Brookdale Santa Catalina

My mom has been at Brookdale Santa Catalina assisted living for over 2 years. First and by far the most important is that EVERYONE on staff is kind and patient. I never worry about her wellbeing or safety. The food is excellent!! Almost every window has a beautiful view with plenty of birds and wildlife. The interior is clean. The only drawback is the carpet is cleaned frequently but still has stains from walkers, wheelchairs and spills. (Life in assisted living 🙂)

The gals on the floor in the skilled nursing unit are everything anyone could wish for for their loved ones. They really care about their patients. Can't say that loudly enough!! They are, however, woefully understaffed. Call buttons take 30 minutes to an hour and a half to answer. Yesterday, the lady in the room across the hall fell while trying to get to her doorway to ask for help. She literally dragged herself across her floor into the doorway before I saw her and went running for staff. Meals are rarely as ordered, sometimes ridiculously so. And the management staff... The management at this location is as discombobulated as any place I've ever encountered. It's like the office staff, the medical records staff, the social service staff and especially the head nurse were pulled off the street yesterday. They have absolutely no ability to think ahead, think for themselves or make the journey easy for families. The financial office gave me a contract to sign that had nothing to do with our situation. When I pointed out the discrepancies, Rebecca told me to just ignore the fact that it required monthly fees up front (we weren't going as a monthly client). She seemed surprised when I balked at signing a $12,000 document that was inappropriate. She tried to explain it was their boilerplate and didn't matter. We compromised by not signing a contract. My mother went in after being hospitalized for an acute UTI. After one secondary test the first week of eight weeks, which tested positive, Julie, the lead nurse, continually pooh poohed our request to retest after a suitable period after antibiotics were done. Her "educated opinion" was that "all old people get UTIs". That may be true, but after hounding them for three consecutive tests - all that came back ecoli positive greater than 100,000 parts - and a fourth for a different, resistant bug for which they constrained her to her room and made personnel gown up and mask before coming in, the facility refused to take another test. I literally had to collect a urine sample and bring it to Sonora Quest myself. At this point we made the decision to bring her home for good and use an in house doc for her care. At this point at least six of the rooms in her corridor had quarantine kits outside patient doors. And no, they weren't there as normal policy. The social worker never got ahead of the eight ball. Never, not once, was she prepared to do something before it was absolutely necessary. I feel bad for the floor staff working there. Working with a completely befuddled and unorganized staff must make for very long work hours. We will try The Centre if future need arises. Caring for elderly parents is hard enough without a lame duck management crew adding to the burden.

My mom has been here for about a week now. I am so impressed by the attentiveness and care she’s received, especially by her aid Lino and her nurse, Isabel. Isabel answered any and every question I had, which was a lot (I’m sorry Isabel!) however I’m happy to know she has a nurse that knows a thing or two about a thing or two. I know my mom is going to continue to gain the strength she needs to be able to return home thanks to all the staff here!! Thank you from the bottom of my heart

My uncle was recently transferred here for rehab. He became ill and brought it to the attention of 2 nurses and a doctor and was told there was nothing wrong with him and he was making things up. His daughter attempted to advocate for him and she was asked to leave. Eventually they took my uncle to the ER where he was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection. The negligence of the 2 nurses and doctor could have cost my uncle his life. He is in a delicate state of health. My uncle said he felt so disrespected by their behavior towards him. It’s so sad that these places only care about money and not the actual patient. Brookdale, I hope you do better with other patients. The behavior of your nurses and doctor could very well cost you a malpractice lawsuit!

My brother went in there for PT, then he started feeling sick and asked to be taken to the hospital and they refused to do it. They said there was nothing wrong n he was just making up stories!!! Supposedly they did blood work to see what the problem was n they didn’t find anything. After disrespecting him n threatening his daughter with calling the cops on her, they finally took him to the hospital where they found he had a UTI that could have made it worse for him. Both the 2 Rn’s n the Dr are very rude and insulted him!!!