Sunrise Senior Living
Reviews and Complaints

On June 19, 2010 a Sunrise aide's negligence resulted in my 85-year-old mother falling, breaking her leg, and spending 4 painful months in a rehab home.

Sunrise corporate refused to consider a fair reimbursement. Not only did they never apologize, they treated the entire affair with as cold a heart as they could muster. We asked for what was fair--forgiveness of all fees during Mom's absence and reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses resulting from the negligence-related fall.

Sunrise's attorneys dragged out the process for all four months...never offering anything close to fair compensation, never mind anything extra for the pain and suffering they put my mother through. The fall also resulted in her hip replacement surgery, scheduled for August, to be postponed until the following year.

Yet, despite all this, Mom opted to go back and accept a severely reduced settlement. Two days before she was to return, three Sunrise staffers evaluated her and told her how much they looked forward to her coming back. The next day-- the day before she was to return-- Sunrise refused to readmit her until an agreement was signed, and the only agreement they offered specified that my mother could not return. This is the company professing only the best for your loved ones in their sunset years. They call it The Sunrise Difference. The Sunrise Difference is the cruelty, malice, and disdain with which they treat a resident when that resident has been wronged.

Please feel free to send this to everyone you know with an elderly loved one. Let them know how cold and malicious Sunrise Assisted Living is. Spread the word that no one else should put himself or herself in a position to be treated this way.

Rocky River, Ohio
Sunrise Assistant Living facility- The Director, Ann who is in charge does not know how to treat people.
She is rude, unfriendly and unprofessional. Ann should not be the director at Sunrise.

this nursing home is giving my family over 300k for this neglect. They settled, which is an admission of guilt.

DO NOT SEND YOUR FAMILY THERE

BEWARE

I have worked at sunrise for four years and ' I have noted much of what goes on there, people pay way to much for family members to live there.

to "weeeeeeeeee"

You obviously don't have or have never cared for an elderly family member.
It is an extremely difficult situation because the senior is in a declining mode and not in an improving mode.
It is much much easier to care for small children than it is to care for a senior.
I know because I have done both.

My mother caused herself major health issues in her attempts to care for my father at home. All of the stress and exhaustion have caused her Macular Degeneration to progress faster than the doctor says it should and she actually went into the hospital Easter 2009 with a possible heart attack.
I say "possible" because her doctor left the practice the very week that mom went in the hospital and we never got a definitive diagnosis.

Your comment was inappropriate, insensitive, uncalled-for and just plain RUDE. SHAME ON YOU, "weeeeeeeeee".

to "weeeeeeeeee":
You must not have any elderly family to care for yourself.
It is an extremely difficult situation to deal with and it's MUCH harder to care for a senior than it is even to care for very young children.
I know because I have done BOTH.
My mother's attempt to care for my father at home nearly killed her - put her in the hospital one Easter with extreme exhaustion and stress and a possible heart attack, but we never got a definitive diagnosis because her MD left the practice the very week of her hospitalization.
Your comment was inappropriate, insensitive, uncalled-for and COMPLETELY RUDE.
SHAME ON YOU.

Do not listen to this jerk, It is not your fault in any way. this guy has some mental issues

Sunrise of Baton Rouge had uncertified, unlicensed pesticide applicators, ( confirmed) by the state of Louisiana. My husband, (38yrs old) at the time suffered and still suffers from seizures, rashes, oozing sores, the list goes on and on. We filed a suit hoping they would finally have to admit what poisons they used. We have yet to this day get an msds. Medical records went missing and while our attorney was a new extravagant office, he withdrew making the courts believe we fired him. Looking back at it today they didn't want the news to get out that the pesticides ( looked like it had snowed was said in testimony) were never cleaned up and was tracked in and out that facility. The investigation from what I believe is to be true, had two different reports.

Sunrise is terrible. I worked in one in Massachusetts for over a year, . The staff is abusive, and blame you for their mistakes. Also don't give you raises or reviews for you hard work.
They only care about money. I loved my residents and the families so much. I just couldn't;t handle the abuse that I encountered. I remember working hard and never being appreciated. I would not recommend sunrise to anyone. Not even my worst enemy., They should visit them more often and close them down one by one.

if your that unhappy with the care take them home and care for them yourself.. instead of complaining

i disagree. i work at a sunrise now and it takes alot to take care of other people. i have very close bonds with the residents and know them better than their own families know them now. many family members come in and complain about ### things... but as a care giver i know they are only doing it because they feel guilty they put them in a home instead of taking care of them themselves. so if u are unhappy with the care take them home and care for them yourself.

I response to "I care for seniors" I worked at sunrise here in PETALUMA, CA for about a year and a half. HORRIBLE place to work. Yes...the Sunrise philosophy is about giving the seniors choices, but they do not back that up. I was one of two employees who had to care for approximately 5-10 seniors in a two hour period in the morning. Getting each of them up out of bed, to the toilet, into the shower, bathe them, diaper them, dress them, then take downstairs to sit in dining room and wait until we were done getting the others ready to eat. Now mind you, my shift started at 10pm and ended at 6am. Sunrise works you to the bone and I even got in trouble from my boss for hanging out with one of the residents, whom I adored, for too long visiting with her. Working there was a nightmare, I never want to get old, I have not one nice thing to say about management AT PETALUMA SUNRISE ASSISTED LIVING. Abuse I witnessed first hand...this place is just horrible!

Sunrise hires people who are unfit for caremanaging, yet wrongfully fire the ones with heart. The sunrise that I worked at fired 3 people who sued and won $. They hide their mistkes too. One family was being charged after their moms death.. and another family was overcharged on assistance. I worked in the med department and it was scary to see how unprofessional the nurse was. She would throw away meds that I would find in the dementia/alzheimer's unit. I was amazed how she could do that and act like it was nothing! what if another resident had gone in there and taken those pills! the staff is ill trained and the management sucks [censor]! I would nvr refer someone there unless I wanted them to die soon

I agree and disagree with some of your comments. I have worked for the company for 3 years and although it is not great ( I have yet to see one that is perfect) it is not as horrible as people make it sounds. When you are putting your loved ones in a facility aren't you shopping around? Or are you just "sticking" them in the most convenient place. You should be looking at more then one company, and when you find one that you like you should most definitely look at more then one building. At sunrise I feel like I get asked a billion questions by potential residents, and I try to answer them as fairly as possible whether it helps me or not. I think a lot of these "problems" being addressed here are by people who do not research a facility. Are you asking questions of staff, are you interviewing residents? Sunrise always has model rooms, but no place is perfect. You should be checking the quality of the furniture, if the carpets are cleaned and if the person touring you is saying hello to residents. When you move in the building doesn't magically become outdated or old, it has already been that way, you just weren't paying attention.

I couldn't agree more with the complaints above. I worked- for a very short time- as a Wellness Nurse in one of the Sunrise AL facilities. First of all they boast having nursing staff there to be able to tend to the needs of the residents if any should arise. That would be well and good except I was instructed to do pretty much NOTHING except call 911 if anything happened. Seriously they didn't even want me to administer CPR if need be. I told them that I couldn't- and most certainly wouldn't- agree to that. I felt right away that the same bait-and-switch campaign that they have going to get residents in the door they also use on potential employees. I can tell you that all of those little perks that people see in the tours are things that are never used. I never saw anybody using the cool whirlpool bath tubs or any of the lounging areas. CMS stated that those things were "too much trouble".

Though it seemed like it was going to be a wonderful position at 1st things quickly changed once orientation was over. Management doesn't want the employees to do ANYTHING that they consider "above and beyond"- even if it's not really so! Ex: We had an actively dieing res and I called her hospice nurse because she really needed to be seen and needed her meds for comfort. The hospice nurse was held up and couldn't get right over, but asked me to go ahead and give the meds. I am licensed and trained to do so and it is within my scope. Still I ck with my super and she tells me that, while I CAN, I shouldn't because then the hospice nurses will always expect that sort of thing. What sort of thing? That another nurse would gladly assist a dieing patient to be more comfortable in her last hours- understanding that also in doing to so it would relieve some anxiety from her family sitting bedside? I had the means to help this lady and her family and I gladly did so. I didn't care if those hospice nurses called me 100 times on my shifts to assist with similar cases for crying out loud!

I came home in tears after my shift nearly every time I went to work. Too many times the level of care that the resident was going to need pre-move in was greatly under reported- even though they do have an exam prior to moving in. Only after they were in and the deal was sealed did the real level of care come out- much to the family's dismay as all these new things added to the bottom line of payment each month. If the family didn't pay for the extra care then the facility claimed it wasn't up to them to see that it got done. A couple of the the new admits were actually in need of the locked alzheimer's wing but since it was full they said we just needed to watch them and "make do" til there was an opening on the locked side. Yet non of their Alzheimer type behaviors showed up on admit papers. How is any of that fair or safe for Grandma? It's NOT. But the bottom line is that they top dollar is all that this company cares about.

The final straw for me was when the woman in charge of filling the apartments boasted and bragged that she went to visit an ailing resident in the hospital and "knew just by looking at him that he was going to die"- so she called a family she had just given a tour to and told them the apt they were interested in was open. She was all jazzed to start the paperwork and get these new people in the door when the poor old guy at the hospital hadn't even died yet! For what they pay at that place the very least the management could do- and I do mean very least- is not sell their home out from under them before they are gone!

Sorry to disagree, but my parents were in Sunrise of Belmont and the Exec, Director was cold and horrible to their complaints. The night staff dropped my parent onto the floor and tried to cover it up. The wound they said came from home and not the facility. I complained to State Licensing who cited them for not giving the heart medicine they should have given. I agree with all the negative complaints above. This facility is only okay if you have a parent who needs an apartment, can get around pretty well, shower and walk or use a walker. If he/she needs assistance, stay away from this place.

I can't speak to any of your experiences but I can say that mine is different. And let me qualify by saying that each community is different. I can only speak from my own personal experience. I am an executive director at a Sunrise community. I have been with Sunrise for for 4 years. I have a bachelor's degree and I have over 25 years experience in senior housing, ranging from a CCRC, to Independent Living, to Assisted Living with Alzheimer's Care. My coordinator team has largely worked their way up from starting as care managers to leads/supervisors, to now coordinators/managers over the course of years. None of these jobs in our communities are easy and if you think people chose this work because they're slackers and they can get away with doing as little work as possible, you're wrong. My days are often 10-12 hours per day with holidays and weekends included. My day doesn't end at a certain time, it ends when my work is done and the community is quiet and the residents are all taken care of. If something comes up, as it often does, right as I'm ready to leave for the day, then my day is a little longer until the issue is resolved. If a family member has an issue after I have gone home for the day or on my day off, then I call them from home so they do not have to wait til I return to work. Our business is a service and that takes place 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, no matter what. I speak not only for myself, by for my coordinator team and the team of care managers, housekeepers, cooks, etc. that work with us -- we're there because we believe in making a difference and providing for a higher quality of life than what our residents would have if they were to go to a nursing home. Our care managers have a higher than average retention rate both in our company as well as against an industry standard. They may not all be highly educated, but they have a sincere care and concern for our residents. Let me give you a few examples: I know of a care manager that regularly spends her own money to buy supplies for some of our residents (shampoo, toiletries, etc.) because the resident needs them and the family (even after several notifications) still had not provided them. As executive director, I approached this care manager and tried to reimburse her for these supplies and she refused to take any reimbursement saying she does it because it's her way of showing her love to her residents. I know of another care manager who was concerned about a resident that was having health issues and suffering from depression. She knew this lady was born and grew up in another country and in her old age, missed some of the comforts of her homeland, in particular, her favorite dish. This care manager researched recipes for this particular dish, made it, and brought it in for this resident and they shared the meal together. On another occasion, we had a new resident that moved in just a few days before Christmas. He had moved from another state, his wife was divorcing him, and the family was in conflict. The resident was doing his best to adjust to such an abrupt change in his life. One of our care managers recognized this and in a gesture of great kindness, went out and bought him a small decorated Christmas tree for his room to help him feel at home. I've known many of our team members to go visit residents in the hospitals, rehab centers, and nursing homes because they genuinely care about them and think of them like a family member. When the families go home, we're there with your loved ones, calming and reassuring them when they're having a bad night, and doing our best to provide not just for your loved one's physical needs, but also their emotional needs. That's not always easy. I personally sat with a resident for two hours one night (at the end of my scheduled work day) because he needed someone to talk to. Our activities coordinator arranged for one of our residents with oxygen to go to a trip to the horse track. He loved going to the track and she even arranged for his brother to meet him there as a special surprise. This man was so thrilled saying he never thought he would be able to go to the track again, but thanks to the staff who took on the responsibility of assisting him with his wheelchair and oxygen tanks, they made it work for him and made it a special day. This gentleman was on hospice and died 3 days later, but his family was thrilled he had that one last chance to do something he loved and saw his brother again as well. You can't pay people to care. Our care managers and our team get to know our residents and are people of kindness, compassion and caring - it's who they are and they do this work not just for a pay check, but because they know they've contributed to someone's quality of life each and every day they go to work. As far as the education of our care managers - we provide approximately 30 hours of training during the first 30 days of employment, plus shadowing and job skills assessments. The work our care managers perform is largely assistance with activities of daily living (grooming, dressing, bathing, etc.) and is non-medical so we do not require medical training. The Sunrise philosophy is all about giving residents choices - what time do you want to get up in the morning, what time of day would you like to take your shower, etc. verses nursing homes which schedule such tasks based upon what's most efficient for the employees. My grandmother was in a nursing home for a number of years. The aids were rotated every other week so just as she got to know them, they were rotated again. She had to get up at 5:30 every morning in order to go to breakfast at 7:00 because the aides had to get so many other residents up, dressed, and ready for breakfast by that time. She also was readied for bed around 7 p.m. so the aides could get everyone ready for bed by 9:00. There was no choice for her. That was the schedule. That is the way it works in nursing homes. Sunrise strives to provide an alternative with choices and a higher quality of life for our residents. I'm sorry for those that have had bad experiences with Sunrise. For my part, I try every day to do my job to the best of my ability and make my Sunrise community a place of warmth, kindness, and compassion where our residents are well care for, content and have the highest quality of life possible for their circumstances. For those of you that have loved ones in a Sunrise or any other home for that matter, your thanks and appreciation go a long way with the staff in the communities. A sincere thank you from a family member totally makes our day and knowing we had a positive impact on our residents' lives is our second paycheck.