I am a pretty easy going person who believes in working hard and giving my all to any job that I am committed to. However, I had the worst experience working for this company. As an Executive Director you can plan on putting in 14 hour days 7 days a week. However, no matter how hard you work or how long you work you will never be able to please Pam Gray, the COO. In another post they have her listed as an evil monster and I absolutely agree with that description. She doesn't care about the employees or the residents and it shows. She brags about the fact that she doesn't have a college degree, which also shows. If she did she would have learned some professionalism and learned how to treat people. Many of times she would walk in and destroy the morale of my staff and the morale among the residents. From the communities to the corporate office many employees will tell you that they absolutely can not stand her. While employed I talked with over 150 employees at the community and at the corporate office and everyone said the same thing, and that is, they which Kelly Hamilton would fire her. Many of the employees have lost respect for Kelly Hamilton because he has allowed this evil monster to take over his company. Look on the job boards there are always tons of jobs open for Executive Directors and other positions within the company. You would think the high turn over rate would give him and idea that something is wrong. Well Kelly talk to your staff they will tell you that your problem is Pam Gray and her equally evil side kick Shirley Kilmer.
How many employees does this company have to lose before they get it. It is expensive to replace employees and the lost productivity, staff training etc. can cost residents their lives. One community who was understaffed had 6 residents die in one month. When you are understaffed or when your nurses and caregivers are new and have no training mistakes are going to happen. There is so much neglect in regards to proper medication dosage and residents receiving their medication. While employed I saw some very scarey errors happen and I would never refer a family member or a friend to that facility.
Yes, their beautiful buildings are impressive and they talk a good talk when they are trying to get you to move in. However, once you have moved in you are no longer important to them. Many of the residents complaints are ignored by the company. Pam Gray and Kelly Hamilton have been overheard complaining about the whiney old people who are driving them crazy. These whiney old people are paying your bills and providing your paycheck. Not once did Kelly or Pam take a moment to meet with the residents. They will both walk through the building and not even acknowledge the residents or the problems the residents have. As an Executive Director you try to please the residents, but because of the mighty bottom line, you are told that you can't spend any money. The residents pay a lot of money to live there, however their rent is constantly being increased and the money that is spent on their food is always being decreased. For $4,000 a month they should be eating steak every night, however the dining service manager is told to order the cheapest food out there, which consists of cardboard hamburger patties.
The short time I was there they raised the rent 3 times and started charging the residents for meals that were suppose to be included in the price of their rent. So many empty promises are made to the residents to get them in the door, but once they have moved in they no longer matter. There are a lot of senior communities in Oregon and other states. Please if you care about your elderly loved ones DO NOT put them in a Bonaventure community. They will constantly be raising the rent, charging extra for items that were suppose to be included in the rent and your loved ones take the risk of being killed by either medication neglect or medication overdose. The staff consist of CNA's that do not have the appropriate training by the company.
If you are considering employment DO NOT work for this company. They could offer me a million dollars a year and I still would never go back. Pam Gray is horrible and goes out of her way to demoralize and criticize everyone in her path. You get absolutely no training and if you do get training it is not very helpful. You can expect to work outrageous hours and no matter what you do you will never live up to Pam Gray's expectations. If you are a compassionate manager who believes in treating people fair and with respect you are going to have to give up that philosophy. The only managers that last with this company are the ones who turn in to mean, evil monsters who's staff hate them. You basically must become a evil monster like Pam Gray or she will not respect you. You will have to give up having a heart and she will literally suck every good and redeeming quality out of you. You basically have to neglect your family, give up any kind of social life and become a dictator. No amount of money is worth what you have to tolerate with this company. I have been gone now for a little over a year and out of the 65 members of staff on my team, there are only 2 left.
Kelly Hamilton needs to get some b*lls and run his own company. He needs to quit just worrying about the bottom line and all the money that goes in to his pocket and get a COO who is compassionate, kind, professional and knows how to treat people. As long as Pam Gray is at the helm, residents will move out and the staff turn over rate will continue to be 94%. Come on Kelly, it is not normal to have the kind of turn over rate. It is not the people you are hiring, it is Pam Gray who will take your company in to bankruptcy. Grow a pair and get rid of Pam Gray and you will see a difference in move outs, staff and corporate turnover and the overall morale of the company.