My father was a resident at the Atria for just under two years. While the staff were all incredibly…read morekind, the overall care he received was wildly unacceptable.
To start off, from the moment you walked in, there was an overwhelming smell of urine and feces in the facility.
In regards to my father specifically, his hygiene was clearly neglected--his hair was always greasy, his teeth progressed to a brown tint, and his nails were caked with what appeared to be his own feces. We repeatedly requested for him to receive haircuts: prepaid for such services, made appointments but it was only followed through by continuous reminding from us.
During visits, his room was always dirty with most of his clothes stuffed into his laundry bin, leaving very few clean options available. Towards the end, his room was always locked. I thought that was really bizarre and unusual. In the moment, I was just so excited to see my father that I didn't investigate further, but I assume it's because they wanted to limit exposure of how filthy his living quarters were.
We ultimately moved my father due to the ever increasing cost of the atria and the dissatisfaction we had with the facility. While packing up his room we discovered that every piece of his furniture was completely saturated in his own feces - hidden by a bed sheet and waterproof pee-pad.
On his first day at the new care home, the staff gave him a thorough cleaning and informed us that his skin, particularly around his buttocks, was covered in hardened feces and pressure wounds.
While, at the atria, they informed us that my father was incontinent, of which they had him in diapers 24 seven.
At his new facility, they learned that my father was absolutely capable of going to the restroom independently, he simply had to be guided to the location of the restroom and reminded to try- which leads me to believe that the staff at the atria simply did not want to take the extra time needed to care for my father's basic needs.
Six weeks after leaving the Atria, my father passed away from septic shock due to a UTI - my dad suffered with Alzheimer's, so the symptoms that would present from a UTI were hard to recognize given the circumstances of his mental status.
While I can't prove it, I strongly believe that the Atrias complete disregard for his hygiene played a role in his decline with sepsis.
So yes, the staff may be kind, but for what they charge, the level of care is disgracefully inadequate. I don't think it's an issue of intentional abuse, it's an issue of being completely understaffed to take care of the residents they house.
Looking back, I regret not documenting everything with photographs as evidence. At the time, I simply held onto hope that despite this difficult period, his wellbeing would improve in the new facility. However, I believe the negligent care he received at Atria ultimately contributed to his untimely passing
I share my personal experience with Atria not for personal gain, but in the hope that by speaking out, I can help prevent other families from enduring what mine has