No one wishes that their parent or loved one needs long-term care, and the choices for loving care under compassionate leadership are few. My mom and her partner lived in two other care centers before coming to Chateau Gardens. Here, I found Kim Fredricks, the director, to have an open-door policy. She led her staff, including kitchen staff, as equals, and they felt it. Director, Activity Director, Caregivers and Kitchen staff all pitched in as needed. Rachel Langford, the activities director, took personal care of the residents and treated each one as family. Both Rachel and Kim were tireless in their care of others. When I was away in Portland, and my mom needed transport to hospital, Rachel stayed with my mom, hours after her shift, holding her hand, until I arrived.
When I had complaints, I was listened to, and I knew they were doing the best they could with the resources they had. Yes, there needs to be legislation to better the ratio of staff to residents in the State of Oregon. In the meantime, Chateau Gardens was my mom's home away from home. A blessing at the end of life.