Dorothy Cashore
Nov 2024
I called Medford Leas to schedule a tour for my parents. They were the 5th community I called, after we toured several others. When scheduling tours I always tell the salesperson that my mother has a memory diagnosis and my father recently had a minor stroke, but both are functioning independently. I understand that all CCRC’s have mental and physical evaluations for applicants, but Medford Leas was the only place that heard me mention my mother’s memory diagnosis and told me I needed to speak with their nurse prior to scheduling a tour. I found it a bit strange that I needed to speak to their nurse and that we were already talking about the possibility of separating my parents when my mother is still cooking, doing yoga, and growing her garden, but I agreed because it sounded like it was just their qualification process with anyone who’s got a memory diagnosis. I expected that the nurse would ask some questions to clarify my parents’ levels of functioning. Instead, there was no “process.” The nurse did not speak to me at all. I got a voicemail saying that unfortunately they have no availability for my parents to enter directly into assisted living. This was a bizarre experience — I did not feel at all listened to when I tried to express that assisted living would not be a fit for my parents, and I felt unnecessarily stressed about the possibility of a community separating my parents, to the point where after speaking with Medford Leas I contacted the law firm we are working with just to get their reassurance that this was an unusual way of handling my request. I could have understood if their sales office (or the nurse who left the voicemail) had asked some basic screening questions on the phone, as the other places did, rather than hearing about my parents and taking a black-and-white approach to their needs. I totally get that they want people to be able to function safely in their community, but so do the other country-club-like places we toured. We’re no longer planning to tour there and I’m honestly a little relieved. My parents were very happy with another CCRC that agrees that they are a fit for independent living (as did all 4 we toured) and will work hard to keep my parents safely together if either of their need levels undergoes a mild or moderate change. I also just looked at their Yelp reviews and I see that this place withheld refunds back before NJ passed a law prohibiting such behavior. My dad was a religions professor attracted to Medford Leas because of the Quaker connection — doesn’t sound very Quaker in spirit to me.
