My first experience with Devon Gables was when I had my foot amputated…read more
I was sent there for Rehabilitation. So I could walk and build strength!
The Nursing staff were good, extremely good was a nurses assistant name, LeAnn, very attentive to my needs ! She helped me with the little things that I was not able to do, like plugging in my phone, getting the items I wanted out of my dresser drawer, bringing me new Kleenex, and others things! She even helped me get shaved up! Suzy was really helpful with getting me showered up!
The Rehab Team was very helpful too!, especially Paul, Tino and Lisa! They made sure I was able to meet all the requirements of rehab so I could be discharged.
Paul however in my personal opinion, went out of his way to keep me enthusiastic and positive about succeeding! ( more on Paul latter)
The really bad part about my experience at Devon Gables, is the Food!
I'll explain the reason I know about institutional cooking and hospital cooking. I served in the Army as a cook, and cooked for Generals as well as for Troops, exceeding 2500, 3 meals daily in Garrison and in Field Operations, also as a dietary cook in the kitchen at Silas B Hayes Army Hospital at Fort Ord, California. I know food service extremely well, I know the principals of food safety and why it is exceptionally important for the health of the people that are being served.
The management nor, the kitchen staff has any functional capabilities of how to provide any of the above traits needed to make dining here pleasureable! We had a meeting with the New Chef/ assistant to the manager, David, and the manager of the Kitchen, Melissa, recently, about the food for upcoming Summer months. Alot of the residents complained about the food, just what I said, overall, they hate it!
Breakfast, Dinner and Suppers are at Best!, terrible! The food lacks flavor, eye appeal and, has no smell that can be decifered as appealing as wanting to eat!
When meat of any kind is served, it is well overcooked, has no taste as to what it is supposed to be, and usually is dried out. Vegetables are always mushy, no nutritional value at all, broccoli is just the stems, no flower parts! Soups are either so thick with flour or starch thicking and no flavor, or they have to much liquid and no flavor! Alot of patients are diabetic, most of the menus are made up of, noodles, potatoes, and rice, a lot of carbs, and calories! Basically the food is not healthy for the overall population!
I've been served food with hair in it, and mold, I contacted the manager about it, and all she does is make excuses about it!
The executive Staff cover for the lower management staff, especially when confronted with follow-up to needing something done in our apartments, ( I live here unfortunately because of fixed income) example, it took a year to get our bathroom faucet replaced when the old one broke and the day it was installed, it took five hours to complete!
This is my home?, and it looks worse than TJ Mexico, the fences are so worn out, they look disgusting, boards are falling out and even falling as a whole, but when I ask about making our homes look appealing to our family and friends when they visit, if they visit, I'm told it's not in the Budget!, but the front of the office area and the pictures shown on the website are made to look very appealing and the rooms look like a hotel room, but that's far from actuality! where most visitors enter, that area is kept up, but our independent living area and assisted living areas looks terrible! ( Except around the office area)
They don't water the grass, trees and bushes are dying off, and again it costs too much to keep it up! When my wife and I first moved in here, it was looking pretty nice, but now it is really shabby!
I feel that if you want to have a business that has Health and Rehabilitation it should maintain what they advertise! Not here though!
When, I would say, anyone goes looking for a new home or Apartment, Condo or, whatever, They would want curb appeal to be looking nice and kept up, nice neighborhood, professional knowledge Management, appropriately priced, etcetera. I personally believe Devon Gables on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being the worst, and, 10 being the best, I'd give a 3, for overall!
Believe me, if I had the money to do so, and be able to afford another place I would leave here!
This is just My opinion mind you, but talking to others around me who live here, they feel the same way!
Another little note, I've seen personally, five people leave here because they died, and three leave just because of the food issues!
Remember I said more about Paul! He still comes around to see how I'm doing, says Hi to my wife and asks if there's anything he can do for us! Paul is a real person down to earth individual who genuinely cares about who he provides physical therapy to, but also he is a man that cares about and for all people!
