Atherton Healthcare

Highly recommend! They have cared for my elderly relatives (3) for the last few years.
First class operation with top tier care and staff

The FIVES STARS are purely based on the wonderful staff that works at this facility. The people that take care of the place and the people that take care of the patients. The Nurses, CNA’s, Clerical Staff, Kitchen Staff, Janitorial Staff, Maintenance Staff and specially those that are in charge of the daily Activities. Most of the people working here, truly care about the patients and take pride in the job that they do. They interact with their patients and they do the best that they can to give the patients the care that they each deserve. Everyday at every hour of the day there is staff doing activities with the folks that can move around and go down to the first level. They do Karaōke, they bring in performers, they dance, play cards, do memory games and they even do manicures each Sunday. However, this facility is really Under-​Staffed, Outdated and Poorly Funded.
You will find that the place needs a really long over do face lift. You will see that when you go into floors 2 and 3, the floors that used to be white are now a waxy brown. You will also notice that the furniture inside the rooms are old Ikea furniture that it falling apart. You will also notice that some beds are old and they sound like squealing cats when they are put up or down. The curtains are so stiff that they would practically stand by themselves if put on the floor. When it’s 85 degrees outside, the temperature on the 3^rd. floor is 90 degrees even with the window A/C’s blowing FULL BLAST. The facility gives out a distinct odor that penetrates your clothing and stays in your nostrils for hours after walking out. When visiting, since it seems rare that many patients do receive visits, you will find yourself asking the staff to let you borrow a chair to sit in. The halls are filled with dings of the patient’s call bell, since there usually is one (1) nurse to about 15 patients per hallway. Those call bells ding and ding for what seems to be hours on end.
This facility charges an average of $ 245 per patient per day. At a low end of 60 patients, that is about $ 14,700 per day. $ 5,365,500 per year! If this facility makes this amount of money and the staff is short handed, can we really blame the staff?
This is why I give the Staff 5 Stars. The staff has been great with my Father and with my Family. They have made accommodations to fit our large parties of 10+ visitors. They have allowed us to stay past closing and even before opening. They understand how important it is to have Family around for the patient’s recovery. So if you find yourself or your loved one coming into Atherton Healthcare, remember to smile and make friends with the people that work inside day to day. They will remember that and help you and your loved ones feel at home and safe.
Also, if you have an issue with this facility or any other in San Mateo County. Call the OMBUDSMAN Program of S.M. County in Redwood City. At (650)780−5707. They are the advocates for our seniors inside of skilled nursing facilities. Give them a call and voice your concern. They will give you advise and will visit the location within 24 hours to address your concern and fix the issue.

IF I COULD GIVE THIS PLACE A ZERO, I WOULD.
The nurses are slow and do no respond to any of their patients in time. They let the nurse light beep and beep forever. They yell in and across the hallways & are rude. Even a CNA told me herself that she is new & most do not stay for long because it is that bad.
My grandmother was in this healthcare (or should I say, HELL HOLE) and would cry about hating it. My grandmother has very bad breast cancer & they overdosed her with morphine until she was like a drowsy, shriveled vegetable. My family agreed not to tell my grandmother she did not have too long. We politely asked the nurse if they would do the same. BUT the nurses were saying HOSPICE to and in front of my grandmother.
It took them 30 minutes to come in and change her diaper & I had to stand outside the door as a reminder until someone noticed me AND the nurse bell light on.
The garbage in my grandmother’s room was over flowing for 2 days until it was changed.
Dirty and horrible! This place is an insult and they mistreat their patients. If you have a family member here, save them from this terrible place.

My friend’s father was a resident at this place for three years. I visited him with my friend on a few occasions. Staff was very nice and helpful. I observed them interacting with residents and residents looked happy. If one ever ends up in a situation where they would need to use a facility like that, I would definitely recommend Atherton Healthcare.

My mom stayed at Atherton Health Care for just over two months after she fell and fractured her hip. I was happy with her here as the staff was always friendly and helpful. The day she left the therapists, care givers and others warmly said good bye, gave her a little hug and said she will be missed. I highly recommend Atherton Health Care Clinic as a good care and safe place for the elderly to stay during recovery.

Mom was discharged today from Stanford Hospital. Beware ! She called me crying to come get her. She mentioned the staff was rude. I get there and oh my gosh !

You wouldn’t know it by looking at this place because it is a bit out dated, but that will teach you to judge a book by it’s cover. My grandma stayed here for a several weeks after her hip replacement for rehab. Going from the hospital (after she fell and broke her hip) to here seemed so fast and we didn’t know what to expect, we were a bit hesitant. We are so glad she ended up here. The staff, from admission to discharge, were great. The nursing staff were always considerate and helpful with answering all our questions. It’s nice to go to a place where the staff are smiling and are laughing with each other as well as so compassionate for the patients around them. A lot of the patients seem to have memory problems because I must have heard the same conversation over and over again, yet the nurses were always polite and acted like that was the first time they had the conversation. I would want to pull my hair out or scream if I had to have the same conversation over and over again, like groundhog day. Needless to say, we were pleasantly surprised at how great this place was. Hopefully this doesn’t happen again, but if something like this did we would def. go back to Atherton Healthcare and would recommend it to others.

I called this facility to ask a few questions in regards to care, language barriers and cultures at the facility to see if it was a good fit. Once I mentioned that I had a few questions the lady said out loud «ugh questions I already punched out. Who wants to take this call?» a man in the background said «No its to early hang up.» the woman came back on the line and said «to early call back latter» and hung up on me. that was very rude I wouldn’t want them caring for my family with attitudes like that.

Great place, wonderful staff. Thank goodness this place is here for our loved ones. Sonia in Housekeeping and Chris at the front desk are really great.

Atherton Healthcare is truly an exceptional facility. The administration and nursing staff were able to provide my family with the most caring, safe, and appropriate care. The physicians come in often and the nursing staff is able to contact them whenever necessary. My family member was also able to attend all necessary appointments and what blew my mind was that x-​rays and lab work could be done directly in the facility! The activities that they provide for their residents truly impact the socio-​psychological aspects of the care that they provide. This is not simply a medical facility, because they go above and beyond to show their residents how much they truly care. I love Atherton Healthcare because it allowed my family to have peace of mind knowing that my family was receiving safe and effective care. Highest Recommendations!

Facility is very clean and patients look very happy. Owners care about their residents and employees.

My grandfather stays at this facility and has been receiving great care for the past year now. The nurses are very helpful and the receptionists are quick to direct you where you need to go. Some refer to this place as smelly or run by people who don’t care about actual health care but that is because they must have done something very wrong in order to make the very kind administrators and staff turn the other cheek. I’ll bet that no other healthcare facility in the area is as «good smelling» or passionate about health care as this one.

My 97 year old grandmother spent the last 5 weeks of her life at Atherton Healthcare, from Dec 2012 to Jan 2013. Bottom line… she was safe and WELL cared for. This might not be the fanciest facility in the area, but EVERY member of the staff I interacted with was professional and compassionate. I was there a minimum of once a day over the course of those five weeks so I got to know a lot of the staff.
Marina (the Director of Marketing) was the ONLY person to return my call from any of the nursing homes I tried to contact, and she called me back within one hour! I had a about a 5 hour window at the Monterey Hospital (after grandma broke her leg and we decided against surgery) to find a place for her, and AH was close to my home. Marina was very helpful in explaining to me about Medicare’s requirements in our very first phone call, but we went on private pay.
The social worker, Chris, was totally on top of things. He organized a caregiver conference for me with all the department heads within the first week to make sure everyone was on the same page and that my family was aware of all aspects of Grandma’s care.
One of the things I really appreciated about the staff was the time they took with me to answer my questions, and help me anticipate how things might unfold. When it became obvious that my grandmother was declining after a few weeks, they promptly referred in a hospice care team who seamlessly worked alongside the already great staff at the facility.
Now, advice to anyone who has to help a loved one navigate a life transition like this… be involved, and be patient. Get a notebook and take detailed notes. Learn names and get to know the caregivers. I’m thoroughly blown away by what the Charge Nurses and the CNA’s do on a daily basis. (I wouldn’t last 10 minutes doing the work they do!) Changing diapers on a 97 year old isn’t pretty work. These folks work hard, and care sincerely for their patients. Understand that if you visited the same facility 10 times in the same day that you could easily come away with 10 totally different impressions of the place. There are rhythms during the day… face it, things smell differently if you show up one hour after meal time. And some days and time of day feel more chaotic than others. So, for the negative reviews, I can’t dispute any one person’s experience, but I can tell you that I was there day in and day out for five solid weeks, so I saw a lot first hand and was very grateful for the quality of care.
Parking was easy, but granted I live only 2 minutes away. Convenience is worth a LOT in these situations. People suggested that there were other places 20 minutes away that might be newer/​nicer facilities, but I would be hard pressed to imagine a nicer more caring staff, and that’s all that mattered the most in hindsight. My grandmother, even in her state of mild dementia, felt SAFE and cared for. She was in a private room the last few weeks, and her death was so dignified and peaceful. I am so grateful for the care she received AND I’m so grateful for the care and friendship extended to me as well.
Other details… the food was terrific. Varied menus. (yes, I tried bites of quite a number of dishes) For the short time at the start of her stay that my grandmother was going down to the dining room, I’d say that the environment was pleasant. Pretty fish tank. Nice Christmas decorations. They were very accommodating to her requests about portion sizes too. The first week she was there she got a great manicure. The physical therapists were all terrific.
Okay, I’m not going to sugar-​coat it… the place did remind me of a 1960’s Denny’s when I first walked in. It does feel a bit dated, and there’s no comparing the facility to the likes of the Vi over by Stanford Shopping Center and all. I’m glad I knew to keep my expectations modest before arriving — but again true beauty comes from within, and the hearts of the people who work there are gorgeous.
More advice… take good notes about any dates or details to keep things straight with accounting matters. Just makes life easier for everyone. The people who will care for your loved one are caregivers, not accountants, so don’t take up business matters with them.
These life transitions are hard even under the best circumstances, so remember that the quality of the relationships you build with the people who work at whatever facility you choose will make a huge difference. (obvious, but worth stating…)
If you are in search of a facility for a loved one, my heart goes out to you. It’s not an easy leg of life’s journey. I have such respect and admiration for the staff at Atherton Healthcare. It was an honor and privilege to get to know them, and I will be forever grateful for how they cared for my grandmother.

My grandmother lives in Menlo Park, she was at this facility for a short term stay for rehabilitation, even though the building is not as nice as most in Menlo Park area the service was overall good and my grandmother was pleased with the results. And I was very comfortable leaving her there by seeing the care they have been providing for my grandmother.

My grandmother was in this place for therapy after sustaining a broken leg and arm after being involved in a motor vehicle accident, i was amazed how quick the therapists got her back in shape and my grandmother was able to watch tv, have all day activities such as bingo that she really loves, nurses were nice, it can be a bit noisy at times, but besides that it was a great experience for her and our family. I’m glad that i was recommended that place. They are a four star facility and i really think they deserve five!

My Grandfather was at this facility for rehabilitation after a broken hip, he stayed there for about two and one-​half months. The nursing staff was excellent, rehab team was great, the food was o.k., but it’s not a restaurant. All of my questions were answered immediately, and, the overall quality of service was very high. Due to their efforts, my Grandfather made a strong recovery and is now doing well. I was shocked to read the other reviews that were so negative. I would highly recommend this facility, thus the 4 star rating I have given. The only thing that I did not like is that the building is very old, however the inside is very clean, no odors or unpleasantness at all. The staff were very friendly and eager to help.

My mother moved from NJ to CA, and has been staying at the short term rehab unit in the Atherton Healthcare facility. She is recovering from severe second degree burn on large areas of her chest and upper arms. The care team staff is great. As most people know, wounds from burns are extremely painful. My mother cannot tolerate heavy pain killers since they make her nausea. The nurses have to be very careful every time they change the dressing for her. One of the nurse supervisors, Roni, has been taken excellent care of my mother. She is very skillful, compassionate, and patient. She has a special way on changing dressings for burn patients to minimize the pain. My mother feels happy with her care team, especially with Roni.
The quality of food is not that great at this facility. The meals are very small in size.

Don’t let the name «Atherton» fool you — while Atherton, CA may be one of the more classy, affluent areas in the State of California, Atherton Healthcare is most certainly an unsightly blight on an otherwise beautiful community.
Prior to seeking a new residence for my bright and mobile, 90 year old mother (who suffers from congestive heart failure and slight dementia), a friend stated, «I wouldn’t put a dog in there!» I wish I would have heeded that observation and not pursued them for accommodations for my mother — but being under the gun financially and needing to find a facility quickly (specifically, one that would interface with Medi-​Cal and one which would be in a close proximity to myself, with a pending move to the area happening in a few months), Atherton Healthcare seemed a good fit.
Once the paperwork had been completed and an approval given, I stopped by to see the facility. Not impressive (run down/​smelly), I attempted to keep an open mind and meet the staff. I finally met Marina (whom I had spoken to frequently on the phone) and she was nice enough, though distant with a weak, unimpressive handshake — but the problems did not start until I physically brought my mom to the facility.
Without a tour, without any cordial pleasantries toward my mother or any type of real ‘greet’ or welcome from anyone, my mother was quickly slapped with an unremovable I.D. bracelet by the person who manned the front desk (hard to call it a reception desk — it was a disaster, piles of paper, unkempt and in visual disrepair). We were then hustled upstairs to where she would be living going forward (I had requested to see the room PRIOR to her moving in, but was denied — and told that all of that could be handled on move-​in day).
My mother, brother and myself were brought to a drab and dreary room at the end of a hallway on the second floor, where a woman lay (apparently near death — all but skin and bones, labored breathing). The room (and the second floor) looked more like a concentration camp than a facility that should care about its residents. Clearly, seniors are viewed as disposable in this environment, and not even worthy of a picture on the wall. The bathroom in the room had a barely functioning fluorescent light over the sink and little room to even maneuver a walker. My mother’s bed was to be the one nearest the window — the furniture in horrid condition as if acquired from a yard sale 20 years ago. The window was open and directly beneath it was the employee smoking area, with un-​breathable amounts of cigarette smoke filing the room.
Obviously my mother was greatly upset by this environment — and in my mind, I was hoping (given financial conditions) that this could just be a temporary stay until I could find a more suitable (i.e., HUMANE, SAFE AND DIGNIFIED) facility. She was slightly agitated and verbally refusing to stay, but the staff, including the administrator, did NOTHING to help me calm her fears or even make her feel welcome… they would not speak to her through the device she uses to help her hear — would not even utter a kind word to her… and told me that my mother was ‘my problem’ and that I would need to stay there with her ²⁴⁄₇ if I wanted her to stay at ‘their facility.‘
I am normally a calm and rational person, but being angered and disgusted beyond belief with the inappropriate, cold, callous and unfeeling attitude of the women running this facility, their indifference to my mother’s fears… and their arrogance to tell me as they stood with their arms crossed in defiance that they had held this bed for three weeks for my mother and how «I» had inconvenienced «them,» I immediately tore up their admission papers, tossed them in the air and told them what they could do with their bed, their room AND their facility (it had NEVER been stated to me that a bed was being held — I was told there was a wait list and that there were no beds available when I first contacted them — which is why I jumped quickly when I was told a bed was available.
I will not be so quick to jump again. Our seniors deserve to be loved and cared for in safe and nurturing environments — this hell hole is not one of them. I will also be sending this review to the California State Agency which monitors, reviews and licenses these facilities. I strongly recommend that Atherton Healthcare have its licensed revoked.

The staff is responsive and friendly. The reception desk is welcoming. The place is clean and kept up. However the administration is dishonest. The doctor approved my mothers discharge but the paperwork was never completed. When we went to pick up the perscriptions, they refused to give them to us because she was «released against doctor’s orders” – their paperwork error. They were angry and uncooperative. I believe they wanted to keep her there as long as possible to have a maximum billing.
Now we are scrambling to recreate the perscriptions. Unfortunately, they left me with a feeling that they are vendictive.

My grandmother moved from a Burlingame home to this one after Mills was rebuilt. This place is incredible… it is *massive* old hospital that you can barely see from the street. It looks like a nice building inside a forest (sort of).
But it is a large, 3 floor, multi winged skilled «Nursing and Rehabiltation Center». Some call it an old folks home, some feel uncomfortable in them, some are deeply challenged by the concept of mortality and life.
The staff is great. The lady at the main desk is happy, helpful, patient, friendly… more patient. All the things you need. The staff is engaged, aware, and involved. I haven’t seen anyone be derisive or short with even the most difficult, wayward of tenants? clients? older folks?
It has a great main room for dinner, and activities. You see people out and about in the halls, which is incredible and a good sign: it means the staff engages the people and gets them out exercising and doing things. It keeps them firm mind and body.
My grandmother has her little place with all the things that can keep her busy. I won’t go on… I just want this stuff to be informative, and useful. Frankly that is what Unilocal was supposed to be. Reading some of these reviews on this site, I dunno.
But when you start talking about retirement homes and the like, this is such a difficult, lonely, dark place to deal with alone. I hope to help you feel at ease, and find a safe place you can feel comfortable with. These people are good and do a great job.