South Campus Care Center

I would not recommend this facility to anyone considering it for their loved one. My 78-year-old mother-in-law was transferred here from the hospital last night, and our experience was extremely upsetting from the moment we arrived. When we walked into her room, the smell was overwhelming—it smelled like an ashtray had been emptied into the room. I understand that residents may have visitors and that the smell may have come from someone visiting her roommate, but that does not make it acceptable for an elderly patient to be left in a room that smells that strongly of smoke, especially when she is there receiving care. It took me approximately 10 minutes just to find someone to speak with. When I finally found a nurse, she told me she didn't handle the side of the facility where my mother-in-law was located and that I needed to find the other nurse. I waited another 10 minutes. I eventually approached a woman who appeared to be an employee and asked if she was the nurse. She said she wasn't, but offered to help while the nurse made her way there. I explained my concern about the smell, and she immediately apologized and said she would get a supervisor to speak with me. I thought, finally, someone was taking the concern seriously. The nurse eventually arrived, and I explained the situation again. She went into the room and said, "They can't smoke in here because of the oxygen." I understand that, but the issue was never that someone was actively smoking in the room. The issue was that the room smelled so strongly of smoke that it was difficult to ignore. I was then told that the roommate had family visiting and that the smell was probably from them. Again, I understand that visitors may have caused it, but shouldn't the room have been cleaned and the situation addressed so that my mother-in-law wasn't left sitting in that smell? On top of that, my 78-year-old mother-in-law was positioned directly next to an AC unit that was blowing cold air directly onto her. She had been there overnight, and this was another thing that concerned us tremendously. My husband and I ultimately left and told her that we would work on getting her transferred somewhere else because we were not comfortable leaving her there. Unfortunately, this morning wasn't much better. When my husband went to visit her, breakfast was being passed out and she didn't have a tray. He had to ask where her breakfast was. It took approximately 20 minutes for them to bring her food, with her tray apparently being forgotten at one point. These may sound like small things individually, but when you are talking about a 78-year-old who was just transferred from a hospital and is now completely dependent on staff for her basic needs, they are NOT small things. What bothered me most was the lack of compassion, urgency, and communication. Elderly people deserve dignity, respect, warmth, and basic consideration regardless of their income or what facility they can afford. Being on a limited income should never mean someone deserves less care or less humanity. And the supervisor who was supposedly coming to speak with me? He/She never came. This experience was so upsetting that I genuinely cannot understand how this level of care is acceptable. We are now working on getting my mother-in-law transferred somewhere else. Please, if you are considering this facility for your loved one, do your research and ask questions. I would not want another family to experience what we experienced.