Cascade Park Care Center

I just read Meagan H’s review and I think I can tell you the problem. I used to work at Cascade Park as a nurse in around 2011 (not for long) and heres what happens, at least as far as nursing goes, and I have nothing against this facility, the supervisor was always pleasant to me, but what happens is this: The nurses are expected to take care of everyone (people on alert) plus do all of the treatments, plus do all of the insulin’s, (and there are a lot) plus do all of the meds. I dont find this acceptable. Nursing is a people job. The meds, to be in state compliance, need to be passed within an hour of the ordered time. So when you have an issue with a patient, (even though it is «only» assisted living, many folks have healthcare issues that come up) if you want to keep your job, and be in compliance, these people issues, unless you truly care, and put people first at the risk of losing your job, are brushed to the side, as quickly as possible. It may sound unreal, but trust me, its more common than you know. So when you come across someone who is having breathing issues (as I did) and their inhaler isnt working, and neither is their nebulizer, you have to take time out to call a physician, go back to the phone when he calls back, take the order do all of the order paperwork, call the pharmacy, or carry out the orders that you recieve for the resident. That’s for ONE resident. This is a big facility. I saw people brush off this man, and say, o its not that bad, etc, etc. He was having BREATHING issues. :(I just cant do that. And I refuse to do it. How do you turn your back on someone like that? …So… even though my supervisor never said anything else but that she was hearing good things about my work, I was always woefully behind on passing the meds, (which is not fair either) and not long after, she called me and said that she was sorry, but that she didnt think I was going to work out. Yea. me either. :(
I really felt bad for those people in there. And I felt bad for the nurses too, because those nurses were some of the most stressed out nurses that I have seen. So, I geuss I feel that when you place your loved ones, ask. Ask what all the nurses have responsibility for. If they have responsibility for EVERYTHING, its a safe bet that they are not going to be able to give your loved one quality care. Your loved one DESERVES quality care, and everyone, I mean EVERYONE will tell you that they will give it to them. And you may not know all of the questions to ask, because your not there, behind the scenes. But now you know a little bit more, so you can. By the way, not long after this I was blessed to be called in to interview at a truly quality facility located in NE Portland called Pacific Gardens, and I worked there for 3 years, until I decided to do a client in my own home for private care. There was no comparison, and when I went to work there I was so amazed, and so happy, and I felt so blessed to be able to give true, quality care to my residents. They truly put people first.
Facilities have enough money to be able to give quality care to people. They have enough money to hire med aides, so that the nurses can concentrate on giving nursing care. It is just a question of where they choose to direct that money, if you know what I mean.

This is a hard review to write as there are good aspects to this center, yet we had some very bad experiences with this place. I try to be a positive person so I will start out with the good!
I am the granddaughter and now the caretaker now for my 96 yr. old grandmother. My mother, her daughter is the power of attorney and the person who used to care for her. In December my grandma fell and was in the hospital for 4 days. She lived with my mom and was about 75% independent. Then it was recommended by the hospital that she went to a facility where she could receive rehabilitation from the fall for up to 60 days. She was sent to Cascade Park Care Center. It should be noted she suffers from diverticulitis and acute on chronic pancreaticitus, too. She needed to get her strength back, and learn what her new limitations might be from her fall.
The physical therapy staff was awesome (⁵⁄₅ stars), she is very strong once again and they were very good with communicating with her. The move-​in experience and transition was also smooth (⁴⁄₅ stars). The nurses and CNA’s are very good at communicating with the residents from what I saw. My grandma really enjoyed the staff that would come into her room. There was an incident with one CNA who lost her temper with my grandma’s roommate, yet she was supposed to be helping both my grandma and the roommate before bedtime. My grandma asked her if she could help her use the restroom (as instructed at that time, she could not go by herself), and the CNA abruptly told her to go by herself and walked out of the room. I think that the staff might be overworked at times. They seem to have some issues with communication at their shift changes, too.
My grandma was overall fairly happy with the staff that came into her room to help care for her. My grandmother is easy to care for and didn’t need nearly as much care as about 90% of the residents receive there. (⁴⁄₅ stars)
Now for the bad…
She was not too happy with the food (²⁄₅ stars). Same thing every morning. She would never get a banana like she was supposed to with breakfast. Her diet was supposed to include lean meats, limited fruits, vegetables usually should be cooked, low fat, and low sugar. Once she was at Cascade Park Care Center she was being given well over 75 g of sugar that included juice with almost every meal, salads, beans, seeds, desserts, and other foods that nobody with diverticulitis or pancreaticitus should be eating. For the price that the residents pay to stay there, I would expect healthier food choices. Crappy food is unfortunately very common at these types of places. The food that is often served to the elderly is not helping them by any means.
There seems to be some communication issues between management, RN’s, and the doctors (²⁄₅ stars). Each resident needs an advocate, or they very well could be receiving the wrong foods, medications, doctor’s orders, etc. We caught numerous mistakes from what the doctor ordered and what was actually being given from medications, physical therapy orders, and some simple instructions and evaluations to determine when she could go back home. Notes that should have been in her charts and paperwork were often not there. This becomes frustrating from the family members point of view.
The biggest issue was the discharge process (¹⁄₅ stars). Or should I say the lack of the any kind of process. We chose to bring my grandmother home and because I work from home, my husband and I have moved into her house and I am being trained to be her caregiver. Things have happened very quickly, as we were originally looking for an adult home for her to go to. We were disappointed with some common issues in these types of homes. The one home we fell in love with has a long waiting list (which if you’re looking, is a good sign)! We said we would be there to pick her up and go over the discharge instructions between 2:30 and 3pm. We were there closer to 3pm. When we showed up they had all her stuff packed into boxes, and she was waiting in waiting area and had already been discharged and signed herself out (which it was stated that my mom was the only person to sign her out)! She was visibly upset and said she wasn’t even able to say good-​bye to her roommate. We were given discharge papers with a very confusing list of her medications with no instructions.
We asked to speak to a nurse about how to dispense her medications at home. The nurse spent 2 minutes going over it with us with no real instructions. We felt rushed out. There is a person who works at the front desk area and she was amazing, so nice, but unfortunately she was not a nurse nor could she really help with explaining what was next.
There was a lack of communication about what comes next in the after care, which they were supposed to provide with the plan.