I can't stress this enough, the staff aren't the problem; management is. My father entered memory care in July of 2025. You'd think a memory care facility would be able to manage Alzheimer's/Dementia behaviors like anxiety, confusion, frustration, or aggression. Not Spring Gardens, they'd prefer residents with no behaviors.
I don't believe staff are paid a competitive wage, so staff quit, leading to short staffing. Staff are then pulled from assisted living to work in memory care; staff that are ill equiped to manage memory care behaviors, often times escalating residents. This puts both staff and residents at risk.
I called the director numerous times to air my concerns. The director has validated concerns regarding staff competency stating, care providers "aren't critical thinkers". This leads me to believe management doesn't value their employees and it shows. Treatment staff regularly call family members for help at all hours of the day and night, requesting family members talk a resident down, or come to the facility to help.
Treatment plans are not followed at Spring Gardens. My opinion is that this is due in part to poor communication between staff, shifts, and management. This is also due to a prevailing culture that encourages providers to give up or "not fight" residents if they don't want to brush, shave, shower, change clothing, or use the restroom. Instead of getting creative with encouragement, it is widely accepted practice to give up. On two occasions, we witnessed care staff overwhelmed and crying.
I would see my father twice weekly. Upon arrival, he would frequently be sitting in a soiled diaper with feces and urine, smell terrible , and look horrible. He would frequently wear dirty laundry day after day, despite multiple requests to have staff remove his dirty laundry basket from his room. I found feces in his shower, floor of his restroom, on his furnature, and on wash rags close to consumable food on his kitchenette.
Most alarming was the neglect I witnessed. A podiatrist is supposed to provide toe and finger nail care for residents. My father was missed by the podiatrist, causing a toe nail to grow into another toe. (Pictures attached).
My father managed to walk out of the secure memory care wing 7 times. He never got out of the building thankfully. Again, if left to their own devices and not engaged with, some Alzheimer's patients will exit seek. With little for him to do, he saught exits frequently. While Spring Gardens may be a nicer looking facility, it lacks sound management.
The staff/care providers do the best they can with the resources and direction they receive. Unfortunately they are understaffed, underpaid, and obviously under valued by management.
My father assaulted a female staff member twice and was discharged. Once the police were called. When questioning staff about what happened, a care provider indicated to me that the staff member assaulted wasn't blameless, indicating poor redirection and tone. The same explanation was provided to me by the director, stating "staff should have known better, they didn't handle that appropriately."
Instead of focusing on addressing triggers, redirection, distraction techniques, or providing opportunities that create value for residents and a sense of purpose; problematic behaviors are medicated. On a few occasions, I found my father slumped over a chair in the dining area, asleep, salavating from the mouth.
I love the staff and care providers. The management is probably some of the worst I've seen; blaming staff, devaluing staff, and gaslighting family members into believing that they should do more or could do more.
I hope someone will read this and work to correct the incompetent management at Spring Gardens Meridian. I feel sorry for the staff and care providers. They deserve better. The residents deserve better. Families deserve better.