Brookdale West Orange

If you care for your loved one at all, then do not entrust them to this facility! Although the owning corporation (Emeritus Senior Living) claims to be in the business of care giving, the only thing Emeritus really cares about is their bottom line. They will lure you into their facilities with carpeting, drapes and artificial flowers everywhere. And they will claim high regard for "family values." Hah! Don't believe it! When it comes to quality of care and concern for your loved one --forget about it! It is nonexistent in the minds of the powers that be that run Emeritus Senior Living. It is important to note that not all Emeritus employees are dollar driven. In our experience over several years with Emeritus, we did find lower level management and staff who we believe had genuine care for the residents. However, this corporation is tightly run at the top and it dictates all policies to the minions below. As a result, even if the line staff wish to give the residents the highest level of care, they are prevented from doing so by way of repetitive and draconian staffing and budget cuts which senior management demands in order to meet the corporation's bottom line.

Two of our family members were already in residence at this facility when Emeritus took it over in 2007. What had been a very good senior residence experience for them, slowly turned into an nightmare. In 5 years, there were 5 changes of the Executor Director -- including changes to the rest of the administrative staff, such as the nurse, recreation director, food director, etc. With each major staff change, the quality of care declined but the Emeritus' persistent demand for higher and higher fee increases became worse and worse. Be warned: These people will raise your fees with a glint in their eyes while all the while lowering the quality of care of your care with abandon! Finally, after one of our family members died and the health of the other declined dramatically, we moved the latter loved one out of Emeritus. Our only regret is that we did not do this sooner! At this point, she is now in a quality facility and the difference in care is very apparent. The only way I can ease my guilt over having allowed our family members to be neglected for as long as they were at Emeritus, is to write the strongest review I know to warn others away from experiencing this kind of pain. In short, I do not even give this facility(nor the entire Emeritus Senior Living corporation) a star as I do not wish them upon my worst enemy.

by C. Davis, Apr 2012

This is a lovely facility. The rooms are very nice and cheery. The facility has a homey feeling to it.

However, the care level is not what it should be. There are not enough staff/aides for the number of residents there. It also appears that the staff is not well-trained. Delivery of services is quite disorganized and many mistakes are being made. Many services are not delivered as promised.

As in any facility, there are some staff members that are outstanding, and others who can't be bothered to do their job.

Cleaning is somewhat haphazard in many areas.

The quality of the food fluctuates, from good to adequate to poor.

Overall, this may be a good place for someone who is quite independent and doesn't need a lot of attention. For those that need more assistance, the care is uneven.

by Verified visitor, Jun 2011