Response: Your situation sounds very concerning; however, as a rather recently former patient of this facility, I found the staff to be highly professional and caring. As a patient, I observed a couple of my family members who were overbearing and wanted things to operate on the unit the way THEY wanted to see, not what I wanted. This was a challenge for me. The staff was very cooperative with me; however, a couple of my family members became very annoyed with the staff because they (the staff) focused on me, the patient, and what I wanted and needed. That's the way it should always be in a place like this. What I found was that my family wanted my stay at Budd Terrace to be about them, not so much about me, and I was the patient. I also found the physicians there to be terrific; I was there for almost 90 days, so I think I talked with both of them and their extenders. My experience was this: if they recommended something for you, know that they had your best interest at heart. At the moment, maybe hospice was the most appropriate service for your mother-in-law, but you know, people do improve - don't blame your mother-in-law's physician or the facility staff for making a decision that you obviously agreed to follow. I highly disagree with your apprehension to recommend this facility. I did my research on Budd Terrace before becoming a patient there, and I found the staff and facility to be highly trained, professional, and cooperative. I'm a physician myself, practiced medicine for over 42 years in North Georgia. I can only applaud this facility and staff, all the way from Administration to the front-line staff. If I were still practicing medicine, I would have no hesitation referring my patients to Budd Terrace.

Response: You should move your mom. All places are not like this.

Response: As the Administrator of Budd Terrace at Wesley Woods, your review is quit untrue and consists of significant false allegations, just as your list of complaints to the Georgia State Surveyor when you submitted your complaint to the State. When the surveyor met with me, I explained the facts of your mother's care. After the Surveyor completed her investigation, she became angry at you for voicing such inacurracies and false information, none of which she substantiated or validated. Please find below information from my investigation, which I mailed to your home address:
You claimed to have waited 22 minutes for a response to a call light last night. Budd Terrace at Wesley Woods has quite a sophisticated nurse call system that is computer operated and records the exact number of minutes and seconds (min/sec) that it takes for our staff to respond by voice and by an in-person visit to the patient’s room. The call light cannot be deactivated without deactivating from the wall-mounted switch in the patient’s room. I ran a call light report on your mother’s room this morning from the time she arrived on October 19, 2012, until this morning at 8:00 AM (Friday, December 14, 2012). From your mother’s admission to 8:00 AM today, she had a total of 245 call light activations with an average staff response time (in-person response) of 1:09 (min/sec). Yesterday (December 13, 2012), your mother activated her call light only once which was at 5:19 AM, which had a staff response time of 34 seconds. There was no call light activated last night in your mother’s room; therefore, your allegation of delayed responses to call lights cannot be substantiated, thus found to be invalid.
You stated that your mother told you she was not getting her medications, nor her breathing treatments. According to your mother’s Medication Administration Record, she received all medications. Your mother was very compliant in taking her medications in the presence of the nurses. Your mother was interviewed by her RN Unit Manager and the Assistant Director of Nursing, and both (from their separate interviews) reported your mother stating that she always had her medications and had them timely. She was very much aware of her medications and knew the frequencies of medication administration. Breathing treatments were ordered for your mother 7 days (which began 12/11/2012 and scheduled to go through 12/18/2012) and ordered 4 times daily (9am – 1pm – 5pm – 9pm) by the physician. All breathing treatments were administered as ordered. Again, when your mother was interviewed by her RN Unit Manager and the Assistant Director of Nursing, both (from their separate interviews) reported your mother stating that she always had her 4 breathing treatments daily since they started on Tuesday of this week.
You stated that your mother’s “chemo pills” were missing for a couple of days (you seemed to think they were stolen since they cost $1,000 each), but they showed back up. You also indicated that her “chemo pill” was supposed to be taken with an aspirin. Your mother’s “chemo pills” (Revlimid 25mg) were given only once daily at 9:00 PM as physician ordered; whereas, her 81mg aspirin was given only once daily at 9:00 AM as physician ordered. The two (2) medications have never been given at the same time. Their administration times were twelve (12) hours apart. Your mother’s “chemo pills” (Revlimid 25mg) are administered four (4) days per week according to the physician’s order; possibly you had a misunderstanding about the remaining three (3) days when the medication was not to be given; however, staff never indicated to you or your mother that anything was wrong about the amount or availability of her “chemo pills” (Revlimid). When I attempted to discuss with the nursing staff on 6th floor about the possibility of this medication missing for a couple of days, they had no clue as to what I was attempting to discuss. Your concern could only be a misunderstanding of the three (3) days per week that the Revlimid was not to be administered.
You claimed that you found one of your mother’s thyroid pills on her bedside table (assuming to be yesterday or last night) and took a picture of it. Again, when your mother was interviewed by her RN Unit Manager and the Assistant Director of Nursing, and both (from their separate interviews) reported your mother stating that she distinctly remembered taking her thyroid medication yesterday morning at about 6:30 AM. Her thyroid medication (Synthroid 100mg) was given once daily at 6:30 AM. If you discovered the pill on your mother’s bedside table last night or late evening, that would mean it would have been left there since 6:30 AM yesterday morning, and would have been there when numerous visits were made throughout the day and evening by licensed nurses, certified nursing assistants, therapy staff, housekeeping staff, and activity staff. With that volume of staff entering and leaving your mother’s room, there is no possible way a pill could have been left on her bedside table and not be discovered by at least one (1) of those staff members. Had staff seen a pill on the bedside table, they would have immediately followed facility protocol and removed it from the room. Your mother stated that she never saw any pills / medication on her bedside table during her interviews. At this point, we know that the pill could not have been on the bedside table because your mother admitted to taking her thyroid medication to two (2) Registered Nurses in two (2) separate interviews. Your mother is very much aware of her surroundings and is very much aware of the medications she took and when she was to take them. You discarded the pill in the trash can in your mother’s room, which certainly creates a dangerous safety hazard. I have the pill in question in a plastic bag in my office. There seems to be only one (1) possibility regarding how that pill made its way to your mother’s bedside table; frankly, the pill did not come from Budd Terrace; I’m quite certain you know where the pill came from, and it was not a very clever strategy on your part.
I need to address other concerns that our staff had. According to the staff, you were quite loud in the hallways, openly making derogatory comments concerning Budd Terrace. Creating such a disturbance on the unit led to the Administrative Nursing Supervisor contacting Hospital Security. .
You also made multiple pictures of doors leading into patients’ rooms. These pictures also included the room numbers and names of patients located in the rooms. Not only is that behavior and practice against Emory Healthcare Policy, but it violates Federal Law. You seriously violated HIPAA Regulations; thus, violating those patients’ privacy. You also took unauthorized pictures of employees who were on their designated break times and twisting the visual into an appearance of “staff not doing their jobs”, which was simply not the truth. You also took at least one picture of a nurse working at a computer station behind the nurses station, and again, twisted the visual into an appearance that the nurse was “hiding”, which again, was absolutely not the truth. All of Emory Healthcare has an electronic medical record system, which means that all patients’ clinical documentation is entered into the electronic medical record system on many of our computers. Some of our computers are on rolling carts and can be rolled up and down the halls. Most nursing staff document either on their medication carts or on the computers located to the side and the back of the nurses station. Where could you possibly get the idea that a nurse was “hiding”? I supposed you never considered that these licensed professionals were actually doing their jobs?
Your mother is a very kind lady and was truly a pleasure for our staff. If you truly had the negative experience you have indicated, the first question so many people will ask you is, “Well, why did you leave your mother there if it was that bad?” Be ready to answer that one with some intelligence. I’m actually curious myself, why did you continue to leave her here for almost two (2) months if you love your mother and truly had these serious concerns?

Response: As the Administrator of Budd Terrace at Wesley Woods, I can provide additional information to support the facility's bed licensure and its STAR Rating with CMS. Budd Terrace at Wesley Woods is licensed for 250 beds as you indicated; however, we can only house 180 patients because the majority of our patient rooms are private rooms. As the Baby Boomer population ages, the demands for a private room increase, to which we have positioned ourselves. As of January 2013, Budd Terrace at Wesley Woods achieved the
5-STAR rating, the highest rating by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for skilled nursing facilities in the United States. This rating places Budd Terrace at Wesley Woods in the top 20% of all skilled nursing facilites in the U.S.

Response: Budd Terrace at Wesley Woods represents the skilled nursing profession on behalf of Emory Healthcare by being represented in the top 20% of all skilled nursing facilities in the United States by achieving the 5-STAR rating, which is the highest rating by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Budd Terrace at Wesley Woods was also a recipient of the 2012 National Bronze Quality Award by the American Health Care Association. Budd Terrace at Wesley was selected as one (1) of only five (5) skilled nursing facilities in the U.S. to participate in the Seniors Quality Leap Initiative (SQLI), which is a North American quality initiative to define a set of quality benchmarks for the long-term care industry. Each collaborative must be affiliated with an academic healthcare system. Our U.S. co-collaboratives consist of the skilled nursing facilities represented by Harvard University Medical School, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and Mount Sinai University School of Medicine. With these prestigious appointments, Budd Terrace at Wesley Woods is far from being an embarrassment to Emory Healthcare. If our facility did not provide the quality care to meet the criteria for such appointments, we would not have achieved them.

Response: Budd Terrace at Wesley Woods represents the skilled nursing profession on behalf of Emory Healthcare by being represented in the top 20% of all skilled nursing facilities in the United States by achieving the 5-STAR rating, which is the highest rating by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Budd Terrace at Wesley Woods was also a recipient of the 2012 National Bronze Quality Award by the American Health Care Association. Budd Terrace at Wesley was selected as one (1) of only five (5) skilled nursing facilities in the U.S. to participate in the Seniors Quality Leap Initiative (SQLI), which is a North American quality initiative to define a set of quality benchmarks for the long-term care industry. Each collaborative must be affiliated with an academic healthcare system. Our U.S. co-collaboratives consist of the skilled nursing facilities represented by Harvard University Medical School, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and Mount Sinai University School of Medicine. With these prestigious appointments, Budd Terrace at Wesley Woods is far from being an embarrassment to Emory Healthcare. If our facility did not provide the quality care to meet the criteria for such appointments, we would not have achieved them.