Brookdale Tulsa South

My mother, age 93 in a hospice program until just recently, was a
resident of the Sterling House from about April of 2010 to the middle
of November 2011. We chose this facility because it appeared to be a
nice facility with the services we required and we were told by a part-
time employee, as well as acquaintance, and The Sterling House
management that they had only asked 2 people to leave since they
had been open, one because the resident required a tube feeding and
the other was an aggressive male that was problematic. Not having to
move my mother was very important to me as this would very
traumatic for my mother. We were asked to move my mother early in
September of this year. Needless to say, this was very disappointing
to say the least.
In the letter demanding we make other arrangements for my mother
they stated that if we disagreed with this request we were entitled to a
hearing with the Oklahoma Department of Health, which I did. We
then received a copy a document submitted to the court by their
lawyers ? Motion for Dismissal for Lack of Jurisdiction. In this
document they stated ?4. On the Notice, Sterling House inadvertently
and erroneously included language informing Resident and her family
that they had a right to request a hearing by the Department of
Health, despite such a hearing not being provided for by applicable
ODSH regulations.? The judge disagreed and the hearing rescheduled.
In the original correspondence, from the court, we were required to
provide the opposing council any documentation to support our
position at least 24 hours in advance of the hearing, which I did.
However, I didn't receive theirs until 4:45 pm before a 1:00 pm
hearing the next day. I objected to their tardiness of providing their
documents and again the hearing was delayed.

As a side note, one lawyer, that came highly recommended for this
type of case, refused to represent us as she would not represent
anyone trying to stay in a Sterling House facility.

Originally, we were verbally told that the reason they wanted her to
move was it took 3 people to transfer her from her wheelchair to the
bed or toilet. (Picture 3 assistants, my mother and a wheelchair in
most any bathroom). However, the hospice employees were able to do
it with only 2 (documentation was provided) and the physical therapist
could do it by herself. In fact, even one of their staff members was
able to do it by herself. After all of that was pointed out, they changed
the story. They said that when she fell (admittedly she had some
falls) it took 3 to get her off the floor. However it does not appear at
this time they are asking other residents to leave for this reason and
there are certainly others that would require 3 to get them off the floor.
Issues that were overlooked just so she wouldn't have to move are:
1. Ala Cart pricing ? run as fast as you can from this type of
pricing. Average cost in Tulsa for Assisted Living is $4000. Our invoices
were closer to $6000 as time went by. Family members of other
residents have similar stories. I can only take their word for it, I
haven?t seen their invoices.
2. Salon Services ? The operator said she was unable to get
assistance to get my mother in a chair, the staff wasn't available to
assist. The staff says all she needs to do is ask. Bottom line,
mother?s hair didn't get done. For nearly $6000 a month I would think
someone could help her in the chair. I complained about this several
times, finally gave up.
3. Newspaper ? For those who subscribed to the newspaper,
the paper was delivered to the office to be distributed to the residents
or picked up by the resident. This seldom got done, I finally canceled
the paper. I suspect this is due to the high turnover of employees,
new employees just weren't informed.
4. Medications ? This is considerably more serious, one of the
employees setting up medications for distributions was observed by
my brother once and my brother and me on another occasion having a
personal conversation on her cell phone while setting up the
medications.
It may seem that my mother requires services that might be more
than an ?Assisted Living? facility would normally supply however, they
were on the list they claim to provide. There are residents that would
appear to require similar services as well as additional services that
apparently are being allowed to remain in their facility.
The good news is, she has now been moved to The University Village
and is actually doing much better, getting more attention, requiring
less services and for less money. In fact she has been taken off the
hospice program that provided showers, physical therapy and other
miscellaneous services, as she no longer qualifies. I have to wonder if
she ever did or they just didn't want to do the work.
I have to say that losing the court battle was a blessing in disguise.
Bottom line, stay away from The Sterling House?s, there are 5 in the
Tulsa area, and their type of pricing.

— Verified visitor, Feb 2012