Atria Walnut Creek

I have visited Atria Walnut Creek twice. It is my number one choice for my mother. Paulina Morales, our community sales associate, has excellent customer service and communication skills. She is a tremendous asset to the Atria community. Atria has a homey and welcoming environment. The residents are happy and super friendly. The food served in the dining room is top notch and the apartments are nicely appointed. And best of all, Mom sees herself living here. We are so pleased with our experience. I have struggled to find a senior living community that checks all of the boxes for Mom. Atria Walnut Creek is that community.

We have serious issues with this facility. We had our mother here for 2 years, and initially (when the resident was independent) Atria worked well. But then all that was needed was to provide an apartment, medicine management and food. The care staff seems to genuinely care for the residents, and they were very friendly. Once things began to change and more attention was needed, finding someone to discuss those needs was difficult. We were told that a low-sugar diet would be put in place, but whenever the resident asked, sweets would be provided. Staffers, likely unknowingly, would slip cookies or cakes to the resident as they knew that made her happy. This resulted in several trips to the ER to control her blood sugar. When asked if they felt the resident's cognitive faculties were diminishing, or if she seemed depressed, we were told that nothing had changed. But we could see that things were changing. When we noticed the resident was no longer getting dressed for the day regularly, we again asked if anyone had noticed and were told everything is fine. We started hearing from the resident that she was not eating in the dining room (with no notice from the staff) and when we asked what she was eating, staff had to look it up. They were surprised to hear that the resident barely ate, ordering milk shakes and toast for every meal. This was noted, but not corrected. No mention was made of any behavioral changes (aside from what we could see in our visits) and no help was offered to the resident or to us. At one point Atria sent the resident to the ER without our knowledge for a sore arm. We were notified after she was sent by ambulance, (we live 20 minutes away and handle all medical affairs) and were told at the ER that she did not need to be there. The resident now has a $3000 ambulance bill. When we notified the facility of our 30-day intent to move, they immediately reassessed her for a much higher level of care, nearly half again her rate. This may have been needed, but the optics of this move looked like a cash grab and sat very poorly with us. During our move-out week, the manager saw us several times and never once made eye contact or spoke, even in farewell. Once the resident was moved, Atria attempted to charge her for the higher level of services, even though the resident was no longer in their care. We are very disappointed in this facility!

In October my father fell and broke his hip. We knew that he would need assisted living when he recovered. My brother and I began researching all of the options within 20 miles of my home in Walnut Creek. Dad had some specific requirements. He wanted someplace where he could look out the window of his apartment and see something pretty, not just cement. He wanted a nice place that was attractive on the inside but didn’t want to pay for a bunch of things that he would not use. There is a VERY expensive option in Walnut Creek that might be good for a very active person who was outgoing and wanted to be busy all the time. That was not dad. There were cheaper options, but they felt institutional and lacked warmth. Dad wanted to be able to have the care that he needed now and be able to adjust the level of care as needed. My brother and I determined that Atria met all of dad’s requirements. I worked with Carley to discuss which units were available and pick the right one. Dad wanted a separate bedroom and a view out the window. Carley was great to work with. She was extremely helpful, patient and wasn’t pushy. If things had turned out differently, Daddy would be there right now and we would be visiting. Unfortunately, like so many others, Daddy didn’t survive. I still wanted to write the review because I was very excited about Atria and Carley. I know how stressful doing the research is and hoped that I might help someone else in their search. There is one more thing- if your loved one break’s their hip IMMEDIATELY research hip fractures and delirium. There are several peer reviewed articles and if I had had that information when Daddy broke his hip, he would still be here.

I had only four days to place my brother in memory care in this area. This included two weekend days. The staff at Atria was very helpful, and he moved in on a Sunday. I have visited several times in the last month. The staff is friendly and accommodating. Also, they always seem very knowledgeable about my brother. They have helped make my brother and I feel comfortable about his living situation.