I am sharing this so other families are fully aware of the level of care and communication we experienced. What occurred with my father was not only unacceptable, but raises serious concerns about neglect, oversight, and patient safety.
When my father arrived at the facility around 4:30 PM, he told me he had not been given dinner and had not eaten. I addressed this immediately with Dan, who apologized and attributed it to multiple admissions. While he was kind and attempted to reassure me, this was the beginning of a pattern of failures.
Throughout his stay, communication was extremely difficult. I consistently had to track down nurses for updates, and information provided was often vague, minimal, or contradictory. With the exception of one nurse (a younger female whose name started with “K”), staff were largely unavailable and not present in patient rooms.
The condition of my father’s room was deeply concerning. On multiple visits, I personally cleaned his room and removed trash. There were instances of rotting food, including bananas with flies, and multiple open drinks attracting fruit flies. This reflects a lack of even basic sanitation and monitoring.
We were explicitly told that as my father approached end of life, both the facility and hospice would notify us. That did not happen.
On Monday, after being unable to reach staff despite calling four times over five hours and being repeatedly told by the receptionist (Pat) to “call back later,” I decided to go to the facility myself. Had I not physically gone there, I would have had no idea the condition my father was in.
Earlier that same day, I had been told by a nurse that he was “doing good” and that everything was fine.
When I arrived around 5:30 PM, I found my father in a severely deteriorated state. He was attempting to speak, but only muffled sounds were coming out. He was clearly trying to communicate and used thumbs up and down to respond. He followed me with his eyes and was aware of my presence, but could not speak or move normally. When I attempted to give him water, he struggled to drink. This was not a brief episode—his stepson witnessed the same condition later that evening.
No one alerted our family to this drastic change.
I was unable to immediately locate staff when I needed assistance. When I did find a nurse, she attributed his condition to medication and fatigue without conducting any meaningful assessment. A hospice volunteer who saw him expressed clear concern about his condition.
Later, another nurse stated that my father had actually begun declining the previous night—directly contradicting what I had been told earlier that same day.
There were also serious concerns regarding medication management. We found his medications, including narcotics, sitting unattended on his bedside table, despite being told he had already received them. This raises significant questions about whether medications were administered properly and safely.
That evening, we were reassured there were no signs that death was imminent. However, the following morning, when family arrived around 9 AM, they were told he had already passed and that staff had “just been about to call.”
Our family was given no meaningful notification, no opportunity to be present, and no chance to say goodbye. My father passed away alone.
In the days leading up to this, my father expressed concerns that he was being neglected—stating he was not receiving pain medication, had not been bathed, and felt forgotten. At the time, I questioned these statements. Based on what I personally witnessed, I no longer do.
Given the extent of these issues, our family is pursuing formal complaints and exploring all available options for further action. Families deserve transparency, basic care, and dignity for their loved ones. That did not happen here.
It is with great pleasure that I post this five star ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ review for a newly acquired assisted living and rehabilitation facility on N Tuttle Avenue near the Sarasota Memorial Hospital.
I was pleasantly surprised by the construction detail of this property and how well it presented as I was dropped off by my driver. A lush vegetation of palm trees 🌴 🌴 🌴 in a circular driveways overlooking a large double class sliding doors.
As I rolled my mobile wheelchair through the double class door entry way, I was struck by the cathedral ceiling entrance in the waiting room. It reminded me of an upscale hotel, along with a trolley cart for baggage, and a friendly receptionist named Terri.
I was met by Samantha (Sam) who was the Aviata facility liaison. She was very sweet, engaging and eager to please as she escorted me to the Unit Manager’s office in this very well constructed hexagon shaped floor plan with unit wings. At the manager’s office I met another young professional named Misti and Kelvin, the Admissions Director. Both were very warm and friendly as they welcomed me to their fine community living facility.
I was given some additional information by Misti with a smile and told that Sam would show me my room which was spacious and comfortable with each apartment containing a wheelchair accessible shower and bathroom.
Sam immediately went to work finding additional volunteers to look after my Persian cat 🐈⬛ Charcoal. Kiara, a unit nurse, Sam and reception’s Terri all agreed to take turns taking my baby cat home since overnight stays were not allowed. Special thanks to Kiara and her boyfriend who both did the bulk of the cat sitting over my 7-week stay.
Sam took me on a quick tour of the facility campus which was very nicely decorated and well maintained with polished wooden accented floors and recessed ceiling lights. It had a huge dining room with individual tables for four. Many realistic looking palm trees 🌴 🌴 were placed throughout the inside area with good lighting.
There were several recreational areas coupled with large screen televisions and an arts/crafts area. Everything was neatly organized and clean.
The indoor gym/rehab area contained the usual equipment that you would see in any upscale health & rehabilitation facility with my assigned trainer’s Brian and Butch who worked on therapy for my prior injuries. Both did a complete treatment plan that was thoughtfully prepared and which didn’t push the envelope to risk further injury. My condition did improve nicely over my stay as a result of their coaching instruction.
I was introduced to Dan, our Social Worker and case manager who reviewed my insurance and explained the coverage I had and the benefits that were covered during my stay. Simple and easily explained.
My two favorite CNA’s who were really engaging and helpful were Edly and Amalgi, both very professional and friendly.
I’m sure that I neglected other staff members by name and for that I apologize but there were too many to remember by name.
I especially wanted to thank Sam for going above and beyond with everything from going back to my hospital to pickup personal items from my van, picking up my mail every week or so, and for picking up my baby girl cat 🐈⬛ Charcoal from the shelter and for taking her to the veterinary before our trip back to Central Europe. Sam also picked up some kitty litter from Walmart. Now that’s going above and beyond! 😘🙏😇😊
I do look forward to returning to Aviata at Sarasota upon my return from Budapest near end of October after my next surgery on my right shoulder rotator cuff.
I wish all these fine professionals at Aviata the very best continued success with my warmest gratitude 🙏
Keep up the great work everyone ❤️🥰✌️👍🫡🇺🇸
My mom was a resident at this nursing home and she just loved her stay. She was there to do exercise and go home afterwards. As a family we are grateful for this place, the fun activities with the man that plays on the piano and the yummy lasagna my mom raved about, there is nothing that could have been better. Thank you for caring for our momma. We will most definitely be back in the future if my mom needs to do rehab.
