Victoria Landing Assisted Living and Memory Care

James Danza

Kristal - the Director of Nursing - has been a huge blessing to our family. She is honest and compassionate at the same time. I can't say enough about how much we appreciate her help during this tough time. She, Denise and Montreal are the best of the best at Victoria Landing.

Charles Worth

These folks love the residents and do a great job

Steve Baugh

Mine and my mother’s experience at Victoria Landing was excellent. Colleen was always available anytime that I needed her. From the simplest questions to the most difficult ones. Everyone of the staff went out of their way to make my mother feel always at home. I would have loved to have kept my mom in their facility, but without financial assistance we just could not afford it and that is the only reason that she is not a full time resident at Victoria Landing. Thanks so much to all of the staff, Steve Baugh and Betty Baugh

Reality Kitchen Nonprofit

Why are so many of Florida’s most vulnerable residents, and many of their caregivers, leaving Victoria Landing in Melbourne ? What’s happening evidences how we are failing our elders in Florida. The causes are as old as sin and just as devastating. This dirty secret requires us to expose it for what it is and flush this wound now. What’s happening to our parents and grandparents will be happening to us before we know it. When my 90-year-old Mom became a resident at Victoria Landing, she believed she would be cared for with professionalism, respect and kindness. I believed she would too. Sadly, this Melbourne facility owned by John and Barbara Ruggles, like so many others, has been ravaged by a virus as deadly as COVID, and spreads rampantly regardless of our precautions and “remedies.” Greed, power and control over the frail and weak, nepotism and administrative failure to reign in the emotional and verbal abuse occurring on their watch is being carried out by negligent, untrained staff charged with caring for our elderly family members. The lasting wounds break hearts and bank accounts and are allowed to continue, so long as they don’t break skin or bones. I live in Oregon and when Mom cried to me during our nightly phone calls of the abusive treatment she was receiving I struggled to understand how this could be happening. I brought my concerns to the newly hired Executive Director and she promised, “to look into it and investigate.” Mom continued to press me for help and begged me to fly to Melbourne and take her back home to Oregon to get her out of the “ Snake Pit” nightmare she was living in. Since moving to Victoria Landing, she’s made a good number of friends and shared stories of their dinner conversations and Rummikub matches. A retired schoolteacher, Mom will remind us that even though her body is failing, she “still has all her marbles.” She has lamented the rapid deterioration of many friends as they succumbed to dementia, loneliness and depression as they confront the sun setting on their lives. My wife and I are Special Educators and understand the challenges and responsibilities that come with caring for vulnerable individuals. Desperate to make sense of Mom’s increasing horror stories, I rationalized that staff there must be doing their best under very difficult circumstances juggling diverse needs against low salaries and more. Then, during a phone conversation where Mom complained that staff had neglected to answer her many calls for help, I heard an attendant enter her room yelling, “Shut the f*** up ! You don’t pay enough to get me to jump when you want !” Another staff added, “You better do what she tells you, old lady, or else !” The next day I contacted the ED to share what I heard and Mom’s fears for safety. I was told, “your Mom is the cause of this. She is argumentative and none of the other residents want to associate with her. Her complaints have no merit.” Stunned, I determined to remove Mom as soon as possible and bring her to Oregon. When I arrived, I began meeting other residents and spoke to those staff willing to share their own stories. I learned over the last year, this ED was the third. The Head Nurse is only recently an RN and was previously hired on and has packed the staff with relatives and close friends, leaving the present ED a figured head and powerless to control her staff. Complainers and long-term professionals are quickly fired and replaced. Residents I met cite complaints that include verbal abuse, neglect and being given incorrect medication. Saddened to see Mom leave, they are clearly intimidated and traumatized. I know of seven that are moving out within the month and two staff have been fired since my arrival. As I write this, I’m packing Mom’s room up and headed to the airport, back to Oregon where we can care for her with love. This has been costly, but ensuring her safety is priceless. What’s happening at Victoria Landing, and other facilities, must be brought to light in the Sunshine State.