The Cove at La Jolla

It would get 5 stars as the staff is quite responsive, Kat the swallow therapy lady was great, The nurses by and large were right there when needed and the food although ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ on flavor and taste was tolerable and enough to help me gain a little weight. The 3 stars is due to the billing person sending us an initial bill for almost double what it should have been and when I called I was told to pay it and then at some point they would refund the difference! I was charged for 6 days after my release! This would be like going away for the weekend at a hotel for Friday and Sat, nights and getting a bill for a week. When I disputed it the lady was not happy with me at all. The carpets are a bit dingy but by and large a decent facility with people staffing who for the most part seem to really care about your well being and do a first rate job. Just watch out for the accounting dept. billing!!!

Let me begin by saying that I have read over a few of the older negative reviews, and apparently the new management of The Cove (formerly Cloisters of La Jolla) has made quite a difference. Our experience with The Cove couldn’t be further from the older posts.
My grandfather stayed at The Cove for several weeks, recovering from a serious brain surgery. I was worried sick when we were admitting him, because my mother (an Occupational Therapist) had given me some scary feedback about skilled nursing facilities as a whole. Gratefully, the care my grandpa received here was excellent, and even my mom was surprised at the skill level and compassion of the staff members, from the nurses to the therapists to the admin team.
Placing the well-​being of a family member in the hands of strangers is very difficult and emotionally overwhelming, and we (my grandmother, mother and I) are eternally thankful to the team at The Cove for making us feel as at ease as anyone possibly could in such a situation.
At the risk of getting too wordy in this review, I will end with a couple of thoughts. Unfortunately, since my grandpa’s surgery, I have have seen medical professionals in various positions prove themselves to be lacking in common sense. Others were smart, but disheartened, complacent and nonchalant. It was to our great surprise and fortune that the wonderful people we had the pleasure of interacting with at The Cove were not only skilled and reliable, but also truly seemed to care about my grandpa and about us. They didn’t treat my Gramps like a guy in a bed; they treated him the way I believe they would want their family members to be treated.
My Grandpa’s sudden sickness and all that followed has been extremely trying for us, and we are so grateful to our friends at The Cove. I won’t mention names for fear or missing someone, but you know who you are, and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
If you are looking for a skilled nursing facility, look no further than The Cove at La Jolla.

As others have mentioned the physical therapists at Shea are very good. Unfortunately the nursing staff and medical oversight is not simply lacking, it borders on negligent.
Unilocal doesn’t allow reviews with 0 stars, so 1 will have to suffice.
We transferred my father here following discharge from the hospital for acute congestive heart failure. Shortly after his admission his cardiologist provided explicit instructions for the nursing staff using a form provided by Shea. Those instructions included diuretics and daily monitoring of his weight and a request to notify the cardiologist if his weight went up by more than 3 pounds. Over the next 3 weeks Shea only recorded his weight 6 times and by then he had gained 18 pounds, all from fluid retention. During the last few days of that period the doctor who visits once a week had actually put him on IV fluids and administered 3 liters of saline. Following this incompetence he had to be re-​admitted to the hospital in acute heart failure. When asked about why these simple orders could not be followed the nursing staff found the orders in his chart but told me «No one ever signed off acknowledging them. See, someone should have signed here.», this while pointing to a blank area on their form filed in my father’s chart. Unbelievable ! They had the form in the chart, but never acted on the doctor’s orders.
If all you need is a bed and physical therapy and you are otherwise healthy, this is the place for you. If you or your relatives actually need nursing care or even someone who can follow simple instructions, like recording someone’s weight once a day, either engage a private nurse, do it yourself, or help your relative to your car and drive as fast as you can as far as you can from this place.
I consulted an attorney and was advised that while this was a relatively clear case of medical malpractice, the best way to handle it was by offering the director a choice, she could either write a letter to Medicare explaining why they should not be paid for services they failed to provide or I would write that letter to the secretary of Health and Human Services as well as file a formal complaint with Medicare. The director explained that she didn’t know how to file something like that, though she did feel the need to explain to me how complicated medicare billing is and how really the bulk of their billing is under the guise of physical therapy. That was all very interesting, but when I saw the charges processed through Medicare I did as my attorney suggested and have filed complaints with Medicare and directly to Secretary of Health and Human Services.

This place is fair compared to many other skilled nursing facilities. They seem to run for the convenience of the staff rather than for the best interest of the patient. Rating the «operational divisions» I would give the therapy department and staff four stars, the nursing staff two stars, and administration one and a half. Oh, the kitchen gets zip! The food is, at best, tolerable.
My mother-​in-​law was there for five weeks and had little good to say about it other than kudos for the therapy team.
Examples of problems:
The medical staff failed to follow on medicine changes ordered by her primary care physician.
The on-​site doctor ordered a round of therapy for her without seeing her for at least a week. The orders were faxed to an outside therapy company to come in to work with her. That would have been ok except that the order was given and faxed THE DAY AFTER SHE WAS RELEASED!

I did not like the Cloisters for my mother at all. Right now I am trying to reach the main phone number and there is no answer and I keep on trying. She was there for one month and they screwed up her dialysis schedule because they did not have transportation available as they said they would. As we speak I am trying to reach them because I continue to get ambulance bills sent to my mother which should never have been sent to her in the first place. One of the benefits of staying at Shea is that they do not charge for transportation to appointments, even if you have to go by ambulance. My mother has been out of the nursing home for 3 months now and they still have not paid her ambulance bills and I continue to call them, I just got hung up on without ever speaking to anyone.

I realized most skilled nursing facilities will not be perfect but I would have to say I have pretty mixed reviews of this place. Overall the facility and grounds are above average and nicer than many other places you will go to. It also in La Jolla and just blocks from the beach. I would give the facility itself pretty high marks.
However, the care that your parent or family member will receive may be good or bad depending on the day of the week, the time of day and who is on staff. The staff in many cases was generally slow to react and not overly helpful to the people staying there. I often saw elderly people crying for help (and had to help them myself at times) since no one was seemingly coming to their aid. I wouldn’t say the treatment was neglectful just lackadaisical and slow at times.
My recommendation to you (if you were going to have someone stay here) is to visit often and really watch over them. As I said the facility itself is nice, relatively clean, and if you have the right staff member helping it can actually be quite pleasant.

Posted with permission:
My mother, Ferne J., was first at Cloisters (Shea Family La Jolla) and was treated very well.
When she left there we had Age Advantage (now part of Shea Family At Home) assist us. We have had care for her ²⁴⁄₇ since then. Melony, has been the primary caregiver the entire time. Melony made the last (almost 2 years) of my mother’s life a blessing. She fixed her hair, did her nails, made sure she was always «dressed for company» — including jewelry, every day. When my mother was able to travel in the car, Melony took her to church, and stayed with her during the service. They went to the library, went out to eat — in other words they had fun! When we had out of town company, Melony made it fun for them as well. When Mom was no longer able to do those things, Melony still made sure my mother was having a good time. She had my mother pick out some of her favorite recipes and then cooked them for her.
I appreciate all that Shea has done for us. I feel fortunate to have such caring people around us. It is an extremely difficult job — one that I would not be able to do. The continuing training you do, and the benefits you provide demonstrate what a great company Shea is. Thank you.
Marge B.
11/​06/​2013

Spouse stayed here for a month, its the closest place to a «4 star» hotel you will find in a rehab-​type center!
Wonderful staff ALL knew spouse by first name, consistently respectful, professional, caring and competent. Bill, the head of therapy is a champ, getting spouse to do work that no one else could get spouse to do. One of the therapists actually identified a very low blood pressure issue on a day which was the cause of several issues that day.
Front desk lady, Robin, is a «Can-​Do!» type lady, cloaked in a giant charming smile!
RN’s were right on top of every little medical thing, and I never needed to give any one information more than once.
The Chef and food staff provided some great meals and always encouraged the family to join in for a small $ 5 fee, a heck of a deal~! Between meal snacks were available, depending upon dietary schedule.
Spouse loves the dog, and Cloisters allowed pet to visit (on leash and with proof of up to date vaccinations, of course) This was a great comfort ! And the family dog just LOVED the two patios, replate with flowers, fountains, sea breezes, ocean view, etc.
CNA’s, such as Bardo, can make or break a place! Tthey are responsible for so many unpleasant tasks, yet were uniformly cheerful to patients and families. Bardo was especially kind, listening and gently helping in so very many ways.
The front office staff were so supportive, from intake to explaining insurance benefits to daily «hello’s» when we visited. Arelene is an RN and is also in charge of discharge. She made sure we knew what to expect, and could order several things to make our days at home easier.
As in many rehabilitation centers, there are daily activities, from bingo to current events to games and crafts to movies on the giant screen tv to weekly visits from Teddy the therapy dog. Once a week, representatives from the local churches give communion (from our local Catholic church!) and services where all are welcome.
Daily, coffee and tea are available in two locations around the clock. Weekly, freshly baked cookies are available in the front lounge!
FInally, and I can’t believe this, every Friday afternoon is Happy Hour where all are provided with «Mock-​tails» from the bar-​cart!!! We’re going back to visit on Friday!

My mother stayed at Cloisters of La Jolla for almost three weeks after surgery. We were very impressed with the facility and the staff. The nurses and assistants were all helpful and responsive and the atmosphere feels more like a hotel than a hospital, compared to other skilled nursing facilities. My father was in the old Continental nursing facility (not sure what their new name is) for a month about three years ago and it was a total dump, he was miserable. I only wish we had known about Cloisters LJ for him.
I recommend Cloisters if you need a skilled nursing facility. I only gave it four stars because it’s hard to really enjoy any nursing facility, but they made the experience about as good as it could be.

My mother had excellent care at Cloisters of La Jolla and the staff was kind and responsible. It is a busy place with only 10 permanent residents and the other 40 or 50 patrons are there for short term rehab. The Physical Therapy Dept. is impressive. It is a very clean facility..

We believe my mother contracted c-​diff, a deadly antibiotic-​resistant illness. She also got terrible fungal-​infected diaper rash/​bedsores due to the staff’s negligence. These bedsores were actually bleeding.
She also had the highest blood sugar level she ever had (she’s diabetic) — over 700. They neglected to call us about it. This nearly killed her. Then they tried to discharge her before she was stable. We disputed this and won.
These are just a few exampled. While Cloisters does have some caring nurses, the institution cuts corners and is poorly managed. We can only hope that no other family has to go through this.