Justine Shay
Apr 2026
I would give this a zero. Be careful of placing your loved one in their care (unless your loved one has no medical needs, is not a fall risk, and basically has no issues and could easily remain in their home). The head RN/clinical director was inappropriate, disrespectful, heartless, and unethical. She repeatedly had staff send my dad to the ER without calling me, despite me asking her to let me be notified due to his being hard of hearing and not being able to hear the EMT's questions when his hearing aids were on the charger or not working correctly. Subsequently, he had multiple trips to the ER and back (reminder - a trip in the ambulance costs $3,000). It was unnecessary stress on my dad and me. Her communication and documentation was also poor. He apparently had had several choking episodes that were never communicated to me, which could have been taken care of with a scheduled outpatient swallow study and a modified diet.<br><br>Unfortunately, the last trip to the hospital ended up with a hospital admission and a swallow study (which could have been done as an outpatient). During this hospitalization, I attempted to have him discharged back to Brookdale Manlius, but the RN/Clinical director stated that there were no in-home therapies for two weeks and he really needs to go to rehab for his safety. She promised that she wasn't requesting a change in facility. She even called his PCP doctor to ask her to talk me into it.<br><br>After 3 weeks in rehab, he was cleared by the rehab staff and doctor to be discharged from the hospital to his enhanced assisted living if on a modified diet. However, the RN and administration at Brookdale Manlius had decided they did not want him back. They kept putting up new obstacles as to why he couldn't come back. They kept moving the goal post. The staff at the hospital could not believe their treatment of my dad and our family. I was present when the RN from Brookdale came to do her re-assessment to determine his ability to return. She brought the business manager from Brookdale Manlius with her, who entered my dad's room during her assessment. I asked her why she was there and she said "to support '...the RN'". I was taken aback. The RN literally raised her voice at me in the hallway in front of my dad's entire rehab medical team claiming that she couldn't accept him back because I didn't want my dad to ever go to the hospital, implying that I was a poor caregiver. (I asked her to apologize, and she did.)<br><br>We brought our case to upper management (the regional manager). We got nowhere and it was a complete waste of our time. She promised to do an internal investigation and for me to send her documentation, which I did. Nothing. In the end, we realized they all had each other's backs for what ever reason. You won't win with them. It is not worth the risk of putting your loved one there. If your loved one becomes whatever they view to be a problem, they will do what they need to do to get them to the hospital so they have the power to not accept them back.<br><br>My dad would talk about his dinner mates just "disappearing one day". There was no communication about where they went or what happened to them. It left my dad feeling very anxious. It really felt in the end like their administration thought of this facility as an elderly "factory", churning people in and out. That "community fee" is pretty steep. And, heads up, Brookdale is "lawyered up" pretty thickly.<br><br>I want to be clear that the day to day staff were all really good and really kind to my dad. He really liked them. I appreciated their kind care for my father. The sad thing is he really wanted to go back to Brookdale. Despite their refusal to take him back, my dad was accepted at another Assisted Living facility with enriched care (thanks to the help of CarePatrol).<br><br>I highly recommend you reach out to CarePatrol of Syracuse. They are very helpful with placement and are a free service. Julie is a PT who works there and is very kind and knowledgeable about openings, enviornments, and staffing dynamics.
