Lessons I learned
Shelley has
lived at a facility in Houston since 2021. Due to Covid, we had to move her
quickly from a wonderful facility in Columbus, TX.
The new
facility in Westchase, Houston, was under the name, Colonial Oaks. Frontier
Corporation bought it and changed the name to The Reserve at Royal Oaks.
The Reserve
has had wonderful aides there, but management has always been a problem, and
directors have come and gone many times.
In July, 2023,
the Frontier informed all residents the monthly rate was increasing. They gave
no warning. As of August, 2023, we were to increase our amount by 63%. One resident had hers increased by 115%. Most
of the residents had to find other facilities. In the contract, residents had
to give a 30-day notice. Frontier had no such wording in their contract.
We complained
to the Ombudsman and to the Texas Department of Human Services. The Ombudsman
assigned to the facility was of no help. Human Services assigned us a case
number. It took them until October to investigate, but they sided with us. They
said the facility was indeed in the wrong and could be subjected to fines.
The Reserve at
Royal Oaks gave notice to residents and employees in September that they were
closing their doors. We suspect this was the plan from the beginning. The building
was old and in need of repair. The property is in a prime location for an
apartment complex, so management decided to go up on rent to rid themselves of
residents. At least, that is how we see it.
Due to sudden
price increase, one of the caregivers had to move her loved one from the same
facility that Shelley was in. She interviewed a lovely place, but when she
found out it was owned by Frontier, she left quickly.
Frontier has a
beautiful online presentation, but I wouldn’t trust them again. Here’s their link.
https://frontiermgmt.com/about-us/
When placing a
loved one in a facility, here are a few suggestions.
1. Investigate the ownership.
2. Is it a corporation? Privately owned?
3. How long have they been in business?
4. Have there been complaints or citations
against them?
5. Talk to the family who pays for the
services. Any complaints?
6. Read the contract! It won’t be in your
favor.
I've included these Texas numbers once before, but here they area again.
Helpful Numbers
Office of the
State Long/Term Care Ombudsman
Texas
Department on Aging
P.O. Box 12786
Austin, TX
78711
512-424-6840
Email: www.dad.state.tx.us
Texas
Department of Aging and Disability Services
Complaint
Hotline
1-800-458-9858
Texas
Department of Protectect and Regulatory Services
Adult Abuse,
Neglect and Financial Exploitation Hotline
1-800-252-5400
Health and
Human Services Commission
HHSC
1-800-458-9858
facility
Having a loved one with Alzheimer's teaches us many lessons we never wanted to learn. God bless you for your loving attention to your daughter. Unfortunately, some dementia patients have no one to look out for them.
ReplyDelete