Westchester Gardens

Shery Winters

The caregivers here are great here. All the staff are caring and so kind. If you can't be at home they all strive to make your stay comfortable and happy. I broke both my ankles and had surgery to put me back together. I'll be here until I heal so about another 4 weeks. I'm in great hands.

very disapointed

Definetly not a suitable place for dementia patients, Very chaotic. Under staffed with new employees every week. My loved one was there for 9 months, The majority of the time he was stressed and aggravated from all the chaos, loud alarms and residents bumping into each other in hallway. The caregivers were good but the admin staff are so rude and uncaring, Do not give you their full attention when asking questions about you're loved ones. They have a do not bother us attitude. My loved ones room mate was very messy and loud threatening to do bodily harm to my loved one. He hit one of the elderly dementia a lot smaller than him lady while I was visiting my loved one, One of the caregivers yelled at him and sent him outside as punishment. Another resident with mental handicapped used to scream and cry a lot, Caregivers put her outside and told her she could go back in after she stopped yelling, So unprofessional! I seen all this with my own eyes. After becoming concerned about my loved ones health and safety I had no choice but to find a new less chaotic place for him. Very unfortunate because he got to know everyone and loved the care givers. If only admins hadn't been so rude and uncaring and addressed the safety issues I wouldn't have moved him. Also once when I was visiting one of the female dementia residents was outside with no clothes on from the waist down, I told one of the stressed over worked care givers and she said oh she likes to pee in the bushes. I couldn't believe what I was hearing! The entire staff from admins to care givers need to be fully trained in humanity and compassion.

Disappointed and unsatisfied

I had my uncle here the staff took good care of him but the ladies in the office are rude unprofessional women they are in the wrong line of work everything they told us when we first put him here they have not stuck to there word. When we first visited the place was clean smelled good i guess it was for show cause housekeeping here is so not on point at all and every other week there are new staff members it always hectic here I would not RECOMMEND THIS PLACE...

Rosalie S.

My husband & I visited his mom for the first time today, being from out of state. We were there from early morning until a little after lunch. The following are things I noticed: All staff members seemed to have professional attitudes and work ethics, keeping busy either with the residents or in the facility. I saw no less than 4 persons cleaning: 2 washing the walls, one a toilet and one cleaning & disinfecting wheelchairs. I didn't see any lolly gagging or idle chit chat among themselves. The facility was not only clean but, they take time there to make it feel homey, not only with the bedding that covers the beds but pictures and, with Easter around the corner, they had decorations for that on each residents' doors & on bulletin boards in different places. Each resident has their own space in a closet, their own nightstand and dresser. They can have their own decor, bedding, etc. in their room. My MIL has a lift chair other relatives bought for her in her room. There's a very nicely kept patio for the residents to enjoy complete with patio tables & chairs & healthy looking plants & flowers-cheerful. Lunch smelled wonderful! And, it was a healthy, balanced meal. All in all, I highly recommend Westchester Gardens as a facility for your elderly loved one who needs care you can no longer give. They give the residents their meds on time, are open to questions & have a caring, professional, well trained staff.

remington

My mother was a resident at Westchester Gardens for nine years. She recently passed away. In her stay at Westchester the staff took very good care of her. They genuinely cared about her. I have been around some of the other assisted facilities here in Bakersfield that are bigger and with more amenities but that does not make them a better place to live. Westchester is like one big family. My mom and I were very comfortable there. I always knew what was going on. I know that the staff loved my mom. They were always concerned about her needs as well as mine. I still keep in touch with them because they will always have a special place in my heart. Beth Ferguson

mcsssss

HORRIBLE! We visited my Mother-In-Law and found her outside at the front gate trying to get out. There was no caregiver around or even aware that she was outside trying to get out the front gate. There are alarms on the doors, but they go off so often that the caregivers have become desensitized by the door alarms. That's not good when you have a relative wanting to escape. With 36-40 residents, and only a handful of caregivers, there is no way they can keep track of them all. Also, this facility is absolutely filthy! The worst of it for my Mother-in-Law is the bathroom. First off, the portable hand rails around the toilet was completely missing the seat. There was no way for anyone to be able to sit on the "over the toilet" seat because there wasn't one. The toilet itself had urine and feces on, in, and around the outside of the bowl, including the floor at the base of the toilet. It looked as if the bathroom hadn't been cleaned in at least a few days. The facility overall is very run down. It was VERY DEPRESSING to visit my Mother-in-Law there. We tried to get her out into the sunlight (since residents are virtually on top of each other hanging out in the hallways), so we went out into the "garden" patio. It was fine, UNTIL another resident joined us and begging us or a cigarette. Then a caregiver came out and gave him a cig and lit it up near us. I was in SHOCK! Elderly people who are ill already (including my Mother-In-Law's roommate who gave my mother-in-law a respiratory illness), absolutely do NOT need to be further poisoned by first hand and second-hand cigarette smoke. Again, I was in SHOCK that there was NO regard for us sitting in the ONLY outside location available at this facility, that the caregiver would actually light up a cigarette for another elderly resident in our presence. Where were we to go for some peace and quiet???? Back inside the depressing and dark building??? There is no where to visit within my Mother-in-law's room since the small room is filled with 2 hospital beds, 3 nightstands and dressers and a single recliner. Me and my husband left there simply mortified with the condition of the place, the cigarette smoking (of which I'm incredibly allergic to - so we had to cut our visit short), and the fact that it felt more like a nursing home. OH, I also failed to mention that the residents all look like they need a good bath. The most shocking was to see an elderly gentleman walking around BAREFOOT and with no shirt on. It was obvious that this man had been barefoot a very long time since his feet were black on the bottoms. Then he eventually had no shirt on walking around outside in the cold. He was this way for at least the 2 hours we were there visiting. It was heart wrenching to watch. ONE visit with my Mother-In-Law and we're immediately looking to move her out of this very depressing facility!