Higley House Assisted Living Home

My mother went into a downward spiral in the three months that she was in Higley House. Within the first two weeks there, she came down with a severe abdominal skin infection and a bad bladder infection two months later. She started having delusions, hallucinations and acting out - likely caused or exacerbated by the bladder infection. Upon admission to Higley House, I stressed that my mother would need hands-on care with all bathing and toileting. And it became apparent to me that she was left on her own a lot. During the first month, I found a dried-out stool under her bed. Another time I found a saturated and soiled Depends in her waste basket in her room. And upon arrival during another visit, I found my mom in her room alone, standing, half dressed, looking confused and holding a saturated Depends with urine all over her hands. My mother also lost weight and she wasn't sleeping at all during the night. After 11 days at a behavioral health facility for medical and psychiatric care, she was released on May 7th and went directly to a different residential home where she is thriving. She is eating well and has put on weight, she sleeps through the night and is very rarely incontinent and only at night. Staff say she is a joy to have around. Staff at the new place are kind, compassionate, patient and very attentive. (In contrast to the staff at Higley House that to me often seemed stressed, hurried and overworked.) I feel like my mother is now in a place that puts people above profits. And I once again have some peace of mind and a lot less stress in my life. FYI, I gave 15 days notice as required by Higley House in their residential agreement. Initially, the owner refused to give me any money back claiming that 30 days notice was required to vacate. I asked to be shown in writing where that was stated. That request was not responded to. I was eventually able to get $1000 partial refund, but only after making it clear to the owner that I would take the contract to court on my mom's behalf. While I ranked the facilities as average overall, the house shows some neglect and a lack of overall cleanliness including bathrooms.

I put my aunt at Higley House because they sold it as a caring place. It is not. She needed physical help, but her mind is just fine. When she asked for assistance, she was told by the caretaker that “wasn’t her job”. They charge extra for a service plan every 6 months. Among other things, it states she would get a shower twice a week. She was lucky if she got one every two weeks. The contract states that you need to give 30 days notice to leave unless they do not follow the plan. Then, you would need to give 14 days notice to leave. We did, but they insisted we needed to give 30 days notice and we would owe for the full 30 days. At [name removed] a month, it was expensive and she did not get the care she paid for. Do not sign a contract with them! Read every word on every page. Document everything. They care about the money, not the patient.