I went to Merrill Gardens last week. The staff and general Manager were very kind, patient and friendly. The location is beautiful and clean. I’m definitely considering this location, because it’s top notched…their memory care section seems professionally motivated to care for my mother
TT
Tyler Trevino
5 days ago
I toured for my grandpa, the team was friendly, professional and the lunch was amazing!
MF
Melissa Follas
Feb 24, 2026
My mom was at the Ackerly in assisted living. We thought it would be great as it would be an easy move when the time came.
Memory care was good for awhile, my mom had more needs as some of the others which caused us great grief! We were spending $10k/month and my sister cared more for my mom than some of the staff at Merrill gardens.
I would like to say that some of the staff does try, but it’s hard when you’re very understaffed. (There’s approximately 9-10 residents/staff member).
My sister was told they weren’t able to help my mom get ready in the morning (even though it was apart of her care plan). I watched as the staff took plenty of time with other residents, but not my mom.
The turnover was crazy! In less than a year they lost so many good people. The new memory care head person/nurse lacks empathy. She’ll say one thing, but her actions say otherwise.
I was thankful to find my mom a place that will take care of all her needs, she gets more personalized care and they treat her like family.
If your loved one needs ANY kind of additional care, do NOT take them here.
There were multiple times prior to the change when I emailed the general manager/nurse with no response. I even called headquarters with barely response.
I moved my Mom into Merrill Gardens at Sherwood last summer. It was exactly what she was needing! The community the residents have with each other and the social engagement is just what she was missing. This beautiful community has the very best to offer if you’re looking for active living and aging well for your loved one!
Do not take your memory care needs family member to this place. They are horribly understaffed and I believe that they are currently trying to push out anyone who might require "extra care". Management in the memory care unit recently had a total turnover and the new memory care manager and head nurse are both horrible. I have reason to believe that in their process of trying to eliminate what they consider to be "high maintenance" patients that they are using tactics such as messing with my mother's wheelchair, to the point that we spent Dec. 23rd in the ER, to messing with the Amazon Alexa that I was always able to utilize to talk to my mama every night. As soon as the new "head nurse " showed up all of a sudden that became a problem and all of a sudden her wheelchair started "falling apart" yet I never got phone calls it just got brought up when I was there. Clearly they knew about it before I got there and should have called. The last straw was when I had the new Alexa working. I had never spied on them before but things had been so weird that I decided on Thursday night to turn off the video and speaker and just watch. Two Hispanic workers putting my mom to bed spent the entire time speaking nothing but Spanish around my 84 year old mother with dementia who is already confused. The only time they spoke in English was to reprimand her for "not helping them". I videotaped this evening and had some Hispanic friends translate for me. They were actually talking about wanting to "yank her hair because she's not helping us". They were quite nervous when I announced myself and they realized they'd been watched. Next morning, the Alexa was turned to the wall so I could neither see or talk to my mom. We booked tickets that morning and moved mom the hell out that next day. Email and phone messages to both the general manager and corporate went unreplied. Clearly the change in management from The Ackerly to Merrill Gardens has changed the corporate outlook to profits and not people. They are horribly understaffed with more than 20 residents and only two caregivers and management doesn't care. At least the State of Oregon Ombudsmans office has taken an interest and seems to want to investigate. I suspect this is not the first issue as apparently the State spent the entire week prior in the facility. To say the least I am grateful for a better place for my mom and would never recommend this place to anyone who truly wants the best for their loved one.