Altenheim Senior Living

Make sure staff is knowledgeable of stroke signs and symptoms and know their policy. My mother suffered a stroke while living at Shurmer Place at Altenheim in March 2017. I was called five hours after she had blatant signs of mental status change, noted in progress notes, only to find her in the dining room when I arrived. She was responding appropriately but could not speak in full sentences and had visual disturbance. These are signs of stroke. Taking her to dinner was a huge mistake as she could have choked. The director tried to convince me that because my mom was responding appropriately, they felt she was in no immediate danger. This is very bad practice and very poor nursing judgement. I cannot find any evidence that they did anything for my mom after the initial finding. This is heartbreaking and disturbing as my mother lived there for two years and they knew her well. Staff at Shurmer Place should have notified me at the first sign of altered mental status. One prompt phone call could have changed the outcome for my mom.