Nicest Assisted Living/Memory care in the DC metro area?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a relative who works in these kind of facilities. They are all the same. They all use the same staff (literally--the pay is low so the women work at 2 or more facilities or work in a facility and then also do home care). The staff are from poor countries overseas (mostly Haiti and African countries) and do no share American values on work ethic, cleanliness, politeness, and they do not enjoy interaction with other staff who are not of their ethnic group (my relative, who is African-American, feels ostracized). The facilities try to feed the residents as cheaply as possible.

Not always true. My parents are in one (not DC area, further south) where the food is Farm to table. Half the produce is grown on site, residence can even assist if so desired. They have some turnover, but not a lot, as they pay well and treat employees well. Parents have been there 5 years and love it and the staff. Have not needed anything outside independent living yet, but they have interacted with staff in the other areas and they are great

Would love to know the name of this place!

[Anonymous]

I’ve heard mixed reviews about Maplewood in Bethesda.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Talk to the workers in the parking lots. You will learn a lot.

We found the rural, older, smaller facilities are better and have a lot less turnover.

ASK ABOUT GLOVE CHANGE RULES. I had two caregivers tell me they had to wear the same gloves to care for multiple residents per the owners of the facilities. One caregiver worked at a facility near Towson with these rules and one worked at a facility near Ocean Pines with these rules.

This is outrageous and I hope that after a suitable delay to conceal the source you reported both facilities.

[Anonymous]

I’m in Arlington. Have heard only good things about Goodwin House and Vinson Hall. Both are nonprofits.

[Anonymous]

It's an older building, but my mom is in memory care at the Residences at Thomas Circle, and so I get the weekly newsletter for the building. The bulk of the building is independent living, and there is an Assisted Living floor and a Memory Care floor. There are tons of activities and lectures and buses to events like book signings at Politics and Prose, etc.

Lots of interesting people in the community, and the city is literally at your doorstep. But it's not super luxe, which could be a drawback.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Once you are in memory care or even the more needy side of assisted living, high end is meaningless. It’s the quality of care that matters.

We have found the "quality of care" is higher at the higher end places. The more you are paying, the more the employees are getting paid, so that translates (most of the time) to better care and less turnover.

Nope! Totally false. The higher you pay the higher the corp profits. I moves my parent out of high end due to lack of care and inexperienced staff and lack of appropriate staffing. This was suppose to be a memory care facility but they really knew nothing about memory care and she lived there 4 yrs. Moved to another assisted living that provides exceptional care and costs 3k a month less and provides much better care and staff better trained. It is an independently owned facility and does 2 person assist. Look past all the fancy bells and whistles and look at the quality of actual care because in the end (and they all get there) that is what matters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Mather in Tysons is supposed to be good.

Is it open? It’s 55 and up and not sure if it’s assisted living and or memory care. They have places up to $2m plus I’m sure many thousands a month in fees.

Entrance fee up to 4 MILLION.

Their web site says 90% of entrance fee is refundable. Do you by any chance know the monthly fee?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My parents were in memory care at Cadence in Olney and it was wonderful! It was a bit of a trip from Chevy Chase, but $9,000 a month for memory care, brand new, clean, well decorated, and the staff was AMAZING. I cannot recommend it highly enough!

That is very reasonable.

[Anonymous]

I have no idea of the cost and it’s well outside the metro area (although on commuter rail) but my aunt chose Broadmead in MD. She’s happy with it so far, although she’s still very healthy for her age and hasn’t had to transition to fully assisted living yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sunrise Fox Hill in Bethesda is terrific

I second this. I visited someone who lives in an independent living unit there and was really impressed by the campus and facilities on the independent living side. It didn't feel institutional at all.

https://www.sunriseseniorliving.com/communities/md/sunrise-at-fox-hill/rooms-and-amenities

[Anonymous]

Since we’re talking about the high end, I’ll mention that the state estate tax situation is very different between Virginia, Maryland and D.C. Once my parents found this out, they have started focusing on Virginia.

[Anonymous]

Teo diff types of situations. Memory care is more care and diff than assisted. I live in assisted in chevy chase house. Where ever you go, you need to be patient in assisted living. Its not like having a private aide. Patience is a virtue. Some people are very demanding snd may need more care. You pay according to how many life activities you need the aide for each day. There is independant living here too and hospice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here - any suggestions for good non-profits that are nice with well educated residents?

My grandparents lived in Goodwin House in Alexandria - felt high end, very well educated residents, good reputation.

[Anonymous]

The monthly rates are driven by, in this order:

Product type (IL vs AL vs memory care)
Location (nearby home values)
Interior finish level and amenities (newer, nicer is more expensive - gotta pay for the renovation) then
Wage rates (while they may vary location to location the reality is the range is of wages does not deviate that much within an MSA)

Negotiate the up front move in fee! It’s all profit. Usually the sales person gets a cut.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The monthly rates are driven by, in this order:

Product type (IL vs AL vs memory care)
Location (nearby home values)
Interior finish level and amenities (newer, nicer is more expensive - gotta pay for the renovation) then
Wage rates (while they may vary location to location the reality is the range is of wages does not deviate that much within an MSA)

Negotiate the up front move in fee! It’s all profit. Usually the sales person gets a cut.

You're confusing profit and nonprofit centers