The Hallmark - Houston, Texas

Sang Wang

My father spent the last month or so of his life at The Hallmark in the skilled nursing facility. I want to preface this review by saying that it’s a really nice and well-maintained facility and there are some lovely and caring people who work here. That said, the overall experience we had was a logistical nightmare.

1) Unclear Onboarding/Intake & Lack of Communication/Follow-through from Staff - The day that my dad was admitted was a complete nightmare. He was transferred directly from the hospital with a set of discharge papers and list of meds. Once he arrived at The Hallmark, no one communicated with us on what the onboarding/intake process was going to be or set any expectations. We were expecting that they would immediately resume responsibility for his care and maintaining his med schedule. My dad began to complain about pain within an hour of our arrival and we asked the nursing staff about his meds. We were told by multiple people that they would look into it and time and time again no one returned with any medication for him. I eventually just gave him meds that we had brought from home.

The first few days at The Hallmark continued to be incredibly stressful. The nursing staff started providing meds to my dad on a schedule that was different from what we were used to. We asked multiple nurses if we could be provided his new schedule to double check that everything was right, and again multiple people failed to follow through with providing us this information. It honestly felt like my dad was a number and that no one really cared until we eventually met Chris. Chris was a part of the nursing staff and it was so clear that he was compassionate and wanted to provide the best care possible. He printed out my dad's med schedule and went through everything with us to give us transparency and comfort that all the meds were accounted for. He was truly a bright spot in our experience.

2) Unclear Partnership with Hospice - When we were deciding on The Hallmark, we were told that we had to pick from 2 pre-approved hospice providers that they worked closely with. We chose Gentiva and it honestly felt like the two sides had no experience working with each other and there was no direct communication happening. I discovered on day 3 that The Hallmark nursing staff never received any meds for my dad but also no one had reached out to Gentiva to follow-up. Had I not stumbled on this by asking about a specific med, I don't know how long this would have gone on. Also the nursing staff never requested supplies that should have been provided/covered by hospice. The Hallmark ended up billing me multiple times for things that should be covered if they were actually working with each other.

3) Incorrect Med Dosage - About half a week into my dad's stay at The Hallmark, a nurse's aide came into my dad's room to provide my dad's afternoon meds. I noticed that the dosage looked wrong and asked that they double check. They went to double check with the nurse and then came back with the correct dosage. This was an incredibly scary experience. My dad was not in a state to advocate for himself so what would happen had I not been around and vigilant? To Hallmark's credit, they took this situation seriously and immediately removed this aide from their care staff.

4) Billing & Refund - I prepaid The Hallmark for the month that my dad was staying there. My dad passed before the month was over and so I was told that I would be issued a refund check for the balance. The first refund was issued to my deceased father even though he wasn’t the original payer. Then they wanted to issue the check to my father’s estate. It took over two months and multiple follow-ups to finally get a refund issued to me.

5) Third-party Bills - I’ve received a number of bills from third-parties claiming that they provided service during my father’s stay at The Hallmark. Each time, we were told that this should be the last expense we should expect. It’s now over 4 months since his passing that I’m still receiving random bills.

Brent Baresh, Sr.

Literally took them more than 30 minutes to answer the calls. My mother had to go to the bathroom really bad and I just looked at me like I was crazy for getting it to their attention. Do not bring a lover one here unless you plan on staying there

Chellie

First of all, there is no option for an eighth of a star, and that will be given for them answering the phone. My experience at this facility has further shown me that this country has not moved forward from Racism. They have purposely found a way to segregate the wonderful people of the African-American community. In speaking with them, they did everything they could do, including lying to the client’s family to keep African Americans out. They will change the clinical outcome of the patient making it separate of what the hospital told them in order to get the patient to not be accepted just to keep the African-American population out. Of course they accept a few to make it look fair, but believe me, it is not. After further evaluating the situation I will be contacting the news because this has to stop. If they want to only admit Caucasian patients they need to put this place on a secluded island instead of here in Texas each person we talk to was rude, condescending and shift the blame instead of trying to accommodate our family. I had to inform my friends that suggested this place that definitely we won’t be a meeting. Our family member here after the way we were treated as I’m sure they’re happy with that since they didn’t want us there anyway, however, I believe they thought that they were dealing with lower socioeconomic individuals, which should not even be discriminated against. With that being said, if they are trying to emulate, excellent care by even using the name hallmark, they have failed. Actually, I really believe that the best recourse is to start getting signatures to get this place shut down. Please don’t admit your loved ones here.

Jane Lee

My husband and I moved into a renovated Independent living apartment at The Hallmark 2 1/2 years ago. It is beautiful and felt like moving into a brand new home. We like being totally independent now but with no maintenance worries . We enjoy the option of delicious meals in a lovely dining room with fresh flowers, white linens, attentive wait staff, and interesting friends. Knowing that complimentary transportation for shopping or appointments as well as assisted living and skilled nursing are available should we need that in the future is reassuring. I highly recommend The Hallmark. We are really happy that we decided to move here.

Jay Massey

I was given the opportunity to take a tour of the Hallmark this past week. The facility is absolutely beautiful. The residents that I met were happy and proud of their home. The staff was professional and courteous.
I understand why they have such a great reputation.

Raymond Tuquero

I've visited the Hallmark a few times. Everyone at the front desk was very nice and helpful. When I had the chance to visit a few of the apartments, I was very impressed with the uniqueness of each one. Found out they have the ability to customize each apartment to your liking. In whole, it felt very safe as well. Parking can be a bit tough, but they do have valet service on request.

Jamie Marks

Our parents lived in the Hallmark for a decade. While our father died a in 2014, our mother passed away just days ago, soon after her 100th birthday. While our brother lives nearby in Houston, my sister and I, who live some distance away, always felt great relief that our parents were beautifully cared for by an exceedingly-polite and well-trained staff.

It was also important that our parents felt at home when they moved in. (And, honestly, that change was something of a jolt to them.) The Hallmark provided a beautiful two-bedroom , two-bathroom bathroom apartment, which we appointed with their own carefully, over-their-years chosen furniture and belongings—and, we were impressed by how quickly before they moved in, the Hallmark made physical changes to their apartment to meet their needs. Soon, our parent regarded the Hallmark as their home. And, as they aged and needed more help, the Hallmark arranged for 24-hour watchful and skilled attendants, allowing our parents to age gracefully "in place." Soon these women who looked after our parents felt like family members, and a strong bond with them grew, particularly for our mother, as her dementia increased. They became her familiars and she often expressed great love for them. And, it remained a comfort to us knowing that should our parents need a higher level of skilled nursing or memory care, facilities existed within the Hallmark.

We've been cleaning out their apartment over the last several days and have been so thoughtful about how The Hallmark allowed our parents to live out their lives on their own terms. I very highly recommend The Hallmark to anyone of you looking for assisted living carefor your parents.

Jason S

I’m very disappointed with Hallmark. They wouldn’t accept my brother when asked why they said he just wasn’t accepted. It feels like the decision was based on race. There website doesn’t have any other races and someone else shared this same experience. Sad that in 2023 you still have to deal with not being accepted in certain establishments bc you don’t fit the right criteria. Unacceptable. Do better.