Château Symmes

We are very pleased with the services and care. Management take pride of their home and residents. Their door is always open when you have a concern and they are quick to resolved and find solutions for all. Amazing food and great activities. Taking care of elders is a great responsibility and they are good and very caring. Elders with degenerative cognitive impairment can experience incidents just like it can happen at home and the staff do what need to be done to ensure the security of the resident. l do recommend Chateau Symmes

I wish I could give no stars. My grandfather was staying here for assisted living due to severe dementia. My grandfather was kind, caring and very sociable, everyone loved him there, spoke with him often and knew him by name… until he got too severe and could no longer walk easily. He had fallen 5 times in 1 week sustaining quite big injuries with large cuts and bruises. No one called my dad, who was his power of attorney, to let him know he had fallen with injury. He was sent to the hospital and left there alone, with no personnel waiting with him, until my dad could get there. He had dementia and could not speak well, didn’t know where he was and could not tell anyone what was wrong with him. He needed someone to assist him in eating and drinking and no one helped him. At the end, he hadn’t eaten for 3-4 days, hadn’t drank enough liquid because he couldn’t hold a cup and ended up being severely dehydrated and loosing so much weight that nothing fit him anymore. He was left in his room, alone, undressed, in soiled sheets and underwear because no one was checking on him. This is severe neglect that resulted in a very terrible and traumatizing death not just for him but for us as his family, seeing him like this and being unable to get the help he required both from the home and from the CLSC workers, in which we had to get due to the residence not being competent, who were supposed to be his 24h care. My grandfather and other peoples loved ones deserve a lot better care than this place can provide. Avoid at all costs.

My dad has been staying there for quite a while now. He has dementia and is very well taken care of. Staff on every level are just great, very responsive to my questions and my father's needs . I pop in for visits unannounced regularly and the food is always good and he has many staff members visiting his room to check on him or to remind him that it is time to go down to the dining room. Special thanks to Debbie Leduc who seems to always be keeping an eye out for him. :)

We chose Chateau Symmes for my aunt’s care after visiting a number of residences in Gatineau. We were very impressed with the facilities, food quality and the staff. In particular, the nursing staff and technicians were very kind and provided our aunt with excellent care. If you are looking for a residence for someone you care about in Western Quebec, you should have Chateau Symmes on your list.

I'm currently writing this review to raise awareness about the quality of life Chateau Symmes is offering its residents. My grandmother has been living there for 5+ years now. Here are my thoughts from her experience: STAFFING There seems to be a real shortage of English staff.. as in: They are non-existent at Chateau Symmes. The staff at the front desk may be bilingual but the staff actually caring for the residents are only French. So hopefully your loved one won't have anything important to tell the staff caring for them, such as: allergies, health issues or how they're feeling. Things like that; it can't be all that important. Who needs communication, right? My family has gone in on numerous occasions requesting that my grandmother only have English staff attend to her needs but I guess that'll never happen.. PERSONAL CARE My grandmother is in a wheelchair and requires assistance to go to the dining area for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The staff are aware because she has always been scheduled to be picked up but I cannot tell you the amount of times they have forgotten to get her for her meals.. (P.S. having staff pick up your loved one for meals is an additional charge so even if you pay them for help, it may not even happen! You'll have to take a gamble and "TRUST" them to do their job) I have witnessed the staff who care for her and I am generally concerned for my grandmother and leaving her in such careless hands. The way they speak her is unprofessional and disrespectful, staff have stolen her jewelry (yes we have even filed a police report), and their general behaviour is atrocious. My grandma has told me numerous stories about things they have done and they are basically taking advantage of the elderly in this residence. Even if you file a complaint with the management; they don't care and the elderly do not have a voice at Chateau Symmes. SO if your loved one files a complaint; they have no credibility. You’ll have to go in yourself and express concern. Even then, management doesn’t seem to take any kind of action or express concern. I hope your family member is in great shape! Because their residential bath tubs are not accessible in any way. (shocking right?) Meaning, if you want your family member to have regular baths, they'll most likely need to hire an outside assistant because they only help their residents bathe once a week. (just an fyi) If you're family member goes to the hospital, don't expect them to keep track of whether they have come back or not. They will not "double check" to make sure they have come back safely and, once again, forget to bring them for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Yep, it looks like they can't even keep track of their own residents or don't care enough to think: "Hey, maybe he/she came back home in the middle of the night. I should see if he/she made it home." TRAINING There is a lack of professionalism at the front desk that also needs to be addressed. Almost every time I have walked in, I see the receptionists playing on their phones.. (HINT: Maybe that's why they can't keep track of where their residents are?) OVERALL COMMENTS Honestly, I was really surprised when I saw a five star rating for Chateau Symmes until I noticed the only review was from Chateau Symmes (ASC) (They had reviewed themselves..wow!!). Don't expect your family member to be treated with dignity at Chateau Symmes because they obviously care more about money than the residents living there. I wouldn't wish this quality of life upon anyone.