Bella Vita Health & Rehabilitation Center

My father was in Bella Vita Health and Rehabilitation Center in their long-term care area. I don't have a lot of positive things to say about them. He felt like he was imprisoned in jail. They had too many patients and not enough staff. We're still missing a lot of his items, even though we put his name embroidered on those items and tagged them. He had unexplained black eyes. It was a very, very bad place for him mentally. The only positive is that they had an online portal where I could check for notes every day and check his vitals and things of that nature. I could check on him without physically going there and asking for that information on a daily basis. Otherwise, my father was extraordinarily unhappy there. Some of the nurses were good, and some my father did like, but most of the nurses were just overwhelmed that there weren't enough of them for as many patients in that area. They would only have about two nurses, and there would be about 20 patients, and most of their patients were high level for Alzheimer's and dementia, so there was a lot of wandering and a lot of outbursts. I don't necessarily think that it was their fault because they just didn't have enough assistance. They would be yelling down the hallway at patients. We weren't allowed to sit in the common area when we visited with my dad. They would make us go to his room. They did the best that they could, but then also a lot of them were just burnt out and just did not care. If they could have more staffing, it would have been a different atmosphere. The food looked like dog food, so I would not eat it. The food came cold most of the time, even if it was supposed to be hot. My service dog enjoyed it a lot. It was horrific. They weren't giving him a proper diet. The unit that my father was on was the long-term memory care unit, and it was a wandering unit, they had a very small patio that they could go out on that was maybe the size of my bedroom. It was high-fenced and locked, and you couldn't fit all the residents out onto that patio area if you tried. They used chairs to block it because there wasn't anybody watching that doorway because they were understaffed. Most of the time, they wouldn't allow my dad to be out into the community room. They would make him stay in his room, so he spent most of the time in his room just bored, staring out a window. As far as cleanliness, when we got there, there was red stuff on the ceiling. I had brought it up a couple of times, and finally, I ended up bringing it up to a supervisor in the administration, and then it finally got cleaned. I had seen many things left on the floor during my visit, and I visited my father on a weekly basis. There were some good things, but there were so many bad things that happened while he was there, and he was there for such a short amount of time. It outweighs any of the good things that did occur. Most of the activities that he did were the activities that we brought in. He was supposed to have a full activities chart, but the memory care unit did not participate in those activities, only the rehab unit did. They would give word searches and newsletters. The other place is charging me less than Bella Vita and providing my father with better care, more options, more activities, just better overall than what Bella Vita offered. They need an overhaul. They have some good people working there, but I think they need to look at the culture and how they are treating their patients.

I am writing to express my concerns regarding my mother's recent stay at your facility. Unfortunately, the conditions in her room were unacceptable. The moment I walked in to visit her, I was taken aback by the state of the room, which understandably upset me. I asked to have the area changed and bedding replaced due to concerns about previous use. I was assured that it had been done twice, but this was not evident to me during my visit. Moreover, the new room assigned to my mother had issues with pests. As a result of these persistent concerns, I have lost confidence in the ability of your facility to provide adequate care for my mother. Regrettably, a recent appointment my mother had with her wound doctor was missed. This was despite my sister's efforts to schedule and prepare for the visit the previous day. I am disappointed that this appointment was not carried out, and I understand that my mother had a scheduled appointment to maintain/heal an infected wound. Furthermore, interactions I have had with your staff have not met my expectations. Some caregivers were kind and attentive, but others were unhelpful and unresponsive. It has been frustrating to experience inconsistent service, with staff members interrupting and not respecting the chain of communication. I have also experienced difficulty in reaching your case worker, as my calls were met with voicemail with no follow-up. As a result, I felt compelled to visit the facility in person to express my concerns. I hope that you will take these issues seriously and take immediate action to address them. I believe that your facility has the potential to provide quality care, but these problems need to be resolved.