BestCare Assisted Living - Reisterstown North

Lori Kaplan

If you care about your loved one, DON'T go here. This place should be called WorstCare. My mom was placed here by the court and I, unfortunately, was unable to get her out. The abuse and neglect that occurred here was unfathomable. Medication errors, at least 15 infections which were usually ignored until she became very ill, constantly losing her belongings including eyeglasses which I replaced at least 5 times, lost clothing and she was often found wearing other people's clothing, multiple abrasions and bruises, falls, HIPAA violations, and poor nutrition. Her legs became extremely swollen shortly after her arrival and continued because they were giving her a medication that she was allergic to. They gave her the medication even though her PCP told them to discontinue it. Her “heart healthy” diet consisted of ham and cheese sandwiches with potato chips for dinner several times a week. I often brought in some of her favorite foods but they never served it to her because it was still there untouched on subsequent visits. I never observed any residents with a beverage to drink other than with meals. There are NO outings, so forget trips to Walmart. She was there 24x7. They use psychotropic medications to keep the residents “calm." They were not pleased when I refused to allow the use of these medications for my mother, so they used “alternative medications" to achieve their desired results. I personally observed at least 3 patients overmedicated to the point where they became catatonic. At that point, they “disappeared” and were not seen again. One gentleman, Richard, they used to leave on the floor most of the time. I had to walk around him. Another lady had a black eye one day, but they hid her in the back room. Another gentleman was on the front porch unattended and when his son came to visit him, he found him unresponsive with his face covered in blood. My mother's hair was usually dirty as well as her fingernails which were jagged and filthy until I was able to care for them. I never observed handwashing with any residents prior to eating. Debra, one of the managers, is very nasty and not helpful. Anything you ask her for is an effort and she is constantly on her cell phone. Catherine, the owner, constantly lied and provided me with inaccurate information regarding my mother's care. She also videotaped me and another visitor along with my mother on her cell phone. So, visits with your loved ones are not private. Two of the 5 star reviews listed, Mildred and Abby, are family members.

Tammy Quintrell

My father lived out the last year of his life at the South Reisterstown Best Care location. Overall, a nice place. It is an older building, so seems a bit dark inside. Residents are kept clean, given three meals a day plus snack times, and they have regular activities scheduled during the week (games, music, crafts, etc....). They do occasional outings, like scenic drives or trips to Walmart. Family and friends can come to visit any time of the day or night. A special shout out to Catherine, Debbie, Ebony and Mary for their hard work and care of my father, and all the residents. I have only one word of caution: If your loved one has to go into hospice care, it’s best to have them in a facility like Dove House or Gilcrest. Residents can live out their final days under hospice while at Best Care (hospice nurses came in periodically to check on my father), but in hindsight I wish he had been in an official hospice care center instead. My father ended up passing away at 1:30 am at Best Care, and while he was oblivious to what was going on around him and ended up passing away peacefully, the experience was stressful for me. I had planned to stay by his bedside throughout the night because I could tell his time was getting close. I was told that a recliner would be brought into his room for me to sleep on and that dad’s roommate, who slept on the other side of the room and was only separated by half a partition, would be put in another area of the building to sleep so I could have privacy with my father. Neither of these things happened. I waited for a recliner, but it never came and the roommate was never put in another room. I tried explaining to the girl working the night shift that the roommate was supposed to sleep somewhere else but she didn’t seem to understand and she was the only person on duty. I gave up trying to communicate with her and just sat in a metal folding chair by my dad’s bedside all night. During the day there always seemed to be 2 or 3 staff members on hand, but at night, at least on this particular night, there was only one person on duty. My dad’s room was on the 2nd floor, and there was an empty room on the 3rd floor that had a bed I could have slept on, but I knew dad would pass away soon and I wanted to be with him when that time came. The roommate had problems with confusion and forgetfulness, and every hour or so he would walk into my dad’s side of the room with nothing but his adult diaper on. I’m sitting by my dying father’s bedside with a mostly naked man standing behind me asking if I had a boyfriend or if my father would beat him up for talking to me. From what I could tell, all the residents were in their rooms with lights out by about 9pm. From 9pm until 1:30am when my father finally passed away, no one ever came in to see how he was doing. That’s 4 and a half hours where no one knew, besides me, if he was dead or alive. I understand that they were short-staffed and this young lady was the only one working that night, but if I had not been there, who knows how long he would have laid there until someone finally discovered that he was dead? I’m so thankful I was with him. I am not angry with anyone at Best Care over this because I understand that they were short staffed that night and my father did pass away clean, comfortable and peacefully (he was unresponsive and not aware of what was going on around him). I’m just saying that as far as assisted living goes, this place is nice, but if your loved one needs to go into hospice care, have them admitted to a hospice facility like Dove House or someplace similar, where there is plenty of night staff and the situation is comfortable not only for the patient, but for family as well.

Darlene Tracy

To bad I had to do a one star because I would not even give that place ANY! It was needed in order to make a comment about this place and believe me DO NOT put your loves in that facility! The owner is very NASTY. The patients are not well kept. The place is dark, dirty and smelly. Plus numerous health code violations! BEWARE!

Mildred Mccabe

It's a beautiful place well kept with friendly staff ...

Abby Best