6 Assisted Living Communities in Chatham County, North Carolina

Patrick Fuhrman

The Oaks at Savannah seems to be in a continual state of decline. Knowing that there have been 3 different owners in 3 years should have been indicative of this downward spiral. The facility was first known as Morningside of Savannah, then Marshview of Savannah, and currently The oaks at Savannah. There are no cameras installed on the perimeter of the facility and they only just installed front door chime alarms that indicates when someone enters or exits the front doors. Prior to this installation of the door chimes, my mother managed to walk out twice unnoticed and nearly made it to a busy nearby street. The last time she walked out, she fell and I had to take her to the emergency room. After these incidents, I had to move her into memory care in the same facility. If the door alarms or cameras had been installed previously, I would not have had to move her. The memory care unit is extremely depressing and understaffed. My mother is probably the most cognizant of alm the residents in the memory care unit. The most alarming thing happened today (12-27-21) in the memory care unit. Upon returning my mother from taking her to a 6 month physical with her doctor, I returned to find her room door closed and a male resident in her bathroom rooting around. I asked him to leave and he became “ very aggressive with both me and my mother. I reported the incident to the (understaffed)staff and they promised it wouldn’t happen again. Not 5 minutes elapsed and this resident known as John, entered my mother’s room again. Does this kind of care provide peace of mind for $36,000.00 a year ? Certainly not for me. I will be reporting this facility to the Georgia Dept of Human Services Aging Services shortly. I would not recommend anyone relocate a family member to The Oaks at Savannah.

Robert

River's Edge was great. It was really the cat's pajamas. It had a room with a backdoor for our little dog to go outside, and I could take him for a walk. I liked it. I have nothing negative to say about that place. The lady was very nice, and I liked her very much. She was informative and strictly business, and I enjoyed talking to her. I didn't have a chance to eat there, but I talked to several people there, and everybody seemed to be happy with the food. They have just about anything you can think of. I was really pleased because when I pulled into the parking lot, there were a lot of people outside walking. I've been to several places, and that's the only place where people came up to me and started talking to me. It's a happy atmosphere there. The people staying there seemed content and happy, and that tells me a lot about amenities and the food. If they weren't happy, they would be complaining. I had arranged for the appointment, and the staff took time out of her schedule. She escorted me, showed me two different places in the facility, and told me about the facility. I was leaving just a little bit before lunch was starting, and there were people already gathering in the dining area. That tells me they were waiting. If they didn't want to get food, they wouldn't be there. It's a great facility. The thing I liked about it most was the ground floor. I had visited a place that you had to take an elevator, and I didn't like it that much.

Robert

I went to The Social at Savannah. They're highly oriented around social activities. They showed me a one-bedroom and a two-bedroom, and the only thing I really didn't like about them was the elevators. It's a high-rise building. They had a physical-fitness room. They had an event going on, and they invited me to it. They're oriented around people meeting other people and doing things together. There were two ladies who showed me around, and they were both very nice. I found nothing negative about either one of them at all. Any question I asked, they gave me an answer. When I left, they gave me a little packet with basically all the questions I had asked. I spoke to some people, and nobody complained about the food. I didn't speak to that many people there. I only spoke to like three or four; you just don't run into them. The rooms they showed me were on the fourth floor, and they were remodeling everything up there. It's an old place, and they're having a fresh coat of paint put on everything and new furniture moved in.

Sue

River's Edge has two-bedroom cottages. I would definitely choose them if they had been within our budget. They have guided activities and planned entertainment. We participated in some activities and we had a couple of meals there. The meals and servers were wonderful, and the entertainment and the activity directors were really great. I love the layout and that they are pet friendly. The staff made it a point to learn our names, which was impressive, but they go home at 7:00 at night. The apartments were very well kept up, spacious, and I liked that a lot of them had balconies. The food was excellent. The grounds were beautiful and very well kept up, and things were in the process of being changed out (like the pond). They have an exercise room.

Tonya

I liked River's Edge. We went during lunchtime so people were eating. It's nice, clean, and a more intimate community. They have a small exercise room and places where you can play cards. They have a pool table and nice little walking area outside. If Dad had been interested in moving, we would have selected them.

Jeaneane

My tour at Twin Rivers was pleasant. It wasn't a very large community. They showed me a 1-bedroom apartment that was very small. It was very pretty and a very quiet place, they had just painted it and it was impressive. They have indoor/outdoor carpets instead of shag carpets, a library, and game tables. They serve three meals a day, and they come in once a week to change the beds and clean the apartments. The person who accommodated me was very knowledgeable.

Sharon

My father moved into River's Edge, and he's adapted well. They have an exercise program, they take them out to Walmart and drugstores, and people come in for different programs and activities. He's got his own small private room, with a TV, and bath. It's close to a really nice dining room. You can pay extra for service like medication and helping with bathing. Everybody's been accommodating. He's enjoying it there, and it worked out well for him and me.

Cynthia

We liked Cambridge Hills Of Pittsboro even though it's older, because it's privately-owned and they're very flexible when working with families. You don't have to go through a chain of several levels of management, and they were able to work with us on the financial agreement as well. They do so many creative activities that really don't take a lot of money, they make it a fun day, which gives the residents something to look forward to. They have pizza day, they have a National Coffee Day where they all get to make coffee and dress up like characters. The staff members are more experienced and stable compared to other places. Even though the building isn't new, it's still clean, and neat.

Philip

The general appearance of Buckingham South Assisted Living was good. The layout was very conducive to the residents moving around, activities, and so forth. The furniture was nice. It was getting old, but it was clean and nice. In the next couple of years they need to start updating some things. The kitchen area wasn't bad, but the floors could've been a little cleaner. The manager was excellent, spent a lot of time with us, showed us around, and was very knowledgeable. The good thing about them was the employees were long term. They don't have a lot of turnover. The manager has been there for over 20 years. The residents seemed to be happy. They had four lady residents that were over 100 years old. Everything seemed to be clean. They didn't have a separate dementia ward where they leave the dementia patients sitting in chairs, which was good. If they have dementia patients, they charge a little bit more for that level of care. They kind of blend them in with the regular tenants. The person who showed us around was very good.