Silver Birch of Mishawaka

STAY AWAY - FAR AWAY!! I work for a moving company. Last week and this week we were hired to move some people out of that horrible bedbug infested place. Last week we walked in and gave the front desk an apartment number, and they looked at us and said "Wait a minute, we are going to give you full PPE protection before you walk in that nasty apartment". and they did. When I tell you it was the most disgusting thing I have ever seen. This was far beyond hoarding, this was straight up filth, trash, and maggots covered in bed bugs. The smell. I literally don't have the words to describe how nasty it was. We got that poor man out of there and into a much better community. Today we went back in to move out another resident and this apartment was even worse. We had to reject the entire move for fear of infesting our van with their nasty bedbugs. Full size adult bed bugs crawling up the walls in full site the minute you open the door!! According to every single person in there, staff and residents alike, say this place is heavily infested - like more than 90% of the building has bedbugs. How this is allowed to get so bad when this is supposed to be a safe place for the elderly. It's beyond help. Honestly, the whole building just needs to be demolished and all the bed bugs with it.

It was great sadness that I write this review of Silver Birch assisted living facility in Mishawaka Indiana. There once was a time when I called this my home and I was happy about it being my home. It's still my home, but it has changed a great deal. We have an interim executive director and has come into our facility and things could not be worse. They fired our executive director of 7 months who we all loved and now the new interim executive director is here. We have bed bugs. Who was told at a meeting the other day that it wouldn't be unusual because we live in an area that has 25% more bed bugs then anywhere else in the state. And that we need to get used to that and that they're doing what they can to get rid of those bed bugs. I tend to disagree. But if you disagree, they will retaliate. I have tried for several days now to get ahold of one of the people from corporate to let them know about the current interim executive director. But it's no use. We are understaffed and the CNAs are having to serve lunches and dinners and we are eating off of paper plates and using plastic utensils. We are having problems with the food as it is horrible. Most of the time when you look around the dining room as you're leaving, people have left most of their food on their plate. That makes me sad because most people don't have extra money to spend to buy extra groceries for their pantry. Not only are our CNAs serving lunch and supper, they are doing their normal jobs also buy transporting those people to suffer who cannot get there on their own. They have to do laundry at night for those who cannot do their own laundry. We just finally got on our menu where people could have their eggs the way they wanted them instead of poured from a carton. As president of the resident Council I have had numerous meetings with the interim executive director. I want so much for her to be truthful with me. The residents are given false hope about things they have asked for and things that they need. A lot of our residents are wanting to and ready to do a protest. I can't get anyone from management i.e. the interim director to answer me now or the maintenance director from corporate to come and speak with me. I voiced my concerns the other day at a meeting and now all of a sudden no one will talk to me or get back with me. I said I feel better place that I called home with such happiness, I now just say I live here. And it's all do to people who want to give false hope to our people, to make them think they care about them. I watch and have interaction with the most wonderful group of residents. All with a different story and disability they deserve better. And so does anyone who walks through our doors and call this home. Right now, we just exist here. Weird just a number with a Medicaid waiver. And that's the magic word. Waiver! I want so again to call this home and say it with happiness! Received an answer to my post. Residents do have the choice to come down to eat three meals, however, when the meals ate so bad, then we don't go to the dining room to eat. Then we hopefully have something in our cupbards to eat. Others don't. Fortunately they are working on it. Hopefully it will work.

I have been living here for about Nine months now. After my husband passed away four years ago, I didn’t feel very secure living alone at home. Being here at first gave me a real sense of comfort and peace of mind. I was reassured knowing that if I ever had a medical concern, I can simply press my alert button and the nursing staff will come to help. I have discovered that most Nursing staff here does not know what they are doing and I have seen a lot of medical neglect of the Elderly!! I enjoy some of the activities that are offered, and I’ve even joined the activities committee so I can help plan and organize them. It’s been a great way to stay involved and meet people. I’ve made many good friends here, and a group of us gets together almost every evening to play Euchre or other games. At least that is a positive thing. BUT, we now have a major issue with our bus which could limit our ability to go out for fun activities outside of Silver Birch. Our new Executive Director Alicia that had been here for 7 months was Surprisingly fired which angered all of us. She had an open door policy and even walked the halls. This was a big Corporate mistake. Since they fired her, things have gotten worse and worse. One thing that really stands out about the one-bedroom apartments at Silver Birch compared to other assisted living communities is the amount of storage space. If I ever moved somewhere else, I would probably have to get rid of at least 25% of my belongings! It was such a relief to be able to bring so many of my personal things and have them fit comfortably in my room and closets. What scares me though, is many rooms are now infested with 🪳BEDBUGS!!🪳 I will be very upset if I lose everything to them!!! The food has gotten really bad since Becca has been put in charge! Many times we call it Alpo Dog Food! We are currently calling for her to be fired. I currently would not recommend that you place your loved one here.