Queens Avenue Retirement Residence

Overall the community has great value. The staff that run the community are competent, and attentive towards the residents. I would recommend the community to others for their loved ones. There are three meals a day served if the resident chooses this option.

Everyone is super nice here. They will go above and beyond to make sure that the residents are happy. The staff are friendly and helpful and always looking out for you. They have excellent Covid procedures in place and have not had a flu outbreak in about 5 years.

This rating could have easily been a 5, so let me explain why it's so low. My rating system for 1-5 is: 1=Poor; 2=Fair; 3=Good; 4=Very Good; 5=Excellent. I moved my brother from BC to Oakville on [date removed], after selling his house. We knew there was something terribly wrong with him. Long story short, he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of ALS. COVID-19 was fairly new at this stage and we had to self-quarantine for 14 days which was completely understandable. My brother had already been with my husband and I for two weeks but the Head Nurse at Queens Avenue Retirement insisted he could not quarantine with us. We had to put him in a hotel alone. However, she allowed us to take him out for drives every day and deliver his food. So how does that make sense!? He would have been safer with us, as he almost choked on his food one night. They actually accepted my brother on [date removed] before the quarantine period was over. We met the Head Nurse, [name removed] , in the garage. She had made the decision...and we were grateful. Quickly, we signed some forms and then she took my brother inside with his suitcases. Due to COVID, we could not enter, which we understood. Let me start with the PROs of why we chose Queens Avenue Retirement for my brother: 1. The Head Nurse, [name removed], was familiar with ALS, as she had a family member who had it. We figured that was fabulous news for my brother, as we weren't too familiar with the disease. 2. Staff turnover is very low which is a good sign. Staff are happy there. My brother liked the women who took care of him. The ones I spoke to on the phone or met at the front door were very nice. 3. It's an older building but it's well kept. Feels warm and friendly. They haven't had any outbreak in 6+ years. They keep windows open to circulate air in the main areas, which is perfect. 4. The individual units are a nice size, with lots of closets for storage. The kitchens are fully equipped but compact. Perfect for a wheelchair. Large windows with fabulous blinds. The livingroom, bedroom and bathroom are larger than all of the new units we visited. We would have been happy living there ourselves. 5. The cost, believe it or not, was better than most assisted-living facilities. For a 1-bedroom, it was just under $4100/month and that included all meals and laundry once a week. 6. It took less than 15 minutes to drive there from our house. Now for the CONs: First, through no fault of Queens Avenue, COVID hit Canada when we were moving my brother. Bad timing. We uprooted my brother and then felt like we abandoned him. He didn't have a good understanding of what was happening around the world with this virus. 1. The Head Nurse, [name removed], was our main issue. At first, I thought...give her a break because this pandemic must be a huge stress on her. However, with time, I stopped thinking like that. In that role, you should have some empathy. She didn't appear to have any!! It felt personal. When I'd call her for an update...and it wasn't often...she made it clear she was busy with other families. Always rushed the call saying my brother was fine...no change, meaning he wasn't in any worse shape than when I dropped him off. I'm thinking she was blind, as we noticed many changes just speaking to him by phone.  On [date removed], I was allowed to take him to his ALS appointment in Hamilton. This was our 1st time together since I dropped him off in April. I couldn't believe how much he deteriorated. That appointment lasted over 2 hours. They did a bunch of tests on him and that's when we found out his ALS was very aggressive. It was a difficult and emotional appointment. Afterwards, my brother just wanted a haircut...it had been 4 months since his last one. My hairdresser was alone in her shop and disinfects everything before and after appointments. She was able to take him in so I brought him. The ongoing verbal abuse I got from [name removed] for doing that was unnecessary. She said I was irresponsible and even went as far as saying my brother could very well die alone. Four days later, residents were allowed out of the building. One day she marched out of the building, took off her mask and started shouting at me that my brother wouldn't talk to her. Three times during that conversation I asked her to keep her voice down. Residents were staring at us. I couldn't believe her unprofessionalism! I did complain to the General Manager.  There were more issues with this Head Nurse. If it wasn't for her, the rating would be much higher. She could have given Nurse [name removed] a run for her money. Lastly, the food wasn't all that great. I learned other residents also felt the same way. Some meals were great...others, not so much. However, this was minor compared to [name removed]. My brother was at Queens for only 6 months. First in the Respite suite, followed by his own suite in August. He passed away in September.

[name removed] provided a great tour of the facility. Recently renovated, clean with plenty of patio, balcony areas, lots of green and sunlight. At this time, there was no availability of a studio which started at around $2750. Open house scheduled later in Sept.

[Name removed] and [name removed] have been excellent in understanding our family's needs and in explaining the services and facilities of their residence.

Very nice, up to date pleasing modern decor, looks to be in great condition. Nice open spaces. It seemed very quiet, but I was there at 9:00 a.m. as opposed to dinner time or Saturday when I visited other residences. The apartments are very nice, studio seemed maybe a bit small but the one bedroom was great. The pricing seems quite reasonable, though it is based on two meals instead of three per day which may be fine. All of the continuum of services are available as needed which is nice to know. They sound very organized in terms of their dealings with the LIHN and coordinating paid and provided services.