Brookdale Bellevue

Dan

Brookdale Bellevue looked like they had a lot of good activities. They had an assembly with a musician playing. The food looked like it was pretty good. The rooms were small but comfortable. The staff was very friendly and very personable. The facility seemed very clean, although some of the things around the room appeared to be worn like the carpets. The building was OK. The facility seemed reasonable in price. Some of the others that I had assessed or checked into seemed quite high.

Susan

We went to Brookdale Bellevue. It was memory care, but I wouldn't be able to go to memory care, just my husband, so they were gonna give me a bedroom and offered him a bedroom next to mine. It sounded like I would not see him throughout the day. But we weren't ready for that change. It was lovely, they treated us well, and they're very proud of their place. The only thing I was dissatisfied with was not having an apartment-type thing. The room was just a bedroom with no kitchenette or living room. In the memory care, the doors are locked, so my husband could not get out. The staff was nice.

Reviewer#DT1108

We did a tour of Brookdale Bellevue. My parents could be in the same facility, and the marketing guy we talked to there came up with a setup where they would get their rooms. What he's trying to do right now is see about having two rooms right through next to each other, and I thought it was creative. One room would be a bedroom, then you'd walk up the hall, go over and the other room would be your living room. So, they could be together sort of, but they wouldn't be adjoining rooms. It's an older facility, there's nothing wrong with it. The staff who gave me the tour is good and enthusiastic. They did have a courtyard, and they have a lot of activities for folks out there. They did have facilities, and they talked about their care plan and how they would adjust. It was just old and dated, but they have updated it based on what their needs are. There are restaurants nearby, but there are not a lot of hospitals in that direction.

Provider Response

Julie

We went to see Brookdale Bellevue. The physical setting that it was in was very pretty, but I thought that the interior was a little depressing. There wasn't a lot of light, it had very low ceilings, and it was just a little worn looking. The one person that I met with meant well, but he oversold it a little bit, and I felt like he was a little bit too aggressive. I just felt like the place was a little bit more rundown and not quite as cheerful as I would have liked. I think they just need sort of an interior facelift. They had a salon, the gym was kind of a rudimentary thing, and they have sort of a beauty parlor, but they didn't have a lot of other special things.

Provider Response

Lynn

I didn't meet too many staff members at Brookdale Bellevue because it was a weekend. The residents there seemed to be in the rooms at the time. I was very pleased with the person who showed me around, his name was Dante. Everything was good except for the rooms they would be living in, they were way too small, and that's what made me decide not to pursue it. But everything else was good and the grounds were good. They weren't doing any activities because it was a weekend, so it was kinda an off time for them.

Willis

I liked Brookdale Bellevue. The tour was a nice experience. The gentleman walked me through the assisted living and then also through the memory care area, and I liked the way they have it set up. My mother could go straight from one level of care to the next one just by going from one section to the next section. The gentleman was also great and very personable. The building was very clean. The yard was clean and mowed as well. I just felt that the rooms were too small or too tight for me, and so they were going to be tight for my mother, but the layout was nice. As you come through the door, you see the person that takes you in. From there, you have an open area where they can come in and sit. Then behind there was a cafeteria. Off to the left were some apartments. When you go down the aisle, you see more apartments, and everything was ground floor level.

Carolyn

I went to Brookdale Bellevue. It was very clean. It's a little older, but it's well kept. I talked to Dominic; he was in charge there. He gave me a little tour of more or less how the rooms are set up, how the kitchen area is, and the facility itself, and he told me the differences between memory care and independent living. He was very nice. He gave me a lot of information to go on and stuff like that. He told me how assisted living works. The area is very nice. I was comfortable with that. He didn't take me to the memory care part. He just showed me a room in the assisted living, and he said it is more or less the same format and stuff. It is just the memory care is a little more advanced. The staff was very nice and very friendly. The receptionist was very nice and stuff. The people were very cordial. I like the way it was set up. It was clean, neat, and a little bit more up-to-date. It was very comfortable. They have a salon, they have laundry services, they have the cafeteria, and they have an area where you can go outside and get some fresh air and stuff like that. For people who are in assisted living, I think they have trips where they go out, they take them to the town and go shopping, and then they bring them back

Susan

I went to tour Brookdale Bellevue in Syracuse. I thought it was very nice, but to be very honest, I thought it was a little shabby compared to the other Brookdales I've seen. I think that it was probably a wonderful memory care unit for some people, but it just didn't seem to be what I needed for my sister.

relative456

Some staff were very good, however a large percentage of the aides are young and inexperienced (high turnover) and do not know how to deal with the elderly. There was very poor communication between staff members. I would discuss an issue with one nurse one day, and the next day another nurse knew nothing about it (this happened many times). It was the same with the aides, and nurse to aide, shift to shift, etc. In addition there was poor care. Many times I found my mother in dirty clothing, and a week or more later I saw her in the same dirty clothing (same stains in the same location). The aides were supposed to be assisting in getting her dressed and washed. I also found dried up/rotted filth on my mother's body which showed that she had not been washed for a very long time. What made this experience even worse was that one of the nurses was very difficult to deal with. I thought it was just me who noticed this, however this issue was mentioned to me by 3 other staff members/family members over the course of just 2-3 months.

Provider Response

Syracusan

All of the staff are very nice, however the resident had better be able to fend for themselves and be pretty self-sufficient if they live there. There is no “ hands on” treatment at all. The staff are not even allowed to put lotion on a resident’s hands. There is no physical contact from staff such as a warm touch or arm around the shoulder. They give meds, meals, showers and that’s it. Activities on a weekday are good, However, it’s rare if anything happens in the evening.

Provider Response

Louis

My mom is in Brookdale Bellevue in their memory care. My experience has been good. I thought the place was clean, and the people were very nice. The staff was nice. The activities looked all right to me, and the food was good. They have painting, they take the clients out shopping, it seems fine to me, but it's just too expensive now.

Kay

Our experience with Brookdale Bellevue was horrible. They had dirty dishes that they were serving food in. My friend's coffee cup had dried coffee at the bottom and her water glass had lip marks on it. I would cut her meat during meal time because they don't cut it. The staff were always asked to come in at dinner time and serve coffee so the waitresses can get the food. There were little cups, so if the residents wanted refills they'd have to raise their cups and the staff would come over. I saw an LPN or nurse's aide who usually gives out medication left the room with the coffee pot and didn't come back. When dinner was over, I saw her with one of the residents doing puzzles and asked her why she wasn't in the dining room. She said, "Oh man, those people drive me crazy. As soon as I turned around and three cups were up, I was out of there." The food was alright, but one time there was a man sitting across from me. He didn't like what they had, so they told him they can serve him chicken salad or egg salad. He ordered the chicken salad and when his food came there were only two pieces of bread and a spoon of coleslaw in the middle. I took it back to the window and they said, "Well, we don't have any chicken salad." The rooms were not spacious and her bedroom had spiders. Some were crawling up her pillow and they weren't able to solve the problem, they just kept coming.

Provider Response

Relative351356

I looked at Brookdale because my mother’s health was deteriorating. The staff was excellent. They followed up with me a few times, and it was very helpful. I liked their service. They only have rooms, not apartments.

Melissa434132

My mother will be going to Brookdale Bellevue. We liked the apartment that was available because it was very quiet. It just had one bedroom and a bathroom. It looked like it would be perfect for her, and that's what she really liked. My mom said the food was average, but there were no major complaints. It's nothing to write home about, but it works.

JanetAFMYL

I chose Brookdale Bellevue for my mom. It felt homey and wasn't like a hospital or institution of any kind. It felt like a house when you're visiting friends or maybe going to a party or meeting a lot of people. They have very good food, the rooms are a good size, and people are friendly and very helpful. They do a lot of different things, like bingo, singalongs, movie nights and popcorn, and have entertainment come in, like singers and comedians. Right next to it are residential houses. It's not like a city; it's on the outskirts and everybody has a yard and dogs. It's very quiet, and they have areas outside in the courtyard where they can sit. The food was great and maybe a month ago, they got a whole new kitchen staff and a new chef so they're still trying different ways of doing things, but what they do is they come right to the table as if you were in a restaurant. They have one special and other options if you don't like what the special is, so they'll take your order and your drinks and bring your food out, just like you're sitting in a restaurant, so that's nice.

Chuck22

The people, the rooms, everything were very nice at Brookdale Bellevue. The woman that we spoke with was wonderful. The rooms looked very accommodating, very simple but very clean and very noble looking. There was a lot of social interaction and everything.

live on

The review page would not let me give less than 1 star, but I would give it a negative 5 stars. As a visitor, residents have come to me for assistance because there is never anyone around to help them find their rooms if they become disoriented. I'm a retired RN and feel that a nurse there that routinely takes orders and gives diabetic medication at the facility has made some very negligent errors, from not questioning a doctor's order that was contraindicated and caused serious side effects, to not giving a diabetic patient her injection. The food is low quality and there isn't sufficient input from a dietitian. Some food has been served cold that should have been heated (potatoes). This has been reported to the health department. When the husband of a couple fell and was taken by ambulance (called by a staff member) to the hospital, the next day a staff member asked the wife why she didn't inform the day staff about it. Apparently the staff members don't communicate properly among themselves and felt they could blame the wife with dementia for not reporting the incident to the next shift. Over the counter medications are only given with a doctor's order, but they don't get the orders for the resident. They also rely on family members to pick up prescriptions and bring them to the facility which is rather inconvenient. There is no nurse in the building after 7:30 pm, RN or LPN. There are the usual bingo and sing-a-longs done at all these facilities. I would not recommend this place if you can possibly avoid it. They do not have family updates/meetings and instead try to hide information about the residents from the family members by claiming HIPPA restrictions.

Provider Response

Caring112926950

Brookdale Bellevue was very nice and clean. The people were very friendly. The apartments were small but clean. I like the location, and the atmosphere was very friendly.

Marianne17

Our overall experience with Brookdale Bellevue has been very pleasant. Everyone is very helpful and attentive to my father. He has been there just a couple of months now. The rooms are kept up clean and neat, and there's plenty of room for him. The dining room is nice, and it's plenty of room too. Everyone knows where to sit, and the food is excellent. They have a great monthly schedule. There's always something going on. He really likes the masses because they provide a mass a couple of times a week.

Susan113781450

I visited Brookdale Bellevue. The staff was very helpful and informative. They gave me the information that I needed and gave me ideas on what to do. There was an issue of not taking meds, and they gave me an idea on how they went about helping the patients with the importance of taking the meds. They had several levels. The rooms looked like standard rooms. It was small with a queen size bed, and a bathroom attached or in the room. It was almost like a hotel room. It has enough space for a TV. They had activities all set-up on the wall. I knew she mentioned they went out to the malls and different things. They had bingo, but I didn't really look at the activities scheduled for the month. I walked through their dining room. They had two set-ups -- one for people who were a little bit more independent which was on one side of the building and those who needed a little bit more help could go to the other side. It was basically a large room with round tables. It was set up like a restaurant, and they had their meals from a menu.

Allen8

We did visit and the place seemed OK. We had a good tour around the place, and I was happy with the presentation. The staff treated us very well. We saw their rooms, and they looked very good as far as I could tell.

Diane99455450

I am a resident and I like the atmosphere and the staff. They are all very happy and nice. The care and services provided are great. The food and the dining area are excellent. They have all kinds of activities and they also have a shuttle.

Caring95172050

What impressed me was that they are taking care of the residents well and the people seemed to be happy there. For the price, the room is really adequate. They clean the room once a week and they have three meals a day. They had game and exercise room. The director of the place talked to me as well, and if my dad needs to go a place, I know where it would be.

Caring89442350

It was a decent facility, I guess. We weren't overly impressed, but at that time they would not take Medicaid, so everything stopped. We looked around, and it was fine. The rooms were smaller and kind of closed-in. There were not a lot of places for patients to go socialize or anything. I think, just from a patient's standpoint, they need to offer more activities.

Provider Response

Caring84869550

We had taken a tour. The place would have served sufficiently for our mother, had they had an available room, but they didn't have one. The staff were fine. I also happen to know a friend who had her mom there, and she thinks they do a fine job. They do activities all day long.

Catherine11

It was very warm. I was instantly thrilled by the atmosphere in the lobby. The recreational director showed us around. The residents knew her. I was really excited how it was such a lovely, welcoming atmosphere. It was lunchtime, and the food smelled really good. There was nothing that they didn't want to show me. There was no holding back. Certainly if I was able, I would want my parents to be there. The rooms were great. They were able to show me one resident, and she actually had a cat. It was really cute. So she was happy to show us off the room, and I thought it was great. They have like a Sunday drive or trip where they can just go and take a ride or church once a week. If I could make it happen moneywise, then I would just have them there in a heartbeat. It's safe and friendly. I wouldn't have concerns about anybody's safety or well-being or somebody being neglected or abused.

Nancy76219550

We visited and my mother ended up living there. We were very happy with the selection. They have an exercise class every morning. They have a devotional thing for the residents. They do cooking, they go shopping, and they go out on day trips. They do a lot of nice things. They have the bingo and the games and the crafts. My mom loves the food, loves the people, and she's very happy.