Brookdale North Mesa

My brother is a resident here. I was at a different Brookdale, but my assumption is the food at Brookdale North Mesa is very similar to Brookdale Arrowhead. As the facility goes, they do well to care for their residents, but the food I would even rate the facility overall worse. If it weren't from my ability to be away from their food as much as possible. I understand the dietary needs for many of the residents in the facility must be taken into account. But the quality and cost effectiveness results in very meager, food portions and options.

They are short staffed at times, but overall, the friendliness and care are outstanding. My mother really likes it there. Some rooms are shared. Bit small for two people, but great for 1. Dining room, TV room, activities room and garden are very nice. They always decorate for holidays etc really nicely. Bingo, musical performances, happy hour most Fridays, and some outings when weather permits.

I toured Brookdale North Mesa. The administration of forms, pricing, and contracts was extremely confusing and unprofessional. The staff appeared congenial, but the administration was confused, and the marketing didn't know what they were offering. The rooms were older and smaller, and they were, to some degree, poorly lit.

This facility is all about the money and does not care for their patients. Dementia ward is dark and gloomy. There is no outdoor area with grass for them to walk around just a very small patio. The constant revolving door of staff means they are undertrained and underpaid. 3-4 staff members to 40 patients behavioral, non-behavorial all ages mixed together is not enough care and they wonder why incidents occur. My mother had a great roommate no issues whatsoever. The roommate moved out and was replaced. The new roommate claimed my mother struck her after a week of being there. My mother can be combative but she never is hands on. For example she has not had one single incident at her new facility since leaving Brookdale. Brookdale without notifying family removed my mother from the home and we had to learn of this incident from Banner hospital. They than denied her return although there was no proof that she even struck the other resident. They literally took the statement from another dementia patient and decided she was not welcome back. That's absoluttely nuts!! Her new facility adv she was on way too many medications and some counteract eachother which may have made her less comfortable and potentially more combative. They are corporate and only care about their appearance and money, not the care of your loved ones. Do your family members a favor and find a home like we did after leaving Brookdale with only 7 residents per a home and 3 staff for each house 24/7. ***Overpriced and understaffed***

Overall the experience has been good. Staff are super sweet but sometimes, especially weekends, it can feel like there aren’t enough people on duty and schedules for food and meds run late. Environment is very clean and peaceful. Brookdale has been supportive as we have worked through ALTCS.