Gardens at Northridge — Local services in Los Angeles

Brookdale Northridge Review

From the time we were welcomed on our first tour of the Brookdale Northridge facilities and throughout my mother's stay in the Skilled Nursing unit, we were impressed with the professional and caring nature of everyone.

Nimisha Tomar was there in the beginning to help answer questions and make sure our transition from another facility was easy and assistance was available. Nimisha would check up on us periodically and assist in anything we might need. Along with Kristis Serris who made us feel welcome from the beginning, they were helpful and professional throughout our stay.

Carolina Chapman, Director of Social Services is as charming as she is professional. She is friendly and warm and takes all her responsibilities seriously. Carolina makes time to assist with personal needs for the residents and was helpful with introductions to private care services for my mother. We have been extremely happy with the recommendations she had for us and appreciate all her care.

Sara Estrada, Manager of Food Services makes everyone feel special. She is warm and caring with all the residents and looks after everyone as if they are her family.

The nursing team is professional and high qualified. On our day of arrival the nurse took the time to review all medications and the proper times for them to be administered during the day and night. They reviewed any special needs and personal issues they should be aware of for my mother's stay.

Ms. Ide Maka, one of the In-Charge nurses is amazing. She takes her responsibilities very seriously and always has a warm smile for all … Ide, Venson, Samantha, and the full nursing team have all exceeded our expectations and always performed their responsibilities in the most warm and friendly manner. We have the utmost respect for all the nurses in the team.

The CNA's are also remarkable … willing to perform all their responsibilities in a friendly and professional manner. They are prompt and skillful in their jobs. Marle Antonio, head of the CNA's is always available and checks up with residents to see if their needs are being met. I cannot mention all their names but I can say that each one of the CNA's cared for our mother as if she were their own mom.

The Physical and Occupational Therapy department is exceptional. Here again every therapist is caring and warm but most important they are all excellent therapists. We could not ask for a better team of professionals to have helped my mother return to her prior strength and abilities after her surgery.

And a final note goes to the Activities department. Program Director Aurora Benko is a woman of admirable character. She runs a wonderful department and along with Elsa and Sharon, they are constantly keeping the residents occupied with enjoyable activities. As some residents have varying degrees of dementia it can be challenging to keep residents peaceful, happy and focused on activities. They all keep everyone entertained and safe and try their best to make the residents have fun and feel they are cared about.

My family and I feel blessed to have had the experience at Brookdale Northridge and could not have imagined a better environment for my mother to recover from her accident. We were in California visiting from NJ and being so far from home during this difficult time was challenging but the teams of skilled professionals at Brookdale actually made our mothers stay enjoyable.

Thank you Brookdale Northridge for all you did for our mother. We will never forget you. Congratulations Brookdale for running such a...

Subject: Disappointing Experience with Inquiry Process

Dear all,

I hope this message finds you well. I regret to inform you that my initial experience while inquiring about a potential living arrangement for my mother at the Gardens at Northridge has been less than satisfactory.

During the first week of my visit to the facility, I encountered challenges in establishing communication with the responsible party. Despite having relatives within the same facility who spoke highly of their introduction to the Gardens, my attempts to inquire about enrollment for my mother were met with delays and communication gaps.

Upon calling and requesting to speak with the individual in charge, I left my contact information with the receptionist, expecting a prompt callback. Unfortunately, I did not receive any response within the next two days. Upon placing a follow-up call, the same scenario unfolded.

Given my limited availability due to a full-time job, I visited the facility during my lunch break in the hopes of resolving the communication issues. Despite expressing my concerns to the receptionist and waiting patiently, it took approximately 20 to 25 minutes before I could engage with the person in charge. During our conversation, I sought clarification on the prolonged process, only to be informed that the delay was attributed to the receptionist not relaying my messages— a claim that I find challenging to accept, considering three messages were left without a response.

Following our discussion, I was assured that I would receive an email containing information about VA Benefits that could facilitate my mother's registration at the Gardens. Regrettably, as of today, I am yet to receive the promised email. A recent call to follow up on this matter yielded the response that I would not receive a callback, further adding to my disappointment with the communication history with the designated individual at...

I will write a fair honest review and you make up your own mind. First the pros: Clean, In-house eating facility, friendly caregiving staff. CONS: 1. Unable to follow simple instructions. 2. Disorganized admin staff. 3. Poor attention to detail. 4. No follow-up with family members. 5. Expensive. 6. Staff not honest when a problem arose. So we dropped off mom (92) for a temporary stay, called a "respite stay" and went out of town. A couple of days earlier while going over mom's med list I was told they would administer mom's meds, no big deal, I said I had them arranged day by day and all they needed to do was watch when she takes them to make sure she takes the correct day. However when we dropped mom off I was told, FOR THE FIRST TIME, her meds had to be in prescription bottles. I said I did not have them. They said they would get "packets" of all her meds from the pharmacy and administer those to her during her stay. The next day we are 5,000 miles away and I get a call saying I have to pay $500.00 for her new meds. I said they were responsible for any charges as I was never told I needed to supply her meds in origional bottles, and we hung up. The next call I get 20 minutes later is from someone who indirectly tells me mom will not get her medicine until I pay the $500.00. At this time I go ballistic, so she says she will not speak with me anymore and hangs up. I never hear another thing from Brookside. I called her doctor, and between me and him, had enough of her medicine delivered to last until we got back. WOW, really. I had to solve this problem from the southern hemisphere. Also told them on day 1 her tv did not work. On day 11 it still did to work. The same for her floor lamp. Anyway, I am only one man with a single experience so make up your own...