My grandpa lived at MorningStar Littleton for a little under a year and I never once felt like my…read morefamily or my grandfather was loved or cared about. Overall, most of the staff made us feel like we were a burden or didn't even acknowledge us. We had several issues with nurses and caretakers. Whenever we asked for something, it was never addressed in a timely manner.
There were so many times that we would go to visit grandpa and find him laying in soiled clothes and linens. There were so many times that we would come to visit in the early afternoon and his blinds were still closed, with his breakfast still wrapped in Saran Wrap on his tray. There was no way that my grandpa's hands were able to take off the wrap even if he wanted to eat his food. Frequently, there was feces on his commode, on his pull up bar by his bed, and on his tray. It was dry and had clearly been there for a very long time with no one bothering to clean it up. It saddens me to think that his fears of a "nursing home" were realized during his stay at your facility.
My parents and I have many pictures of the disgraceful and unsanitary conditions my grandpa was living in. My dad would come every day, often twice a day, to check on him and make sure he had everything he needed - food, water, clean clothes, clean bedding, etc. because we believe that my grandpa needed extra support that wasn't being offered to him from the staff at MorningStar Littleton.
I am not sure why MorningStar Littleton failed so miserably in living up to the promises of dignity, care, and respect that they promised my grandpa, and my family. Perhaps it was because of the lack of staff during the trying Covid days? Maybe the staff lacked sufficient training? Perhaps the former leadership was at fault? I'm not sure what the reason was, but I believe that my grandpa deserved a better last year of his life, and I would not recommend MorningStar Littleton to other families who are forced to place their loved one in a facility like MorningStar. Simply put, I wouldn't want someone else's loved one to be treated the way my grandpa and our family was.
Regularly, the staff would be in their offices, either talking amongst themselves or "on their computer", rarely engaging with residents or their families. If we needed anything, I felt like we had to go looking for help. My dad tried to show pictures of the inhuman and dirty conditions my grandpa was living in to one of the lead staff members and his response to my dad was, "I don't want to see any more of your pictures." This staff member was always very rude to our family and I believe my grandfather paid too much money for us all to be treated so terribly by him. He came in to see my grandpa on his last day of life and I wished he wouldn't have. This employee never showed care for my grandpa and I felt it was very disingenuous for him to "care" now.
I have felt these feelings for the past year and I BEGGED my parents to move my grandfather to another facility that was smaller, where he would be cared for and receive more attention, but they were afraid it would be too hard on my grandpa to move him. They were afraid to say anything to the staff because when they did, they were either ignored, shut down, or we were afraid that my grandpa would be "punished" and receive less care. I have a close friend who places elderly loved ones in assisted living facilities and every time we discussed the care my grandfather was receiving, she would reply with "That's awful. They should be doing more for him and your family."
I feel like our expectations were never met, let alone exceeded. The only thing I felt like MorningStar Littleton did right was the way they escorted his body, after passing, in the casket out of the building with the staff lined up to honor him. But even that left a sour taste in my mouth. MorningStar never communicated to my family that they would treat my grandpa to this meaningful gesture so we weren't able to be there as a family to partake. We had no idea, and my sisters and I were not there to see his body in the casket, escorted out of the building with the respect I believe your staff never gave him when he was alive. I was so sad when my mom told me that my grandfather was honored in this way and I wasn't able to witness it.
Don't get me wrong, not everything was terrible. A few of the care takers were kind, considerate, and caring, but would disappeared after a bit. I'm not sure if they left or were reassigned elsewhere?
I always say that I want to live my life without regrets, but honestly, I do regret that I didn't fight harder to find my grandpa a better place to live with people who actually cared for him, in a place where it wasn't just their "job".