The Pines, A Merrill Gardens Community

This place is new and very pretty when you first enter the door. But go on back to The Garden Room and you will find a disturbing number of caretakers to resident ratio. The residents are afflicted with dementia of one kind or another. Many are not able to care for themselves and many need help with meds etc.. But often they are not able to get that help because there is not enough staff to take care of all of the people. They have a 60 person unit that has 4 to 5 employees on duty during the day, The caretakers are also required to serve meals and distribute meds. There are no laws that require a specific ratio of caretaker to resident. They only have to be staffed "in sufficient numbers". It is left up to each facility. The Alzheimer's Association recommends 1 staff to 5 residents for most effective care and 1 staff to 7 residents as a minimum. This facility has 1 staff to 12 residents. They can not give proper care to the people that are the most helpless.