White Sands La Jolla

Management is not kind, considerate, nor concerned about family. Only the bottom line. Would not ever consider recommending this institution to anyone that cares about ethical decisions for highest welfare of the elderly.

Happy to change my rating if anyone in management cares to fairly listen and makes amends to their horrendous behavior.

It's too bad the upper management behaves this way because many of the rank and file care a lot and do a good job in the tenches.

Senior Management and senior staff is robotic and not friendly.

I may be reached at djlevy@me.com

Constant contact with me? Be specific. I have left numerous phone calls with no call back. A few emails asking to meet seemed more like a negotiation just to meet to discuss items. I had to request a meeting after a month of no coordination of information to calibrate communication and management once we met they were rude and dismissive to me. Perhaps they will listen to the regulatory agencies to calibrate the way they treat people. Very little empathetic approach from upper management.

Again the staff that is working day to day is fine, it's the upper management, where the example of how to run an organization comes from is the issue.

They have my contact information should they wish to do the right thing. In the meantime I stand by my review of their approach and attitude and how executive management behaves.

You are correct, my review is not in alignment with standard care practices or values and I trust you will make amends and do the right thing to make things better. I do give credit where credit is due, however it is unfortunately not true yet in this case.

I have been overly generous in my attempts to try to calibrate communication for clarity and better operations however your executive management is closed minded and the ball is in their court. I have been ignored and dismissed and await a more appropriate response for corrective approach. to the situation.

Edie B - what is your position at the institution and how may I reach you to discuss a solution? I

I find the negative reviews of White Sands to be very single minded. Each one has a single complaint--something they are angry about. Many are not residents of White Sands. If you read carefully, you'll notice that people who say they actually LIVE here like it--a lot! Me included. It's one of the best decisions my husband and I made 3 years ago. We love our apartment (and it does have a kitchen, with all the usual kitchen appliances) and a laundry room (washer and dryer), and 2 nice, big bathrooms and 2 large closets. You can choose a studio apartment with less amenities, but that is your choice! And the food in our remodeled dining room is great. And there are lots of choices! But the best thing of all is the really interesting, intelligent, caring people who live here. I'm so glad to have met them! As I said, one of the best choices we've ever made was moving here!

Gray,

I enjoyed our meeting today and your responsiveness to resolve the issues with the residents. An open line of communication, will really help and I'm happy for both the apology and commitment to work with the resident. This revitalizes the confidence we had when we initially selected White Sands to be their home, and shows the compassion for the people we all care for.

Thanks again, and I appreciate the efforts going forward.

-Steve

We moved in here about six months ago and couldn't be more pleased. We were pretty sure the people, the location and the food would be good, but it's exceeded our expectations in every instance. What interesting people!

We were so lucky we moved when we did; our plan was to wait 2-4 years (I'm 81) but the perfect unit came up so we jumped on it.

With the current pandemic, White Sands is taking extraordinary measures to protect us, including delivering three meals a day to our door! The governments say "stay at home," so we're staying here, enjoying ocean views and gardens. I can walk within the campus so it's just fine.

As a Memory Care facility White Sands gets a grade of an F. Horrible. The sales dept. (David) and caregiving clinic (Patty) are not on the same page as all. They are selling Memory care but aren't providing what they promise.

My dad, 76 years old, highly functional Alzheimers/Dementia resident only lasted 1 year and 4 months there. They did an assessment prior to Dad moving in knowing Dad was highly functional Alzheimers. Everyone said the he would fit in perfectly. They knew he needed to be immersed in the assisted living group quite a bit. Interacted a lot. We had hopes that he would be there for many years, hopefully until his passing.

The first 3 months were actually good. They had my dad mixing with the assisted living residents AS PROMISED. At about 4 months I noticed every time I visited, my dad was either in his room or just sitting at the table do nothing with zero stimulation. I visit my dad about once week and noticed this every week. I mentioned my concerns but was told they didnt have the staff to accommodate Dad. So you had the staff when we wrote you checks getting him into the facility but now you don't? Total BS.

Then I started getting calls from White Sands saying my Dad was exhibiting aggressive behavior. He slapped someone hands away or shooed someone with a newspaper. Nothing major but this caused a HUGE uproar for White Sands. It needed to be documented and I needed to be notified. He was even written up for clapping along with the music at one point. WTF?!? -Maybe spend more time interacting with your residents than writing up stupid reports.

So Patty, their clueless head Clinical services, calls me saying Dad's behavior means that he needs a private caregiver for 6-8 hours a day. (an extra $6-7k a month). So another $7k on top of the $8k we are already playing?? Patty was lazy and clearly didn't want to work the problem but rather demand my family pay for a solution. Total BS.

Patty, how about White Sands just does their actual job in memory care and follow thru on the caregiving you agreed to? White Sands is lazy if the first sign of trouble they immediately ask for the family to get a private caregiver. And what's more likely is that my dad was cooped up all day with little stimulation and because of this he displayed some aggressive behavior. Pretty simple. Logical.

So whatever, we moved him out and what really upset me the most was the total lack of accountability from everyone involved. David, their sales person just flat out got defensive and interrupted me several times when I was just giving him feedback on our experience. Totally disrespectful and rude. You can tell when someone is insecure about the work they have done when they interrupt and try to overrun a conversation. Again, I wasn't trying to get anything from them but wanted to give them honest feedback so they don't miscalculate with another person like my Dad. What a Jerk.

Bottom line is that White Sands is NOT a true Memory care facility with someone who is highly functional Alzheimer's. They fell short of what they promised in terms of caregiving. And if they had the personnel that was professional and accountable I wouldn't be writing this review. But they don't.

Btw, my Dad's at Belmont Village memory care now and hasn't show any aggressive behavior. So I guess stimulation, attention and doing your job does actually work. White Sands you missed the mark big time and I have passed along this experience to countless friends and colleagues in the community.

-BHill

This is an excellent continuing care retirement community nestled between the ocean and the village of La Jolla, an ideal location with the best climate in the US. However the best part of it is the people that live there and work for the residents. The fellow residents are a diverse group of retired professionals of all walks of life: doctors, scientists, lawyers, business people, educators, nurses, ex-military and ex-civil servants; all of them well travelled, cosmopolitan, and well read.

The place offers all the amenities you expect, swimming pool, game rooms, gymnasium, exercise room, etc. It offers 20 different exercise classes, and professional staff to guide you and cure you if necessary (therapists-physical, speech, meditation, etc.). The organization offers excursions to cultural activities in the surrounding area up to Los Angeles (museums, parks, concerts, theaters, etc.) They bring dancers, musicians and other presentations to campus.

The residents are organized in a resident council that brings the concerns of residents to management, but most importantly have oversite and promote numerous committees that organize ongoing activities for all residents: arts and crafts, games, lectures, concerts, choir, religious studies, celebrations throughout the year related to holidays (local, regional, State and National).

The food and the service is outstanding.

The White Sands used to be the marque coastal senior living facility in all of SoCal. No more. Sad to think most of the oldies who move in here won't do research like reading Yelp reviews. They need to know this. White Sands used to be run by SoCal Presbyterian Homes. Religious? Yes. Non-profit? Yes. Old school? Yes. But unfortunately, SCPH is no more. The brains from above decided 'Presbyterian' wasn't 'inclusive' enough. They reflaged themselves the 'Be.Group'. As if that weren't dumb enough, they immediately started remaking the facility into a high pressure sales, poor service McSenior facility.

Food at Whitesands was wonderful. Be.White Sands orders in cheap, greasy, unhealthy food. Management at whitesands was caring, intelligent and felt like family. Management at Be.White Sands is impersonal, corporate minded and frankly dumb. Everyone who really cared was fired, and new management had the gall to say they all quit on their own!! We're old but we all don't have alzheimers. Why don't you start treating us like humans again.. it will go a long way towards bringing back the old glory. Sadly, we're just grumpy old dollar signs to the new corporate bunch.

My husband and I moved to a beautiful big White Sands apartment over a year ago on my 81st birthday with our Papillon dog. It was the best decision we could possibly have made. We were long time La Jollans so it is in the town we have loved for 50 years but life now has extra richness with over 300+ wonderful, accomplished fellow residents and every support and comfort the cheerful staff can provide. It is a whole new life with meals feet from the ocean waves, the most beautiful dog park on the coast, limos taking us anywhere within 5 miles, buses going to symphony, theater, museums as far as LA. We chose to live on the eastern edge 15 steps from being right in the bustle of the village rather than along the beach. We love the urban townhouse vibe but it is a pleasure to be on the beach all day as well. I give clay classes in the art studio and Folly has a new vocation doing pet therapy visits every week in the Memory Care and Assisted Living wings. Our kids from out of town enjoy staying in the the guest suites, entertaining friends is so easy in the dining room or Bistro or at the ocean view bar.
We pinch ourselves every morning with delight that we are here where there is nursing help 24/7 in case of need and our children are reassured that we are safe and having a great octogenarian life.

Before you read further, be aware that this review applies ONLY to the Atrium Memory Care unit at White Sands La Jolla and NOT for the Independent or Assisted Living facility.

Overall, this is a decent choice if the personality and circumstances coalesce. The Atrium staff is great, working under circumstances that I believe are harder than anywhere else in the facility (except maybe skilled nursing). The Atrium handles only Alzheimers and memory-impaired patients. It is a locked-down area but the residents are free to wander the area. The typical ratio is two staff persons per ten residents. The staff is friendly and efficient...and overworked. These are patients whose needs range from minimal to frequent checks and assistance. The staff do an excellent job for the time they have.

The one real drawback is that there are only 10 resident rooms and the area is relatively small. This throws the residents together. The idea is that by having them together will promote interactions and social engagement. The problem is when one or more of the residents take an active dislike to each other. The area is too small to allow then to go their separate ways.

If a small, close facility is what you are looking for, this place isn't too bad. Otherwise, keep looking.

Be careful what you wish for. This retirement home is situated on the water and has lovely ocean views from some of the units. I rented my unit for a year to decide if I wanted to live here permanently. The answer was clear: Hell No!
The staff is disinterested in the residents well being, but claim they care. Worse, the administrative staff is dishonest, constantly looking for ways to add bogus surcharges on monthly statements. Steer clear.