Brookdale Union Park

EldercareAdvocate

Stay away from the Memory Care facility. Not enough aides, they are NOT CNAs. They say a ratio of 1:8 but we easily saw areas of elderly residents without anyone monitoring them. They talk a good game but you can count on mismanaged medicines, a resident fell and the one Aide there had to run to get a Nurse, leaving all the other residents alone while that happened. Which can be a recipe for disaster if you have residents that are agitated/confused. They lock the closet doors which prevents the issue of losing clothing (happens a lot, hoarding/moving is part of the disease) however, one resident was paired with another that was allowed to have a key to lock the ROOM.....resulting in the dementia patient not having a safe place to go. Not able to get into the room when they wanted to sleep. You can visit and easily watch aides walk by and ignore the confused questions of the residents. Funny how behavior changed once they saw someone was there. Another two residents actually had their families hire "sitters" to help their loved ones bath/eat and get to bed. So, you end up paying for 1:1 care, plus the fees for the Aides to care for them. Watch out for "Activity Fees" $1k - $2k and more, which is ridiculous as you pay $5k and up monthly to live there and benefit from their resources. If your loved one leaves, don't think you'll see that refunded either. There were many other facilities better than this one, for many important reasons. We saw too much while a friends loved one was there and even the physicians stated that the Environment, not the Dementia was the issue with their decline.

Provider Response

Caring109596550

My mother is in Brookdale Union Park (Union Park). She’s happy where she is. It’s affordable, and the people are very kind and give a lot of personal care. She’s been there 6 ½ months, and she’s always talking about how much she likes it there and how she likes the people that live there as well as the staff. The food that I had was good; it’s not the type of food I normally eat but she likes it, and they’re very accommodating with food as well. They involve the residents in making decisions about what they serve.

Caring104686750

We visited one place -- Brookdale Union Park. I liked it, and my mother liked it, but she decided that she was not ready to go into an assisted living facility yet. Everyone was friendly and helpful, all the information was given, the place was clean; it was great. She just didn't want to go into any assisted living. Everything about the place was good. There was nothing bad about it at all.

Kevin16

We chose Brookdale for a couple of reasons. One, we wanted a private room for her, and the facility had that to offer at a reasonable price. It appears to be well-maintained. The people living there seem to be well-taken care of, and every one that I spoke to before I put her there seemed to be very happy there. She has been there since late January, and she is very happy. The staff seems to be very professional, and they seem to care about the residents. All in all, it is a good facility. The rooms are very nice. Before my mother moved in, they repainted and re-carpeted and put in new lighting and a new countertop in the bathroom, so it is a very nice room. The thing that stands out to me is the fact that when you walk in, it does not feel like an assisted living-nursing home. It feels like an apartment place where people actually just live.

Caring95338750

Mom is currently at Brookdale Union Park. Their staff are professional. The room that she has is satisfactory. Their food is good and nutritious.

Caring98072950

I visited Brookdale for my mother. The dining area was immaculate. It was great. It looked like you went into a really high-class restaurant. Their rooms were in great shape and had all the amenities. I was really impressed with that they had to offer. They had an activity area and they took them out on tours in different resorts around the area. They took them out on shopping. They had a game room. They had several activities. I would highly recommend it.

mswmullis

My FIL is a resident at Union Park (July 2014 - ). Dad has progressed from total independence through 4 extended hospital visits, rehabilitation, and now into assisted living. We chose Union Park after visiting all available in our immediate area. The choice has proved to be an excellent fit for Dad. He enjoys excellent meals (I generally visit at meal times, and frankly have been a little envious of some of the soups and entres he was served!), plenty of exercise as he needs to maintain strength and balance, a diversity of activities, but most of all a wonderful caring staff. He has been embarassed by this aging process (i.e. spills, needing help dressing, needing accidents cleaned up), but he is treated as a treasured member of an exclusive club. The staff constantly encourage him, chat with him (even though he is hard of hearing), and boost his morale by genuine praise when he works out in the "gym" or accomplishes a task. He feels at home here, and has been welcomed as a family member. We could not be any happier with the facility and it's support staff.

Devonne

I do like Union Park. It's very nice, and everybody is nice. I would recommend this facility to anybody. The food was good.

L/H

Let me start off my saying that I have been to a few homes before so they are somewhat the same but with some differences. Union Park is such a beautiful place to be. The staff is so welcoming and so present with the seniors. They establishment is clean and neat, no bad odors just clean scent that greets your nostrils. I and my church members and people from our communities were so pleased to be in these seniors presence, they really enjoyed our company and we enjoyed their company as well, just sit and talk to them and hand out stuff animals. We sang and gave out fruit baskets and it was such a joy. I'm truly looking forward to doing this again. Everyone there warmed my heart and made me feel so good to be able to do something for them. Bringing smiles on others faces is satisfying.

coolboysma

During the time that my mother was a resident I was able to observe an enormous turnover of staff, from the director to the nursing staff all the way to the support staff. Because of the constant changing of personel it was very difficult for both my mother to become acclimated and caused an inconvenience with my own personal dealings on her behalf. I found the facility to be quite dated and worn out and there was little done in respect to updates and repairs. One of my mothers biggest complaints was the food, although the dining room is presented nicely with cloth linens and silverware, the quality and variety of food was extremely poor. It also appeared that there wasn't much of a food budget which accounted for a lot of meals that were of inadequate nutrition, lacking in fresh fruits and vegetables. WIth regards to available activities, there were several choices of group activities including bingo games several times a week and trips to the local dollar stores or department stores. They do offer laundry service as well as allowing the residents to do their own laundry, should they choose to.

Woody1

Union Park Assisted Living in Monroe, NC is a part of the Brookdale Senior Living group which is the largest operator of these type residences in the United States. They currently have facilities in 33 states, so they are very experienced in providing care for seniors. Union Park is conveniently located close to hospitals, doctors' offices, shopping, and other amenities. The center is designed to provide options including private apartments and many community areas. The building is on a single story to make it more accessible to everyone. Each resident receives an individualized plan, tailored to their needs. Fees are based on the services needed to provide the necessary quality care. There are programs and outings for residents to enjoy along with transportation for appointments and shopping. On site are a library, beauty and barber shop, recreation room, dining room, and outdoor gardening and courtyard areas. The staff and nurses are very professional and caring. They provide 24 hour seven day a week service as needed. Overall this seems to be a well run, warm, welcoming residence for seniors with everything from independent living to assisted living and Alzheimer's care. I researched this facility before a family memmber became a resident there, and was pleased with the Brookdale company's mission and background, so I included that in this review.