Willow Bend Assisted Living & Memory Care

Mom stayed for less than a month

Our Mom stayed at Willow Bend for less than a month, and it was one of the worst experiences of her – and our family’s – lives. The directors assured us they could handle our Mom’s level of care, but the care was consistently substandard and neglectful since Day 1. We reported countless issues to the executive director and healthcare director and had multiple meetings with them to try to correct the problems, to no avail. In less than a month under Willow Bend’s care, our Mom suffered a fourth fracture in her back, severe constipation, a UTI, dehydration, malnutrition and a pressure sore. I took her to the hospital twice during this time because of the lack of care she was receiving at Willow Bend. Other issues we reported: • Aides not responding to Mom's calls for help. We witnessed standard wait times ranging from 30 minutes to 45 minutes to two hours. Sometimes aides did not respond at all. • Waiting twice for the facility’s unconcerned nurse practitioner to give orders to administer necessary pain medications. Our Mom spent her first night at Willow Bend in excruciating pain while waiting on the NP to approve orders. The facility failed to provide any pain medications, as promised (not even a regular-strength Tylenol), during her first 24 hours in Willow Bend. Two weeks later, the facility threatened to withhold her pain meds again while waiting for the NP to approve orders over a weekend. • The NP ignored various health concerns and was unwilling to adjust her pain meds, even though she was in constant pain while at Willow Bend. He ignored our requests to have pain meds administered routinely vs. PRN, telling us we needed to work with a “pain management” doctor. • The NP failed to visit our Mom during his routine scheduled visits the week of Thanksgiving. When we asked the healthcare director why he did not see her -- no response. Days later, I was taking Mom to the ER for dizziness and blood pressure issues. • The aides were unaware of Mom’s care needs and the fact that she had three fractured vertebrae. They had no idea why she needed to wear a bulky back brace or why she did not feel like walking, and they let her fend for herself to get dressed and put the heavy brace on each morning. After we complained multiple times to management, they assured us that the aides knew how to put the brace on and that they would help her each morning. This was not the case. We believe this is what caused a fourth fracture to her spine sometime between Nov. 4-26. • Mom lost substantial weight during her short stay at Willow Bend. She did not feel like getting up to walk to the cafeteria for breakfast, so she asked for her breakfast to be brought to her room. The aides routinely left her small bowls of cereal (with no utensils) without telling her. Therefore, she was not eating breakfast. • She did not ask for much help. One night, she did call the front desk to see if someone could help air up a seat cushion for her pressure sore, and the staffer said, “We don’t do things like that.” Mom asked what she was going to do, and the staffer said, “You’d better start blowing!!” • I personally took Mom to the hospital twice in less than three weeks – the first time because of severe constipation for 7-8 days. Until then, NOBODY asked her if she was problems or having bowel movements. • During another incident when Mom felt dizzy and had blurred vision, I asked the director of healthcare, Amy Biggar, for a report on her blood pressure. Amy did not know I was on site in my Mom’s room and texted me a photo of someone else’ healthy blood pressure reading with an old time stamp. The reading was false. My Mom’s blood pressure readings at the time were actually 90/44 and 90/50. Amy and Joel casually dismissed her low readings as an “orthostatic drop.” That is when I decided to take Mom to the ER again. It turned out she was dehydrated and malnourished, low on potassium, and had a UTI and a new fracture in her back. She was in the hospital for four days. • Nobody from Willow Bend reached out to check on Mom during or after either of the hospital stays. • In our 26 days at Willow Bend, nobody cleaned the bathroom or toilet or vacuumed the carpet until I asked. They left dirty dishes in her sink and did not help tidy up her place. I’ve routinely removed soiled disposable bed pads because the staff would not touch her bed. My family realized during the first week at Willow Bend that our Mom was being neglected and ignored. We worked feverishly to get her out of there and into a smaller facility with more hands-on care.

Debbie

We plan to move my mom to Willow Bend. We chose it because it was fairly small. It was not really big as far as the number of rooms. My friend's mom lives there too, so I had feedback from her. When we visited, the staff was very, very nice, and my mom really liked the staff that was there. They had laundry services, housecleaning, three meals a day, exercise activities every day, and nurses giving the residents their medicine. All the staff were very, very friendly, very knowledgeable, and very helpful. We were there right as lunch was starting, and they all looked like they were thoroughly enjoying their meals. Some residents were doing chair yoga while we were there, and everybody seemed to be enjoying it.

Provider Response

Alicia

My momma is now in Willow Bend Assisted Living & Memory Care and it's been great. They have caring staff, beautiful facilities, and amazing food. I've had a couple bits of my mom's stuff, but she keeps raving about it. Her room is updated, spacious, and wide enough for my momma's scooter. She loves the bingo that they have there, they have Catholic services that come once a week and she gets to receive communion. The living atmosphere is just great.

Provider Response

Dayna

I went to Willow Bend Assisted Living & Memory Care. It was very nice. It was appealing inside. It just looked very upper-class. Everybody that I spoke with was very nice. I did not go to one of the apartments. We just had a meeting, and I walked around and just looked at the facility. It was just a nice place. The common areas were very nice. I saw their schedule and all the activities they had, and I like that my aunt could keep her cat if there was a room available. That was appealing, and it was very nice and clean. The woman I met gave me all the information and was wonderful. We even talked out in the parking lot as we left. Everything went great. I would recommend this. I would feel very comfortable with my aunt being there. So, I felt very good about it.

Provider Response

Anna

I visited Willow Bend Assisted Living & Memory Care. I liked the facility itself. The rooms were nice. They have a lot of activities and there's a courtyard there. The lady who gave the tour was also nice. Just that the other staff that I saw were only doing their daily tasks. It didn't seem like there was a lot of resident and staff connection, and that's something that we were really looking for.

Provider Response

Neva

My father is at Willow Bend memory care facility, and it's been positive for the most part. The food is tasty and the staff is mostly friendly. The rooms are OK, but there's not a lot of storage. They do exercises and play games. The assisted living side has puzzles, games, music, happy hours on Fridays, outings on Wednesdays, exercises, preaching and crocheting group come in, and there's a salon. It's way too expensive. My mother also stayed in the assisted living part.

Provider Response