Ron Smith

Review of THE RIDGE AT WHITEMARSH

I just noticed that they changed the name from And...

I just noticed that they changed the name from Andorra woods, to the ridge at Whitemarsh. They probably had to do this because of all the bad publicity that Andorra woods carried. So do not be deceived by these people. They do not care about your loved ones. It also became recently known to me by a former employee, that I was being held at Andorra woods so that they could hold on to my Social Security check. Because I get double and in some cases triple, but the other residents get. I was a resident here for eight months, and it was a nightmare, starting on my first day. My first day the staff acted as they could care less about my pain and my medications, and it was a burden for to turn me. I am a quadriplegic and I am totally dependent so naturally I need things. Every time I would ring the bell. I would be greeted with the loud YES! It was as if doing their job was an annoyance. I was on the wrong mattress for the first night and the CNA refused to turn me, because in her words, pissed off because I's by myself. I explained to the woman that it wasn't my fault as she was grabbing me forcefully to turn me. The next morning I asked for an enema at 7 AM I received it at 10:30 AM, and it was the unit manager that I spoke to, and asked her for it. She is now gone. I tried to leave the nursing home, but ended up having to come back as my only other option was Philadelphia nursing home and that is apparently hell on earth. On my return I had an air mattress and the care was significantly better, for about two weeks. The problem with Andorra is that they can't keep any good employees. The bad ones stay forever. Every CNA. I seem to encounter had just started. There were times when one nurse would work the whole unit and have 30+ residents, so if you are like me and have specific med times you can just throw that out the window. And when you complain to the so-called supervisors, you can expect nothing to be done. Luckily, I knew to go directly to the administrator himself and the director of nursing when I had a problem. And I had many problems. From getting yelled at by staff, 45 minute wait time for a call bell to be answered, personal property being broke or lost, being paired with a mentally unstable roommate, and meds that would consistently not be available. My family and I were lied to, from the very beginning. We were told that the facility could handle a patient with a spinal cord injury, such as myself. Majority of the time I was told that I was overmedicated and I wasn't in the pain that I actually was. Keep in mind I came from the a top-rated best in the country, physical therapy hospital, that prescribed all of my medications. The meals are barely edible as well, and don't expect to help you find a better facility. They are in the business of filling beds and taking checks and that is it. You will be nothing but a number when you come to Andorra Woods. Or as their very own staff likes to call it, Andorra Hood. A lot of the CNA's are from Africa and there is a definite language barrier as well. Please do not subject your loved ones to the nightmare that I went through. I had to be hospitalized five times while I was there. I had UTIs, pneumonia and mersa while I was there. I'm lucky I didn't get tuberculosis while I was there. There is definitely something in the air at Andorra. Oh and I forgot to mention bugs, specifically cockroaches and spiders. I think that about covers it, I hope you get the picture. Don't believe the hype, unless you believe a Nigerian Prince will share his wealth you if only you Western Union him money. This is only my opinion, and nothing more.