Senior Commons at Powder Mill — Local services in York Township

I really have two ratings: Independent living I rate a 4. Memory Care I rate a 1

Dad spent six months in independent living. Limited services were provided to him. The services that were provided were good. Maureen in activities did a wonderful job and the staff in the dining room were attentive and helpful. Dad needed full time care, and we had a live in caregiver who helped him. The room was large and clean and bright and it was a good fit for our needs. Dad passed away at Senior Commons.

2 years later, we selected SC for mom after our good experience with Dad. Mom had to be in memory care. The problems we encountered are too numerous to list here but some of the top issues are: Your loved one will be left unattended for many hours, many times noone checked on mom for 6 hour periods; we were told on the first week that we needed to hire our own caretakers for "awake hours" to supplement Senior Commons care for mom, this was a surprise. We complied and hired our own caretakers for 16 hrs/day; the log maintained by staff are not accurate, on many occasions they indicated mom was showered and pills given when they were not; noone answers the phone after hours. If you don't have around the clock private pay caretakers with your loved one, do not put them in memory care at Senior Commons. In a nutshell the problems stem from poor management. Our family experienced similar issues with the recent (female) director as noted in the recent poor review listed on this site. Staff is capable of doing a good job but management is not attentive and not effective. The good manager they had for memory care was not given support from management and left in a few short months. Mom fell and laid on the floor for hours before being transported to the hospital. Once in the hospital we decided not to go back to senior commons. She is now receiving great...

In Jan. 2013 my father passed away while both parents were living in NC. Knowing Mom would have to now live near a child, she chose to live near me. I gave her a year after my father passed to make the move, not wanting to uproot her so soon after his death. I talked to marketing at a couple of places and got floor plans for her and she choose Senior Commons at Powder Mill. She had wanted to live in independent living in a two-bedroom apartment. In August she fell and we decided it would be best for her to move more quickly and not spend a winter alone in NC. What was available for her at the time was a two-room suite in assisted living. We took it and prior to her even going into the suite, my husband and I got her furniture situated so when she walked in, it looked like home. She was so comfortable there that she never went over to independent living. In the 7+ years that she was at Senior Commons, she was treated with respect and care. She never had an unkind word to say about any of the staff. The only complaint she had when she first arrived was there was too much salt in the food, and after a town hall meeting where it was brought up by several residents, that was rectified. As my mother was nearing end of life, I feel like the staff took me under their wing to make sure that both of us were comfortable. It was a difficult time and they helped me get through it. They became family. This year has been difficult for all. I can’t imagine what they have gone through, including employee turnover, COVID with the residents as well as staff, ability to care for everyone the way they would like. But through all the years and especially this one, the right decision was made for Mom to live out her life at Senior Commons. And I thank them for the care...

(Writing on the behalf of my wife) I recently picked up shifts at Senior Commons at Powder Mill following the posting of shifts by my agency. Upon arrival, I encountered automatic drama, with multiple staff members resigning. During my shifts, I witnessed at least three employees quit. My assigned task was to monitor an elderly gentleman experiencing a manic episode, who spoke no English. He exhibited challenging behaviors, including urinating on floors and air conditioning units, as well as defecating in dressers and on floors. The supervisor named Lynn demonstrated disrespect and unprofessionalism from the outset, expressing unjustified anger towards me. She repeatedly emphasized that agency staff were only for emergency situations and attempted to persuade me to apply for a full-time position to avoid paying the wages agreed upon by my agency. She became upset with me multiple times due to the uncontrollable actions of the gentleman, which was the very reason agency staff were required. Following a shift where I worked with the gentleman, Lynn DNR'd me from the facility, as I had expressed uncertainty about attending an activity with him. She began yelling at me in an unprofessional manner. I responded respectfully, stating that I would not engage in a back-and-forth conversation and would simply follow instructions. She acknowledged my response and subsequently DNR'd me from the facility for not tolerating her yelling and disrespect. I would not recommend this...