My mother is in Heritage Hall Weat at present time. They never answer the phone and are understaffed. My mother is blind with a wound on her foot. Requires medical attention including meds, cream in her legs and transport to wound clinic. The facility is not covered with the proper staffing to care for clients with difficulties. Her diet has not been followed either…. A diabetic and they serve her sugar never gets milk unless I ask for it! The admin could care less about who is in the facility all they care about is $$$$&. How about the needs of the clients! Meds and a work up should be done upon admission. Think twice before sending your loved one there.
First, I want to acknowledge that many of the staff at Agawam East were kind and respectful to my mom. However, there were significant issues that make me regret moving her to this facility.
Agawam East primarily serves memory care patients, and though my mom had no memory issues, we were told they were under Stern’s new management, and were now accepting non-memory care residents. After a bed became available, we decided to move her in early in June 2025. Soon after, my mom developed symptoms of a UTI: delirium, agitation, and fear from being in an unfamiliar place. I repeatedly asked the staff to test for a UTI, but they kept assuring me labs had been ordered, but in fact they never were. It wasn’t until FIVE days later, when I brought hospice care in, that she was given antibiotics. Hospice didn’t need labs; they just treated her. Within two days, she returned to her baseline, and her delirium cleared. I think staff had assumed her behavior was part of memory issues, despite my attempts to explain it was not her usual behavior.
I also encountered multiple cleanliness and safety concerns. Every day, I saw dead cockroaches in the halls. On two occasions, I saw live roaches, once in my mom’s room and once in a hallway. When I reported this to the social worker, she claimed she’d never seen any roaches, which I found hard to believe given the frequent sightings. Additionally, my mother was bedbound and often had other residents wandering into her room, standing over her, or even sitting on her bed. Staff knew about the issue but did nothing to address it, causing my mom distress, especially at night when staff were slow to respond to her calls.
My mom developed three pressure ulcers during the short five weeks she was at Agawam East. Two were reported to me, but one, a severe wound, was not. The staff would place her on soft pillows to relieve pressure, but they were ineffective, and my mom would roll back onto her back. I repeatedly asked for a foam wedge, but they claimed they couldn’t access it from a storage closet. The pain from the wounds caused my mom to refuse to be placed in a wheelchair and eventually stop eating to avoid bowel movements, which were excruciating for her.
The day my mom passed, I discovered the severity of her condition. While staff were changing her, I saw what was described as an approximately 7” stage 3 pressure ulcer with tunneling and necrotic tissue on her right buttock. She was also in severe terminal agitation, which was heart-wrenching to witness. Despite my pleas that morphine wasn’t enough to help her sleep, neither staff nor hospice offered her any relief for her agitation. I later learned about palliative sedation, a treatment that could have eased her suffering, but it wasn’t provided. My mom should have spent her last weeks pain-free, and she should have passed peacefully. Sadly, neither of those happened.
While some staff were caring, the overall experience was distressing and left me with painful, lasting memories of my mom’s final weeks. I deeply regret the decision to move her to Agawam East, as it haunts me to think of how she suffered in her final days.
Excellent care for rehab. Nursing and staff are very attentive. I was here for a couple of weeks, unable to walk independently . With help of Rehab I was released in two weeks, able to walk independently. Staff are compassionate and very professional.
I have recently placed my mom in the memory support of heritage hall. I was very pleased on the first day how all the staff was friendly and smiled and introduced themselves to me and my mother. They were very on task with all the information they needed from me for my moms care and offered immediately there information to make my moms stay comfortable. I was impressed the next day I came to visit her CNA remembered my name and was friendly and asked many questions so she could properly care for my mom. The administration booked a care plan meeting with me for the next day and the staff attended it and talked to me about goals for my moms care. They had already reviewed her information. The staff introduced themselves to me again and asked me what I expected from their facility and what I wanted for care for my mom. I was very impressed with the amount of detail and the amount of paperwork they asked for. They required all her medical history from doctors and facility's before mom moved into their place.
(honestly the facility mom was in before this did not ask for half of what Heritage asked for ) this place went the extra mile to make sure they had all medical history.
It has been a few weeks since my mom has been there and I still love the place for mom. Staff is always welcoming, mom is happy. They are a very professional memory care unit. I was very impressed how they have a once a month zoom for the family's on the floor updating us on staff changes, things happening at the facility, new policy's, and very open to suggestions from the family's. Open communication is a plus for me and this is a great option to offer the family's.
I am finally glad to be able to say "I am not a caregiver to mom, I am her daughter again!" Heritage has made this possible for me.
Thank you to the staff at Heritage Hall Memory Support for making my heart full and my mom is in wonderful care.
