My godmother moved into Sunrise of Arlington VA. She is in the highest level of memory care. So far, it has been good, aside from the fact that they quarantined her, which they didn't tell me about when I signed her up. She literally had not been out of her apartment since December. Her caregivers were fully vaccinated, but they still kept her quarantined for fourteen days. I was not happy about that.
They've been in constant communication. One day, she was nonresponsive and they were worried, but she has hallucinations. If she is in a full-blown hallucination, she doesn't know that she's not communicating with people. They listened when I told them how intense her hallucinations were. They called hospice, who said that all of her vitals were good, and she had started to respond a little bit. By the next day, she was back to her normal self, which was a big difference from the day before.
It looked more like a family setting. The people greeted me, took me all around, and showed me everything. She has a private studio. Because she's a very private person, she would not like sharing. It's a house and it has gardens, and she can go out when somebody will take her out. She's much better outside than she is inside.
Aside from that anomaly about the COVID restrictions, I've been very happy with everything else from Sunrise. The staff has been very nice. They keep in contact with me. I live in New Jersey and she's in Arlington, Virginia, so I have to rely on the staff contacting me. She has a good friend who visits her regularly. I get reports from the staff, from the hospice caregivers, and from her friend. All the reports kind of agree, which makes me happy; I know that she's being well cared for. She's as happy as she can be given her state. I believe she's well cared for. I like the staff.
She didn't like the food at first, but they've been giving her puréed food. She's been eating that and is now eating better than she was. She's feeding herself, which is good. The only thing I was upset about was the COVID restrictions. She didn't want a vaccine, and they made her get a vaccine. She feels like she has more privacy now, even though she's in a facility.
I only get to visit every couple of weeks, but from what I've seen, they tried very hard to come up with a nice menu, and they have adapted it to what she needs. The rooms are good, but her phone hasn't worked since it was put in, so nobody can call her. They can call the front desk, and the front desk will have to bring her to another phone. I've complained several times about it, but it's never been fixed. She doesn't participate in most of the activities, but they have plenty. She watches, but she doesn't participate. They're very expensive, but it's still less than private nursing care.
Sunrise of Arlington VA is good, and my mother was attracted to it being a smaller group living situation. The food is really good, and the staff is very helpful and kind. She moved up to the memory care wing and they don't keep them busy there, but when she was downstairs in the regular program, they had a nice array of activities. The rooms are really nice, and she decorated her room herself. You can make an appointment to get your hair and nails done, and they have a doctor and healthcare on-site, a wellness office, and a dentist comes in. There's a nice porch to sit on. The staff is very caring and nice.