The Artisan Mount Pleasant — Local services in Mount Pleasant

When the time came to find a place for my mother who suffers from dementia, and requires constant care, our initial impression of Atria, Mt. Pleasant was very positive. They were a new facility promising the best of care and services. Sadly, nothing could be further from the truth. 
The list below is not all inclusive.

During my mother's time at Atria, staff turnover was high and constant, including 6 Life Guidance Directors for memory care and a total loss of any activities director. Whenever I visited residents seemed bored and were relegated to the TV room to spend hours watching TV.

Atria management will tell you that the care and safety of the residents is their prime concern and that there is always a nurse on call and accessible. Nursing assistance is spotty at best. My mother had an "unexplained fall" and was taken to the hospital. We were never notified and only found out when the hospital contacted us. We were told the nurse Erica, had another emergency. She never followed up after even when we requested a call.

As it should be, memory care is locked to prevent residents from wandering away. On one occasion as were leaving, Erica, who turned out to be the head of nursing, was letting us out and told us to be careful not to let the resident behind us out because she was combative and would hit us. This seems like private information that shouldn’t have been shared with us and struck me as less than compassionate nor professional. The type of behavior and lack of communication exhibited by Erica was not unique. There had been several nurses prior who were equally as lacking.

Some staff were great, but the majority were too busy on their phones to give the residents what they needed.

Housekeeping and maintenance are poor at best. Requests for things to be fixed go untouched for months. The floors in the uncarpeted areas are sticky.

Laundry was a disaster. Everything was thrown in together, clothes were destroyed regularly by the inept handling of it all. In spite of labeling, nicer items went missing and we constantly were finding my mother in clothes that weren't hers and didn't fit.

Help with personal hygiene is lacking in general. Often it was days between showers even when we were paying for additional assistance. Items such as toothpaste and deodorant are locked up in the resident's rooms for "safety" which translates into a total lack of personal hygiene for residents as the keys are often missing. Items that were easily accessed were taken when needed for other residents without any replacements or reimbursements made.

Mementos, jewelry, sentimental items, photo albums - nothing was safe. We were told they were probably just in another residents room but zero efforts were made to find anything and much was lost.

We witnessed and were told by other residents' families that as soon as your loved one becomes “difficult” Atria will tell you it's time to either bring in private help or leave. 

As soon as my mothers doctor wanted her on oxygen for comfort we were told she would be better elsewhere. We hired private care in the last few weeks Mom was at Atria. I went in several times to find that the private care I was paying for were being given jobs by Atria staff and being asked to assist other residents.

My mother's room was being thoroughly cleaned before we had finished moving the final items out. It hadn't been that well cleaned throughout her 2-year residency.

If Atria had been able to deliver on what they promised my mother may still be a resident. Lip service, false promises, and poor care are what we got instead. Shame on Atria and its management team my mother deserved MUCH better.

Keep your loved ones far away from Atria Mount Pleasant.

Edit to add based on the response to my review - we had numerous discussions with several people on Atria's executive teams in Mount Pleasant as well as in Corporate over the 2 year period. I stand...

I love my Mom, that is why we took her out of Atria Senior Living in Mount Pleasant. Looking for memory care, the Atria sales pitch was perfected and full of promises. Shortly after moving Mom into the beautiful facility, we saw the décor was a façade that covered half-truths and flaws. We tolerated the growing pains but as months passed there was little progress. Life Guidance directors came and went multiple times leaving the residents without the sense of the familiar they need. The majority of visits to Atria found Mom sleeping in the TV room. Often there was no staff around and if they were, they were preoccupied with their phones. I brought this to the attention of local and regional management who finally made an effort to comply with state regulations. Still, if we sat with my Mom in the TV room, staff jumped up and left us to watch over the other residents. If we took Mom into another room for a family visit, residents would often wander in and interrupt family time. We had to find staff to escort them out as only one or two of them were actually pro-active in that situation. I had numerous discussions with management about the lack of common sense that dictated care staff. One such issue is the Atria Algorithm for Laundry. Simply, the more valuable the item, the more likely it is to be lost, stolen or ruined. Name tags were of no help and the “solution” for marking pens proved useless as well. There were times my mom was in the same dirty clothes for days. We re-filled her closet several times during her 2-year stay and sadly saw new clothes fall victim to the algorithm as well. Sentimental items, meant to give comfort in unfamiliar surroundings, disappeared without a trace. Countless times the staff would defensively say, “Don’t blame me, it’s not my fault, I wasn’t there.” For my mother and others, their health and wellbeing were sadly not of primary importance. There were slow responses to health concerns and unwitnessed falls. During one trip to the emergency room the doctor informed me that Atria has a poor reputation for health care. More than once I found my mother unresponsive in her bed, yet no one had even checked on her. The one staff member I always relied on to help me was terminated. It got to a point where I stopped learning names and faces because the staff was constantly changing. My sincerest advice to anyone placing their loved ones in memory care is to steer clear of deflected responsibility and empty promises to do better. Find somewhere that follows the principle of making an effort to set things right as soon as they need to be addressed. Happily, that’s where...

I have been at Atria for almost Five years. The joy that the residents have brought me has been absolutely unbelievable. I think of all of the residents as my grandparents. We have built such an amazing team who are positive and who are committed to caring and loving on our residents. We have some very seasoned care staff on our team and The team we now have has really come together as a family and it is exciting to see!

Our food at Atria is amazing! Our culinary Team is incredible. Stop our restaurant and meet our Amazing Culinary Director Suzanne or stop by the bistro and meet Chef Yogi who will whip you up a delicious quick meal! If you go to the dining room meet our restaurant manager Shirley (who has such a sweet outgoing spirit!) We offer a top tier dining program for our independent, assisted living, and memory care residents!

Atria offers cleaning services once a week. The housekeepers we have come with over 15 years of experience. They are committed to giving the best experience!

Haley our activities Director is an absolute gem. The team really comes together to bring her vision to life for the residents. When you attend an atria event expect to dress up and really get into character!

Olivia Our Memory Care director has an outstanding program for our memory care residents! We would love for you to come by and meet her and see our beautiful apartments!

We have Fox therapy and McLeod home health in house for your convenience!

Jessica our Executive Director is a tenure Nurse who comes with years of experience and an impeccable reputation in the mount pleasant area. She is super sweet and friendly and She is committed to ensuring your loved ones get the best experience they deserve!

Lastly, My grandmother lives here and very grateful for all of the staff who do such an amazing job...