St Joseph Villa

St. Joseph: Where Seniors are not Valued

Prominently displayed in a number of senior communities is a sign which reads: Our residents do not live in our workplace, we work in their homes. I suppose that in many care facilities that statement would be accurate, however, it would not be true in a senior community managed by The Ensign Group, such as St. Joseph Villa in South Salt Lake City.

St. Joseph offers a low-cost option for senior living, assisted living, and long-term care and you get what you pay for. If you want your aging loved one to be fed, housed, entertained, given adequate medical attention, kept safe, and nothing more, St. Joseph may be for you. If, however, you believe that your loved one still has something intelligent to offer to the community or helpful feedback for staff, you best keep looking.

When a person becomes a resident in one of the departments at St. Joseph Villa, they become, in essence, wards of the Ensign Group. The custodial care of your loved one will be superb and you might think that you have found everything that you could ask for, but dig below the surface and you will find that your loved one’s humanity has been checked at the door; their opinion discounted or more often, ignored. Frankly, when it comes to whether or not a resident is seen still as a vibrant human being, life at St. Joseph might be better compared to a high-end animal shelter.

I was a resident at St. Joseph for 15 months, a volunteer for 18, and a close friend to a resident in long-term care who still resides there. I have observed discrimination based on disability, disregard for the opinions of others, and lying, including the doubling-down of lies to the point of absurdity. Pervasive also is callousness towards those they find to be bothersome. These attitudes and behaviors run the entire length and width of the leadership of the organization, most notably in admissions, social work, and housing management. And as far as lodging a grievance, the chief administrator is often complicit in defending errant staff and discounting residents, their families, and their friends. It is truly disappointing.

St. Joseph Villa has been awarded the ‘Ensign Flag’ by its parent organization across multiple years. It is a high honor among Ensign Group facilities. Given St. Joseph’s disregard for some, if not all, of the humans that surround it, one might thusly question the overall quality of any Ensign Group-led community. Being the best of the worst in senior care is hardly worth celebrating.

NOTE: The Marian Center and the St. Joseph Rehabilitation Center do not share in this negative review as they are excellent providers of care.