Brookdale Portage

Excellent experience on behalf of an alzheimer patients family member. Brookdale provided an excellent experience and kept my mother safe in her new environment!!!

My Mother was reluctant to make this life change but the staff at Brookdale has treated her with respect and kindness as she has settled in to her new home. She loves watching the birds and both the front porch and the back patio gardens. She is thrilled with the home cooked menu and her physical care needs are being met fully. The social setting has allowed her freedom to develop new friendships while maintaining her own level of privacy and independence . All of the staff has been welcoming and helpful to our family as we visit Mom often in her new home!

Do not send your loved ones here! My Grandpa lived in the memory care area from 2021 to 2023. The executive directors lasted for a maximum of three months and continually cycled. They appeared short staffed, and the majority of the workers were ambivalent. For a memory care facility, they appeared ill-equipped to deal with basic sundowning and dementia behaviors. They sent my grandpa to the ER multiple times for agitation. Their threshold for sending him was very low, and it just seemed like they didn't want to deal with him. They even once sent him to the ER shirtless and without any identifying paperwork (I am not sure what would have happened if we hadn't come). We watched most of the residents who had been living there with him get moved out by their families. We ended up moving my grandpa to a new facility, and we regretted not doing it sooner!

There have been three Sr. Directors at the Portage facility since September 2018 when my wife became a resident. Covid was a very difficult time for all. The first head nurse, who was excellent. Eventually, she retired due to Covid work strain. A resident physician described the current head nurse as “not liking what she does.” Administration: The first Director was excellent. The second Director was unqualified to manage. The third Director has deficient management skills. 1) She tried to disavow my contract with Brookdale stating that “The first Director did not have authority to put a cap on my monthly charges.” I had to hire an attorney to get this straightened out (I am out $750 for his fees). Eventually, Brookdale Corporate intervened and my new contract is actually better than the original contract, so there is an important positive! I was and remain very pleased with this action since I had decided to move my wife and did not have to do so. 2) I had an expensive Sterns and Foster mechanical Bed with two protective layers. Clear and repeated instructions were stated to the administration and staff that the bottom cover must NEVER BE REMOVED! Why would one remove the plastic protective cover on the bed of a sick person? But the protective cover was removed, and the Bed was ruined when my wife became incontinent. I am out about $1700 for this failure to act minimally responsibly. I spoke with the CEO of another large facility in Milwaukee, Linda Joel, who indicated to me that they would have – of course – replaced the bed since this was clearly their fault. The Sr. Director at Brookdale indicated to me: “I was not here when that happened,” as if this made everything OK. 3) Current staff have indicated to at least two individuals that the current Sr. Director has used strong swear words and has “screamed” at them. I have managed several groups in my career: Terrible management practices indeed. Currently, the atmosphere is much better, although staff turnover is still an issue. Perhaps much of this could be blamed on Covid and “The Times” we live in, but this would be very generous.