Medilodge of Westwood

I had a family member who lived in this facility for an extended amount of time. I’ve waited awhile before I wrote this review as I wanted some time to pass to reflect on things, good and bad. Facility is older, shabbily maintained, and rundown. There are huge crater-like potholes to dodge as you come in and out on both entrances/exits of the building. A total repave of the parking lot is needed, rather than the repeated deterioration/filling cycle, only to have them grow ever larger with time, traffic, and weather. There are some single rooms in this facility. My family member was in one them for about five days and then moved to a double occupancy room. We jokingly called it the bait and switch room technique. Rooms are shabby and could use a revamp. Clothing cupboard doors that don’t shut; dirty, non-working windows; old, outdated AC unit, etc. Cleaning folks regularly come in and do their best to work around the patients and the equipment; however, rooms are in need of a good cleaning from top to bottom, corner to corner, ceiling to floor. For the double occupancy rooms, there is no place to sit down when you visit. Many visits with my family member were in the room, and it was awkward to sit on the bed, trying to position yourself around medical equipment, and uncomfortable to stand during a longer visit. Folding chairs on hooks in the individual wing hallways or in resident rooms for visitors to access would go a long way. The activity room / dining hall is actually the best part of this facility. Plenty of light from the windows; activities. Residents and staff, for the most part, are friendly and want to engage with you. Visits with my family member were comfortable and relaxed in this area. For the most part, nursing and caretaker staff are good at what they do. It’s easy to see they’re overwhelmed, understaffed, and doing the best they can with the difficult job of taking care of people who are infirm and elderly. No concerns come to mind, other than a nurse or two who said what I’d consider a crass or inappropriate remark to my family member in my presence. What this facility severely lacks is the stability and continuity of management, personnel, and leadership in the administration, business, and maintenance offices. In my family member’s time at this facility: Five administrators and four business managers, and I’m unsure of the number in turnover in maintenance, but it was often enough that it wasn’t the same people you had contact with. The third administrator was actually pretty good and you could see some positive changes implemented. Unfortunately, she wasn’t there for long, which is pretty typical in all aspects for staff in this facility: the good ones never stay. Contact with business staff, administrators, and maintenance was non-responsive and met with indifference. No return to or follow up to phone calls and contact about issues. I continually had to reach out to and track down staff from one office to the other to get an issue resolved. One issue took six months of persistence to get it addressed, and when it finally was, it took all of ten minutes. Pro tip when trying to reach someone in the business office: let the phone ring 20 times so it kicks into voicemail. In conclusion, knowing now what I didn’t know then when placing my family member in this facility, I would have made another choice.