Belvedere Commons of Franklin

Michele

My dad has moved into Belvedere Commons of Franklin. They offered a room that he could share with somebody, and he would have to share the bathroom with them. The one that I chose was a single room. My dad has his own bathroom and doesn't have to share the room with anyone. It's just his room. The only thing that I found weird was that I had to provide his furniture for the room. I had to do the shower curtain, the rug, the bed, the dresser, and the lamps. Anything like that, I had to provide. Margie, the staff who toured me, was good. She showed me around and introduced me to the nurses who were in the area. She also told me how they do stuff like breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They give them snacks, too. She said they all come out of their room at a certain time whether it's lunch or breakfast. We can also bring snacks or drinks to them that they can keep in their room. However, when my dad acted out, they were calling me. They said they couldn't calm him down and everything, and I told them to send him to the hospital, and so they did. With regards to activities, they weren't doing them. The staff took me to a room and she said they do different activities like movies, arts and crafts, and play games in that room. I think their activities would be good getting them to interact with the rest of the residents and getting to know them. With regards to value for money, I paid for part of June, and I paid for July. Margie said as long as I've got furniture in his room, then they're going to charge me rent. Right now, to me, it's a waste of money because he has been in the hospital, and now they've got him in a different psych unit to try to get him to take his medicine and calm down.

Jerry

I didn't like too many things about Belvedere Commons of Franklin. It's an older facility. It shows some signs of wear. It's sparse inside. There doesn't appear to be much for the people to do. It's got a large common area and all that, but there didn't seem to be much there of any interest. I wasn't too impressed with the manager. She was too quick to say that people needed additional help. She was doing things that, to me, did not come across very well, and I had a problem with that, but overall I was impressed with the facility. The pricing was good. The rooms were large and pretty roomy. They were OK. We only met two people there, so I didn't have real contact with the staff there, except for the management. There was some maintenance that needed to be done. Some of the woodwork was in bad shape.

Stephanie T

Hopefully my review will help other families- Ask a lot of questions and do your due diligence before moving forward with this community. My father moved in April 2002. At that time Grace Mgt. owned this facility. Shortly after Opal purchased the property. Since that time, care and staffing went downhill fast. Opal cut nursing hours shortly after taking over. When my father moved in, there was nurses on premises 24 hours a day. Opal cut it to 12 hours without officially notifying the families and then again in Dec 2022 cut hours to 8 hours a day until the families caught wind of it and raised issues and banded together to form a family group. Now I believe they are back to 12 hours, which is still inadequate compared to other facilities in Franklin and the surrounding area. The staffing ratios, residents to staff, are low. In Memory Care there is 1 usually in each wing and it's not enough to properly watch and care for them. Here are some events that took place that would give anyone pause about moving forward with this community: - My father fell in the middle of the night Jan 16th 2022. Hit his head, cut his head and was bleeding. They didn't send him out for medical attention, didn't call 911 and didn't call me. I found out the next morning at 8:45 am when I arrived. The caregiver found my father at 1am. and put him back in the bed. Since there is no night nurse on duty there is no one qualified to evaluate the residents in these instances and only hourly caregivers on premises. There was still blood on the floor and wall by his bed when I arrived. I took him to the ER myself and he spent 2 weeks in the hospital and 2 weeks in a skilled nursing facility. - Shortly after that incident, on the Assisted Living side a fire alarm went off in the middle of the night, 3 am I believe. The residents evacuated themselves and the Franklin Fire Dept. arrived. They couldn't find a Caregiver in the building! The State was notified by many people so that is on record. The Exec Director didn't tell the families about the incident until she was confronted by families that found out. Can you imagine, elderly people in the middle of January evacuating themselves and no Belvedere employees to be found. - In Dec 2022 , a room in the Winstead wing flooded from the toilet plumbing. The water ran into the neighboring room. The staff didn't properly clean up the water in the room (it had carpet). The room was stinking so back that you could smell it down the hall. The resident in the room was not moved by the staff. Her family lives out of town and wasn't aware. It took other families to notice the smell and reach out to her family member to notify her that her sister's room flooded and that the room smelled and that Belvedere had not taken action to move her out. Shortly after her family confronted management, they moved her. The families have learned to watch out for each other and try to advocate for their loved ones and others. Many of the staff, nurses and management have quit. In the 9 months my father was there they had 3 Exec Dir, 3 DON, and many of the long term care givers and nurses have left. For months they didn't have an Activities Director. They post the daily calendar of events but they are not doing them. It's all a lot of fluff...they tell you they are working on things or will address them but they don't. In the beginning it was smaller things like rooms not begin cleaned and me having to change my dad's sheets or empty his trash that were not getting done. Annoying but I was handling it....but then recently the issues have become very serious and I couldn't ignore it any longer. Belvedere's care is inadequate at best.....but I felt it was becoming serious and dangerous. -Look at Nursing coverage- how would your loved on get night time meds? If they are on hospice and need night time meds hospice doesn't administer meds at night. -Look at Care Giver Coverage -Ask about their census (available rooms and occupied rooms). Lots of empty rooms! There is a reason. -Look at the number of residents that take two people to move them, especially in memory care and do they have enough staff to move them? what about in an emergency? There are other options. I moved my father out and after he left the skilled nursing he never went back. The new place is excellent, 24 hour nurses, many Care Givers and the food is good. They have activities! There are other better options out there!

Wicky

We looked at Belvedere Commons of Franklin. It was lovely and decorated for the holiday. We were looking for a smaller place, and it was nice and adequate. The staff who helped me during the tour was the best. It was Latoya, and she was wonderful. We loved her. She was friendly, helpful, and adorable. She was so inviting and engaging. She told us everything we wanted to know, and she was great. They were preparing for Thanksgiving. They gave us a piece of pie, and it was delicious. They have their own chef there. It smelled good. It all looked really good. It looked well-kept.

Joy

I liked it, but my parents liked it the least of the places they visited. I don't think it's a bad place. It's just my parents didn't like the rooms in that one as much as they were a little bit smaller. They were all informative and helpful and offered different insights to me or my father as to how to try to get mom on board. We looked at the menus, but we did not eat. They have a courtyard.

Terry

My wife moved here. What we saw when we went there was a smaller community, and it was well-staffed. The cleanliness and appearance were quite nice. It was set in a wooded area. They have a full spectrum set of programs there for memory care. We've been very pleased by the folks who have done contact with my wife. The food was fine. It's a balanced meal with good portions and well cooked.