Atria Tanglewood — Local services in Town of Hempstead

My mother spent the last six months of her life at the Atria Tanglewood. It was a difficult decision, but she needed round the clock observation due to the effects of two strokes. Her family was with her every day, but could not be there 24 hours each day due to work and childcare obligations. Atria Tanglewood was the perfect fit. Mom had independence within an environment that was properly monitored and controlled, and the two times her health failed, the Atria staff immediately got emergency help and got Mom to the hospital. The food was great, surroundings clean and beautiful, medical monitoring excellent, and the staff was uniformly professional and kind. Larissa Kostal was the most exceptional of a great Atria Tanglewood team. Larissa is fantastic at dealing with the needs of the elderly. She is bright, personable and expert at the technical aspects of her work in the elder care field. More importantly, Larissa is compassionate and dedicated. She took a special interest in mom's day to day care, watched out for her, and was there with suggestions that benefitted mom. I was both surprised and comforted when Larissa showed up at mom's wake and shared some very kind words about the times she spent talking with mom. Her words were heartfelt. It was Larissa's presence that turned Atria Tanglewood from a very good community into an exceptional one for my mother. The final days of my mother were more happy, secure and comfortable because Larissa extended herself. She made great recommendations, kept a watchful eye on my mother , and was very kind and concerned. As an attorney in the elder law field, it is always encouraging to see those rare few on the care giving side of the elder law equation who treat it as more than just a job. For these rare few, caring for the elderly on a day to day basis is a calling to make the lives of others easier. For Larissa, caring for the elderly is not just a job ---- it is her vocation. She has not only my highest recommendation on a professional level, but my respect and appreciation on a personal level. Atria Tanglewood is a great choice for a loved one who needs that bit of "extra" care when medical issues require more help than your family can give. Atria...

What to remember is that these facilities are owned by a private hedge fund........profit is KING. My fiance's mother was a resident and we were all increasingly unhappy. When an incident or question arises, all senior management makes all efforts to avoid or be non-responsive to family. Any and all input from family is looked upon as intrusive and unwanted, no matter their obvious benefit or consideration. My fiance once received an email in error from management ( he was on the email chain) that was derogatory and defamatory - which I continue to urge him to take up further - either with corporate headquarters, social media, or the court system.

Staff is fine and generally polite, but senior mgmt is solely focused on career path, salary increases, and bonuses. The most advertised/ballyhooed event of the entire year is the Employee Holiday party, where family members are consistently reminded throughout the year of "suggested" contributions.

Managements design is to subtly encourage residents to remain in their rooms all day long, either napping or watching TV. The schedule is designed to get the residents out of their rooms for mealtimes and at most 1 activity of interest of each resident daily.

The doctor on call is a " volume" physician unable to allocate more than a few moments to each patient per appointment. Given the age and mental acuity of the residents, Atria nursing does not even observe the appointments either as an expert nor to report back to the families. the nursing staff seems put upon and resentful.

At all times, there is always the implication that since family cannot be their 24 hours a day, they'd better be judicious when they are onsite.

My advice to for families to avoid assisted livings like Atria at all costs. if there is no home-based alternatives, please choose the smaller, family owned assisted living centers where it is more of a calling and a mission than a salary/promotion/benefits chase for higher...

In looking for an assisted living center for our mother, we went to numerous facilities and providers. This is a very personal decision as the placement of your parent was of the utmost importance to my siblings and self. We had the unfortunate experience of finding a location that seemed a great fit for our mother. It was Atria Tanglewood. That was at first look but that unfortunately changed based on the demeanor of the person we interviewed with, as well as being told that the room we were shown and left a deposit on, could not be for our mother. These were two issues that left us sad, dejected and confused. We were not told of the unavailability of the room until we completed the evaluation of our mother. So it ended up being a complete waste of our time. The person who we originally met with, to discuss availability, accommodations and business with seemed not to know us when we returned for the evaluation of our mother. Previously, before we agreed to have our mother join the community, that person couldn’t contain her enthusiasm for us. Now she didn’t want to acknowledge us. Maybe she felt bad over the bait and switch of the room we left a deposit on. They showed us the different rooms available, one we felt was right, only one, so we left a deposit on that room. Now, after the evaluation we were told it was not available. Instead of looking at trees, they thought looking at the food and delivery area was good enough. No, it wasn’t. The manager couldn’t care that the mistake was made by her staff, and that we were heartbroken, because it became apparent that this facility was more concerned about money than their residents. That was a shame and added to our anxiety in finding the proper place for mom. I understand that these are businesses, but when it becomes so obvious what is prioritized, money over people, we were glad that this horrible situation occurred before...