I felt obliged to write a review on Railside Living Center after the horrible experience my family recently went through with my grandfather who resided in Railside for a short and horrific six weeks. My grandfather suffers from Parkinson's, and as is the case with many individuals who have the disease, also has dementia. When it became clear that my grandfather required more care than he could receive at home, my family considered many facilities for his care and chose Railside after learning about the liscensed dementia care program it offers.
Quite quickly after moving my grandfather into Railside, my family began to notice his substantial weight-loss. As my grandfather has a hard time swollowing food given that Parkinson's has taken most of his muscle strength, his Dr. ordered that he be given Ensure shakes at each meal. We were required to purchase the shakes and bring them to the facility where the administrators assured us that he would recieve them per his Dr.'s orders- this NEVER happened. Not only did the facility disregard the Dr.'s orders by not giving him the Ensure shakes, they made no effort to encourage him to eat anything at all!!! In six weeks my grandfather lost close to twenty pounds!! When questioned by my family members numerous times as to why he wasn't be giving his shakes or other soft food that he could swallow , the staff stated that " the faculty changes on a daily basis so there is no way to ensure that instructions are followed". The staff also did not regularly give my grandfather any water unless he specifically requested it. The sad conclusion of this story is that my grandfather collapsed from malnourishment and dehydration which also brought on pneumonia and is now in the hospital.
I DO NOT recommmend Railside and urge you to seek additional options for your assisted living care for your loved ones. It saddens me to think that my family's experience could happen to another person.
Pros: location
Cons: incompetent and inexperienced staff, no on-site Dr., total disregard for quality care
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