The Birches at Harleysville

Linda

Memory care neglected my sister in law. Placed in isolation for 5 days with mild covid. Admitted to ER, severely dehydrated and lost 12 pounds in 5 days. Clearly forgotten and neglected. Would never recommend this place.

Provider Response

Joan

The Birches at Harleysville was a lovely place. They couldn't have been more accommodating. I went there approximately about two weeks ago. I was greeted very courteously as I entered. The girl came from behind the front desk and directed me to where I was going to meet with the salesperson. They showed me what their activities are. They sat down and talked to me about the cost of the facility. So all in all, it was a very good experience. It's just a little further than what I want to be away from my sister. They had a choice. They had a variety of studios and apartments that were larger. They showed me where their hairdressing was, their craft room, and the large entertainment area upstairs where they had concerts and music. There was a piano there, too. The building was lovely. It was clean, and it was everything that you could want.

EDavison

It's a fun place with great engagement for us all. Everyone is kind and pleasant. The food is wonderful. I'm a retired nurse and this community is the best!

Atha5

I like it here. I was across the street in independent living but i moved here because I needed more help. I think its a fine place. Meals are good and they have activities to keep me busy

Ann

I've been at The Birches at Harleysville for over a year now. I wouldn't trade it. It's beautiful. I love it here. When I walked in here, I fell in love with it. I said to my brother and my daughter, this is where I want to live. My stay here has been marvelous. Justin who is in charge here is a wonderful guy. He's a very, very nice man. You walk in here and you can feel the love. You can feel the friendliness. The whole staff is marvelous. Everybody's right there to help you if you need something. A lot of the girls that come in are going to college and they're all marvelous coming in here. If someone needs more care, they're right there with you. We have events going on and today, we have Elvis. My supervisor is marvelous. We also get other patients that aren't feeling too good and patients that quite don't remember everything. They don't cut anybody out. The door is open for everyone to come in here. All of the people that live here are family. They're not strangers walking around. The meals are fabulous. Today, we had a roast beef sandwich, bread and potatoes, mixed vegetables, and dessert. Today, they have a staff luncheon. The staff is marvelous. They don't hesitate. When I'm looking for something, they'll get up from their desk and right away, they'll say, If I have it, you could have it. That's what creates the place, it's the people you care for. I was just away for a while and when I came back, all of the people welcomed me back. They had blueberry pie today. Everything is fresh. We have a woman that takes care of the kitchen. We have chefs in the kitchen, and they cook everything from scratch. Every day is a wonderful day in here. The facility is great. All the rooms are clean. They have staff that comes in. They clean each of the rooms every week. If something is wrong, they have someone that comes up to your room and check it out. Majority of the time, it's always Brian that does it. When I moved in here, I had a bed that was way high. He lowered it three inches. They always have something going. They're always planning things. We pick a school and we make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for each child. Then in another bag, we have three pieces of fruit for that child. I'd give the highest rating for the greatest people in the greatest place. We also have a room for exercise. No one says, "No, I don't want to go." They're all willing to go and willing to do everything they're asked to do. I've seen people in a wheelchair and I've seen them get up and walk where before they couldn't do anything. They're all wonderful people here working to help everybody.

DCThack

My Mother is a resident and especially enjoys the activities. Food is great and facilities are very clean. She is doing very well at the Birches

rosemarsh

Nicole is great to work with when moving a loved one into the facility. Michelle and the care staff work very well together and provide excellent care to my loved one. They are helping make her years very dignified. She partakes in community events daily and is not left alone in bed for the day, this is one of the most important things we looked for when searching for her care.

Susan

The Birches at Harleysville was larger. The memory care is on the second floor, in its own protected area. They had log-in codes for getting in and out. They had a visiting system where they took your photo ID right there and scanned you, and I thought it was very high-tech that way. The people were friendly. The staff was recognizing different residents. They had a lot of event calendars around. You could see what they do. The rooms were decent in size and very up-to-date. The bathrooms were walk-in showers with bars and everything, so they were secure. I remember there being a lot of individuality on the doors, like different residents would put something significant to them. It also helped people find their way there.

Susan's Son

While we didn't end up moving mom to Birches, we did a number of visits to communities specializing in MC and AL. Mom chose to move closer to family in CT but Birches was where she would have moved to if she stayed in PA. Food was great, staff were fantastic and there was a lot of energy and care shown when we visited. I would have been happy if mom chose The Birches.

Charles

My dad has moved to The Birches at Harleysville. They have something going on every day. They encourage people to come to the lunch room for all three meals, they have different activities every day, and they have a movie every day. It's pretty nice. The guest could eat lunch with somebody for a small fee, and you can eat with your resident there. The dining area looks good, it's nice. They have a set menu every day, but if you don't like what they're serving, you have the option to get something else like sandwiches and stuff. For breakfast, if you don't like what they're serving, you can order whatever you want and they make it for you for dinner. So far, I've been pretty happy with everything they've done.

ReviewerK

I honestly cannot say enough about this community starting from the executive Director, marketing team, mc director, nurse and the entire staff. The BAH team goes above and beyond to assist families and care for their loved ones. As my mom was transitioning to this community the team including the ED worked with her to assist with the adjustments. I am very grateful for the teamwork, care, and love!! Having nurses in the building to handle her medications is comforting to me.

Eileen

We were very impressed with the management of The Birches at Harleysville and the excellent facilities they have. Everything's well taken care of. It's not a big community, but it just fits my mother-in-law's needs and our needs, as far as being convenient for us. She has a beautiful room and a private bath. She's happy there and she's made a lot of friends. We were there the other night when they had a concert and a food truck came by. It was very nice. There was a lot of entertainment and the people enjoyed it. My mother-in-law enjoyed it as well. They have regular meal times scheduled and she's allowed to have visitors in her room (limited to two). If she has outdoor visitors, she can have more than two and they require masks. We also like the fact that they don't allow residents to stay in their rooms all day and isolate themselves. They all eat together in the dining room and they have several areas, like outside seating, which my mother-in-law likes very much as she likes to be outside enjoying the fresh air. They have entertainment every afternoon where they have people come in to either have a play or a recital, or someone to play the piano or sing. It helps her mind to stay active. She told me that they have a lot of meetings, too. We're really happy that she's not just isolated in a room. They want people to socialize and spend time outside the room. The staff is perfect. The first week she was there, I had a call every day from the director of the Memory Care telling me how she was progressing and how she was fitting in with the other people. We were very happy to hear that things were going well for her.

Bill Santulli

My wife was a resident for a short term stay and I can not say enough good things about the community and the staff. I know that my wife may need the assistance of The Birches again in the future and I am glad that they are there when needed.

Barry

My dad has moved into a place called The Birches at Harleysville. They're great. The staff is fantastic. They are very caring. They work together as a team, and everybody gets involved. They all help each other out from the top, all the way down. So, I'm very happy with this facility. The room is very nice and clean. There's enough room, but not too much. If my dad wasn't in memory care, we would have gotten their top-of-the-line one-bedroom apartment, and they all look nice. They run a gamut of shared studios, to regular studios, to deluxe, and one-bedroom apartments. Unfortunately, they still have Covid restrictions, which is a company policy. I brought this up to the director yesterday. The only time you can go and see anybody, you have to be in their room. That is my biggest gripe with them at this point, and I brought that up yesterday. They're not allowed to intermingle. While my dad is eating or while he's doing an activity or while he's watching a game on the big screen, that I think is stupid in my opinion, and it's a corporate decision, but that is my biggest thing. That's the only reason that I don't care for the place. Other than that, I like them, but that policy, none of the other assisted living facilities in the area do it. We put them in there knowing that we go to see them all the time, but then the only time we can see them in a room, it's like if we go there and they're doing an activity, we're either wasting our time or they've got to be pulled out of the activity to spend time in a room, which the whole idea is to get them intermingling with people in that kind of stuff. So, that's my biggest complaint, and it is a big thing. Other than that, the staff is great, the facility is great, but the policy on visitation is unacceptable in my opinion. They have a lot of different activities in between assisted living and memory care. And if the person is capable, they'll bring them to the other ones in the assisted living area, which is a big plus. All those things are big pluses. My big thing that leaves a sour taste in my mouth is not being able to visit my dad while he's eating or doing an activity, so we're stuck in this room. I'm going to knock a star off because of the policy of visitation. If they didn't have that policy in effect, they'd be 5 stars in my book, but they're not because they have a stupid, outdated, antiquated policy. Value for money is very good. I would have put my dad in their most expensive one-bedroom apartment, I would have paid for a second level of care, and I would have been happy with that. But as of now, he's in memory care with the first level of care. It's acceptable. It wouldn't have been my choice, but the more I look at it, he does need memory care at this point. The maintenance was very good. They're on top of everything. They hung all the pictures that we wanted on the wall and mounted the TV on the wall for us. They were above and beyond. Also, they'll have people come in and play the piano, and people can sing around it, they had a banjo player, and they have movie afternoons. They also have an area where they can play cards. They can play checkers, chess, do puzzles, read, do games, and that kind of stuff, which is, I think, fantastic. On one floor, they have a pool table, and they have a built-in aviary that has a bunch of birds, it's really neat, but we're not allowed to go to any of those areas with them. So that drives me nuts. They have this beautiful facility that I could go and play games with them, sit at a card table and play, but I can't do it because of their COVID shutdown on nobody being able to be in public areas, that we're only allowed to be in his room. Why do you pay all that money when the only place you can go and see them is in a 15 x 5 room?

Provider Response

KDUnder

I recently visited this facility and found it to be a very nice option in the area for anyone looking for senior care. The sales team and Executive Director were very helpful, the Resident Care Director was very informative and the staff were all very nice. The facility was bright and clean and they offered a lot of great activities and meals. There was a lovely fall display out front and they were busy decorating for fall inside on my visit. I am just in the starting phase of looking but this facility is just as great as everyone says it is.

Barbara1941

Having visited The Birches often to see my friend and I find the facility to be very nice, clean, bright and filled with kind people. I like the outdoor community events for friends and families. It’s good to know my friend is being well cared for.

jbonnet

We fell in love with The Birches the first time we visited the property. My father in law is 93 and having some issues with mobility. The staff at the birches helped us through the entire process of securing a room and moving my father in law into his new room. He loves it there and is very impressed with the food selection. We highly recommend the birches.

ChicagoGal729

So many positive affirmations for the staff of the memory care facility. Ellen Michelle Jennifer Ashley just to mention a few that I’ve been so instrumental to my fathers well-being and engagement not only through activities but also through empowerment! Activities such as musicians, events for birthdays, and their community, interaction and socialization, and giving each resident their dignity and pride with their participation throughout the center and with departments. Support, wonderful communication and updates are truly appreciated for the care and love these individuals have for their residents. Truly blessed. Thank you.

SalesGal82

We took Mom out of Birches at Harleysville after two months! Think long and hard about how much care your Mom or Dad need before considering Birches. It was a complete disaster for our 94-year-old Mom. She needs assistance standing up, sitting down, walking, transitioning from bed to chair and from chair to bathroom. The staff did not provide adequate care - we assume because the staff to patient ratio is too low. The first two weeks there she fell four times (inadequate ambulatory help provided) and had to be taken to the hospital once because she hit her head while falling. She was so ignored she ended up with bedsores on her bottom. Her hearing aid batteries weren’t changed. Her dentures were filthy. Sorry for the graphics – her diapers were usually stinking and soaking when we visited. Most staff were incredibly slow to return phone calls and emails – if they did at all. We couldn’t get Mom out of there fast enough. Mom commented, “They ignored me. It was like I was there at their service.” Well, she’s not there anymore. If your Mom or Dad need lots of care – don’t even consider Birches. The room was fine. The food was fine. The care was woefully inadequate.

Provider Response

Gloria

I toured The Birches at Harleysville virtually and in person, but I could not go to the memory care unit. I went just to look at the place, and I liked it. I thought it was very nice. The people that I spoke with were very nice. I really liked everything about The Birches. It was a good size, and it was a good area. I was pleased with the majority of everything I saw there. I was virtually put through memory care, but I was able to be there and actually look at the personal care. The staff was very friendly, knowledgeable, helpful, and available. They didn't have much of a walking area outside, but the area for sitting outside was nice.

Allen

We like The Birches at Harleysville, but it is just too expensive. Their apartments were very nice. They have music every so often and they have game rooms. Amenities were pretty standard, but the food was very good.

JohnMF

Our family visited numerous Personal Care facilities in the area and The Birches was by far the best in regards to pricing, room accommodations, professionalism of staff, and the size and appearance of common areas. The staff members who we interacted with seemed sincerely interested in the residents based on our observations and the Marketing Director was involved and helpful without being pushy. For personal location reasons, the family member chose another facility that, although not as desirable as The Birches, is also excellent.

Robin

We visited the Birches at Harleysville. It's a nice facility, they're very friendly, but I did not like that they have two people in a room. She would need more care than they could provide her. The staff member was very friendly and know the residents. It was nice.

Provider Response

Florida Monika

I initially came for a tour knowing that our mom had come to a point that she needed to have more supervision. I was immediately put to ease experiencing the caring attitude that each staff person extended towards me. Unexpectedly, my mom became a resident within a short time first thru Respite and now a permanent resident. Her room is beautiful and spacious. The facilities are absolutely clean and fresh smelling no matter where you go. The daily activities are plentiful and varied. The activity therapist was very inviting and allowed us all to join in the fun on that second day of my mother’s stay. We stayed for dinner and enjoyed a wonderful 3 course meal. The options were plentiful and well prepared. My mom ate with pleasure which was a joy since she had a limited appetite at home. The waiters at dinner time were so gracious and patient. It was a very busy Saturday night and they hustled to provide everyone there course with a smile on their faces. They have a very nice laundry room one the residents floor that dispenses Tide automatically and dryer free of charge.

gra567

I would just like to thank you for all the help you were at getting my father into your facility. I really appreciated that you were there to meet us at 7:00 pm. All the staff at the Birches was also very helpful and friendly. Thanks again George

D. Schadler

My Mother recently transitioned to Birches after over 3 years in another local facility. The warmth, concern and personalization that was shown during the decision making process has continued through my Mother's transition period. The other facility forced us to accept mediocre, impersonal care with constant, unclearly substantiated increases in cost. We are SO happy with the transfer to Birches.

Nancy

The Birches looked lovely. They had people out there singing and doing some activities with someone involving them. It looked nice enough, and the people seemed very lovely and caring. I saw the dining room in the memory unit, which was one big room. I had a meal there before in the regular dining room of the community that was quite lovely. The person who assisted me did very well. She was very nice, pleasant, answered all the questions that I have, and since called back to check. The place was clean and smelled good.

Jody4

I want to thank you and the staff for the excellent care and attention you had given to my aunt from day one in November 2014. At times she was a tough one, I was aware of that, but undeniably, everyone there made sure she felt right at home. No, she was at home. It was also a pleasure and a blessing to play the piano for the residents. In fact, they had blessed me more than I had blessed them. Hence, I hope you won't mind if once in a while I stop in to play for them.

Megan822656

My mother lived here. The staff was great, and the facility was nice. The food was delicious, and she had a studio with a good enough size and a kitchenette. It was good enough for one person to live. My mom was very happy there before she passed, and they were really good with her through the very end. They offered supportive care, and the nurses were very nice and were even crying because they got really attached to her and were very sad.

Provider Response

Christine118639950

Everything here was very clean, and the staff seemed very efficient. They had a hairdresser, a movie room, and a big cage with live parakeets. In the memory care area, they had a very nice walkway outside with gardens and stuff. Their dining area was really nice and restaurant-style.

Ms. F

My mother has been at Birches for several months now and I can't tell you how pleased I am at the care she is receiving. The facility is very neat and clean, the staff is courteous, thoughtful and extremely helpful and my mother raves about the food! The whole experience of transitioning my mother from her home of 63 years to The Birches was, with the help of the staff at Birches, a wonderful experience and certainly less traumatic than I'd ever imagined it would be. My mother is happy, well taken care of and able to enjoy this phase of her life.

Sara Jane

It was very nice, but the food was not as good. The rooms were a little larger. The staff seemed to be extremely courteous and knew the residents well. They had better and much more extensive PT facilities.

Provider Response

Thomas45

Birches was very nice as well as the people. The rooms were comfortable, and the dining area is big and clean. The staff was accommodating and friendly and the residents looked happy.

Caring63032950

My father is at The Birches. He's been there for about a year now. We chose this facility because of its proximity to my house. I think they do an adequate job taking care of my father. They meet his needs. He is a memory care unit and his room is adequate for his needs. I've seen a range of people that really care and do 100% and then I also seen some of the staff that lacks that so to speak. My father always enjoys the food and from what he said, I think the food is poor. My only concern is that he does get bored because he has no stimulation there, he has dementia.

Provider Response

Gregory Newell

I want to thank you for all the help you have given my mother. Having a parent suffering from Alzheimer's is difficult for us or any family. The exceptional care provided by your staff for the last two years has made it much easier for us to deal with the situation. I don't think it is an exaggeration to say that we notice that your staff treats her like their own family. Medically, my mother has done very well under your care. You have given us comfort in knowing that her medical condition is being handled properly. Emotionally, it is wonderful to see her happy. She always seems to have a smile on her face. The addition of the garden was a huge hit for her since she loved to work in her gardens. It also gives us the opportunity to visit with her in a peaceful, beautiful setting. My mother is clearly in a safe and nurturing environment. One of the most important aspects of living at the Birches is that you have managed to maintain her dignity. That is so important to both her and us. Once again thank you for all you do to take care of our mother.

berna1radical

I am very happy that I chose this facility for my Mother who has dementia. The staff is caring and always concerned about her welfare. Her room is lovely and always kept clean and neat. My Mother loves her new home and the new friends she has made among the staff an residents. They have designated times for entertainment and things to do for the residents and have a lovely outside area that my Mother can use when the weather permits. I recommend the Birches for anyone looking for placement for their loved one.