Avera Prince of Peace Retirement Community

My mother was a resident of long term care for over 3 years. As she aged and her health became worsemember , along with going blind, she was ignored by the staff quite often. Items of clothing, special candy, jewelry, knick knacks were removed from her room. When my sister found the nurse in the hallway, she asked if she could visit about mom. The nurse said she was busy with another patient and would come later. After waiting 2.5 HOURS, the nurse never came to my mother's room. I was told by a staff at POP that a new regulation was to not answer mom's light or go in her from from 6-7 p.m. because they were "understaffed" and it took two staff members to use the mechanical life to put mom in bed. This was filed as a complaint with the State of South Dakota. As mom was moving very close to death, we removed her from the nursing home because she was crying from pain. Although my mom contributed a significant amount when the POP hospice opened, she never got to use the facility. We moved her out to a Sanford hospice houses, where she was given immediate pain relief and loving care and she died peacefully in her sleep. The staff at POP only said they did not realize how close mom was to death. That alone is scary. If you love a friend or family member, do NOT leave them here. Everyday for 2 weeks when I was there in June, I heard "short staffed" every time I had a request. One of the nurses helping mom did not even realize she was blind and just placed her pills at the dinner table and told her to take them. I explained she was blind and the nurse in charged was very surprised! How can that occur that the nurse in charge of my mom didn't even know she was blind. I could give you many more horror stories, but will run out of space.

This is for the Rehab facility. I found Avera POP to truly be the best caregiver in the area. As with all centers, there will be an occasional employee who cares little for their job, but it was very minimal here. Moreover, the PT staff was quite engaged in seeking recovery and there are attempts made to give people interaction. The social worker was significantly below expectation in setting up a forward plan, using facilities and bringing forth options and thus I'm taking away one star, but the overall facility is quality.

If I could rate below a one, I would. My mother was staying in POP ,4/27 to 5/27. My mother had suffered a fall,as a result of a stroke. During her stay, she had fell...in the bathroom. NO ONE responded to her alert. She was discovered by my Father, who had come to visit. She had been laying in the bathroom for 30 +minutes or more. AFTER my Father discovered her per his morning visit. Returned her to her bed, showered himself, still had to look for a nurse. The nurse came into the room, after pulling herself off of her phone, to berate my Mother in front of my Father. After discussing with the Administrator Justin, she was eventually turned down for continues care. "Too much of a risk". This women was sent home, and fell a few weeks later.. and was again denied treatment. Rest assured we are taking this to a State level. Beware, of your loved ones in this facility.