06/27/09

Gorgeous Facility, Great View, Management Needs Improvement

by akajulz

My Mom lived at Sunshine Villa from the year they opened- 1991 to 2007. She was obviously one of the longest time residents of the facility, so we saw many ups and downs over the years. There were moments of brilliance where there were good managers and nurses. But for the most part they were changing staff and management constantly. I know it's not an easy industry in terms of finding employees, and keeping them.

But when her health got worse, and she had to be moved to full time nursing, I saw a huge difference. Her new facility in Saratoga is run so much better. The staff rarely changes, and the communication is superior. It doesn't have a view of the ocean, but the grounds are very nice! And my Mom says the food is superior, which is important.

It's Saratoga Retirement Community, if you're looking for a better alternative. It offers Assisted Living, and Skilled Nursing, as well as independent living with condos and single family homes.

• Pros: View of the Boardwalk and ocean-beautiful Victorian setting.
• Cons: Management and staff inconsistnent and everchanging.

09/27/08

Nursing staff needs to be reevaluated, possibly replaced and at least managed to a minimum acceptable performance level

by AllisonBaggett

Sunshine is the most beautiful facility of its kind that I have seen, The dining facilitiy and menus, grounds, laundry service, maintenance and housekeeping services, and activities are all great. But the reason most folks move here, caregivers and nursing, is wanting. If you are wheelchair bound, and need physical help dressing, transferring, etc, beware! Help to the toilet can involve a 20+ minute wait. Most caregivers are hardworking, caring, and committed to what they are doing, but they have been "shortstaffed" all year. They all wear radios, and I have been there and heard the boss screamming over all radios simultaneously. If everyone addresses the same issue, it is a waste of the limited resources and counter productive. They lost their executive director the 1st 1/2 of '08, and we are now at 4th Q with noone minding the store. I have serious concerns about the competancy of the nursing staff. Turnover this year has resulted in a disappointing drop in quality of care. There is a marked lack of nurse accountability, and there is a continuous lack of communication. They have shown an unwillingness ( or is it inability) to learn about a patients existing pain monitoring system. Not sure if they are following a policy, or are just short on skills. A replacement of the borderline performing nurses, and an improvement in the caretaker/patient ratio could return them to a top quality facility.

• Pros: Facility is great
• Cons: shortstaffed on caregivers, nurses need to be replaced or managed