Worst home health care agency I've ever dealt with -- wish I could give zero or negative stars. I only give 1 or 2 stars in extreme cases, and this certainly warrants that.
Miscommunication or more like NO COMMUNICATION by care coordinators, Liz & Kim and aides that just wouldn't show up -- or ones that just came unannounced. And since I didn't know anyone was scheduled to come twice I was out running errands and my loved one had no way of answering the door. One such aide, Monique, arrived and made such a screaming, profanity yelling tantrum at the guard booth that I had neighbors calling asking if everything was ok. Thank God I live in a gated community but with this young woman's temper I wouldn't want her in my home. She showed up to work the next day only to leave my loved one unattended to make a personal phone call outside while I was out walking my dog. I heard her carrying on from down the block arguing on the phone with someone about her "baby daddy in jail" and she must've been in jail recently too because she was talking about being in a small cell herself. She was unprepared to do any work that day, her only intention was to make and receive personal calls and texts. I noticed a few days later that she unplugged a plug-in next to the recliner she was sitting in to charge her phone and it spilled over getting scented oil all over the wall, carpet and recliner staining everything. At least it smells good??
Another aide this agency sent, Margaret, was 70 years old and the poor woman had so many medical issues she herself could have used an aide. She didn't eat before coming for her 9 hour shift nor did she bring food with her so we were offering her all sorts of food and I was actually serving her like a queen while I ran around like a servant in my own home. There was no way she would have been able to perform the strenuous physical tasks required of her and she should not have been sent here, it was made clear to the coordinators the type of help that was needed and the intake nurse personally met and assessed my loved one. This "aide" was surprised to learn that I would not be pitching in going forward and would not be helping her -- I told her this was not a tag team and the point of a home health aide was to give me a break.
Yet another aide, "B" was so frail and also had a major medical diagnosis which would have prevented her from performing critical tasks required of her. At least this aide had her own car because the other two did not and they relied on a friend/relative/public transportation. From our house to the nearest bus stop it is a mile -- there's no way someone would walk that on a daily basis in rain, sleet or snow, and it is our experience that any time an aide doesn't have their own transportation they are very unreliable.
It was also made very clear to Nannies with Grannies coordinators Liz and Kim that we have 2 small dogs and a cat -- that behaves like Sasquatch and hides with visitors but a cat nonetheless -- and any aide entering our home would need to know that and be ok with pets. All of these aides had an issue with pets making it very difficult to form a relationship long term.
I have no idea how such an agency who deals with disabled or elderly clients could be in existence with such poorly screened aides, such poorly matched aides for the job, aides showing up to a job without proper knowledge and training of the equipment in the home, with clueless coordinators who forget to make a simple phone call, and without the 2 main requests taken into consideration: Pets (who are sweet and don't bother anyone, but we do understand not everyone likes pets and some people are just plain allergic!) and basic knowledge of the equipment used in the home
So in a month and a half period of time 3 aides came for 3 days of service. UNACCEPTABLE! GET A CLUE NANNIES FOR GRANNIES!
Oh wait I forgot, after almost 3 weeks of no service the guard at the gatehouse calls Christmas Eve while we're rushing to get dressed and ready to catch a ferry to Connecticut to say an aide is here. Um what?!?! Epic fail Nannies
Even the intake nurse, Mary, changed the time of her intake appointment and insisted my loved one screwed up the time but what she didn't realize is that she was on speakerphone with myself AND the aide also in the room. She made the mistake but we didn't press the issue because they were a new agency and we didn't want to nit pick at the time. Well, now it is beyond nit picking at this point. I have no idea how so much can go so wrong but it's really unacceptable. read more