a row. -Cockroach’s found in residents room multiple times. The day we moved her out we found a cockroach and spider nests attached to the underside of her furniture. -Feces on bedroom wall, door knobs, toilet handle, bathroom wall. Doesn’t seem to be any housekeeping. Dirty overall. -Laundry is always messed up! -Resident rarely showered and clean. -Lack of communication. Never even responded to us saying we were moving resident out. No conversation what-so-ever. No acknowledgement. -Morning pills were still sitting on residents night stand in a cup at 9:30am when family member visited. Pretty sure state requires nurses to watch residents take pills and not just leave them in the room. -Common areas thick with dust. Have been there and seen feces and blood on couches and had to report it for clean up. -Adult Briefs we buy disappear and then other kinds show up that don’t work for her. Definitely inconsiderate when family is supplying these. Again, no communication about what is going on. -Employee turnover is high with nursing staff and administrators. Often times there was agency staff. These people are never there long enough to know the resident, their likes, dislikes, what works for them, what doesn’t, items that belong to them and what doesn’t. In 2 years and 8 months resident has been at Brookdale Memory care there has been 3 administrators. There has been at least 3 Wellness Directors/DON. We were told when we were looking at this facility how they are always doing activities and try to keep resident from sitting alone in their room all day. We were not told there wasn’t an activity person. There wasn’t an activity director/person for the first year and half. Then they got one and now she’s gone. Again, not told they don’t have one. Found out when we toured another facility and she was there. -Over 2 years and 8 months with less than mediocre care the cost was increased by $2,000.00. -The last weekend she was there we were at home one evening and received a phone call from local ER saying they had questions about our loved one. We had no idea she was sent to ER and had been there alone for TWO HOURS! We did receive a voicemail earlier that day from Shelby asking to “call back at our earliest convenience”. We then called the facility 4 times without any answer. We thought it just had to do with her upcoming move out of Brookdale. There was no sense of urgency. This just reinforced how poor communication is. The whole situation was handled absolutely in an unacceptable manner. Family was beyond upset as to how this was handled. ***Kat is a great nurse and really cares about the residents and their well being. At least there is one person there advocating!*** Memory care is not the focus. These people are not trained or skilled for memory care. They are there to do some of their job and do it quickly so they can sit and scroll their phones.

There are several alternative facilities available for individuals seeking memory care services. It is important to note that communication at times may lack transparency and professionalism. Additionally, there have been instances of long-standing management personnel resigning. I encourage careful consideration of these factors when making a decision.

Good care isn’t cheap, I will say that much. But you get what you pay for. Brookdale looked after my father for the last few months of his life. They really took good care of him and in turn were taking good care care of us. Thank you Brookdale for everything you do. Keep up the fantastic work. You can truly be proud.

Please do not ever consider this place for your loved one. The care and staffing are unbelievably state minimum, no communication-even with corporate, the place and rooms are filthy, soiled linens way too often, missing clothing and personal items, food is also bare minimum and pricing is unlimited to their discretion. After nearly 2 years of praying for better conditions, we were told that we had to move our loved one, because they could not meet our expectations. It was truly a blessing. FYI these conditions are not standard or at all acceptable in a caring Alzheimer's facility.