Truewood by Merrill Oceanside

Our family had an in person tour and we really liked Merrill Gardens, the place is beautiful, but the rooms on the memory care side were so so small. However, just for a normal intimate living setting would be great, but the memory care rooms were just to small.

My father moved into the independent living part in 2017. We chose MG for continuity of care .As his dementia worsened he moved to the memory care section in 2018. They seem to have a revolving door of care givers and directors who do not have the understanding and training necessary for advanced dementia patients. During the Covid quarantine when we were not able to visit my fathers condition worsened. Rather than see it for what it was he was deemed difficult to deal with and was neglected. We were NEVER notified of his worsening condition. After at least 2 falls that we know about we were finally notified (by the paramedics). I was able to see him. He had been left alone outside in direct sun. No shoes. No hat. No water. He had collapsed. He was dehydrated and disoriented. When I finally was able to get him to his room (with minimal assistance from staff) I found it filthy. No sheets on the bed. Garbage, waste, dirty clothes everywhere. Needless to say we immediately looked for and found a new home for him and had him moved within 10 days down the street to Brookdale Oceanside. It was night and day. The staff are very well trained, compassionate towards residents and family members, and treated my father with dignity. They recognized immediately that he should be on hospice. He was cared for and respected. My father was terminal. He passed away within 3 weeks of moving him. He was able to let go in a peaceful, clean, supportive environment with dignity. Not in the squalor he had been forced to live in at Merrill Gardens

I am disappointed and angered over how a close family member was treated by the director of the Merrill Gardens Memory Care facility. I am extremely close with my half-sisters, and when their father became a resident at MG, in 2017, I helped move him in and was very involved with his transition to the facility. He was initially part of the Assisted Living community, but by May 2018 he needed to be moved to Memory Care. This was when things started to go wrong. First off, within 2 years there have been 3 different directors of the Memory Care facility, which is a huge red flag in and of itself. The current director, [name removed], was by far the worst. I realize that patients with dementia or Alzheimer's can be very difficult to deal with, but we as a family hoped that staff would be adequately trained to deal with any problems, and the director would be both compassionate and communicative with us. She was neither. Before the shutdown caused by Covid-19, my sisters tried to have a constructive conversation with [name removed] about their father's care, but she didn't seem interested in listening to them. This might have been overlooked if he was receiving quality care, and if my family was kept in the loop about how he was deteriorating mentally. But the director failed on both counts. First off, there were staff members who became good at dealing with him; he liked them and had developed a rapport with them. For some reason, [name removed] decided to remove them from his case. I understand as a director she needs to move people around when the need arises. But difficult patients who act out because their independence is being taken from them need consistency, need to know they are dealing with the same reliable, kind people that have helped them in the past. Again, this doesn’t seem that major but it only gets worse. He fell TWICE, and the first time no one in his family was notified! The second fall was very bad; on [date removed], he was found collapsed on the patio and paramedics were called. He had been left alone on the patio for two hours! He was dehydrated, disoriented, and sunburned. And the only reason anyone in the family was notified was because the PARAMEDICS called my sister, not Merrill Gardens! Why was he left to fend for himself out in the hot sun? Bring him an umbrella to protect him! Give him a glass of water and MAKE SURE he drinks it! Coax him back into his room! Our family will be the first to admit he isn’t the easiest person to deal with; the disorientation that overwhelms him can make him angry, and sometimes he’ll even lash out. But the fact that he was just given up on, that my sisters weren’t informed of his condition, this is simply inexcusable. While there, she discovered that his room was a mess and no sheets were on his bed. By the time we finally moved him out on [date removed], it appeared that has room hadn’t been cleaned in months. From his doorway we could see other rooms benefitting from deep cleanings, but when we moved his bed we found dirty pillow cases, handkerchiefs, paper towels and giant dust bunnies, even plastic cups with old food. Also, many items of clothing went missing, including a few pairs of shoes (he had NO SHOES AT ALL when we came to move him out!). A reputable Memory Care facility MUST do a better job at taking care of the elders in its community. He now resides in a much better and more caring facility, and we would not recommend Merrill Gardens at all.