86 Holiday Dr, Portland, ME 04103
Anonymous
Child of resident/client
Friendly staff and nice community.
She loved it there. She was there for 6 days, got involved in activities (flower decoration), made friends, got the flu, fell and broke her femur and is now in skilled nursing at [community removed] after long, complicated recovery. We all wished she could have returned to Birchwood. It was a warm and friendly community. She felt at home almost immediately. She became active and involved right away.
Read all reviewsBirchwoods at Canco Senior Living
Birchwoods at Canco Assisted Living is located in beautiful Portland, Maine. This community prides itself on offering the care seniors need, the convenience they value, and the independence they cherish.
Birchwoods at Canco is beautifully designed with spacious common areas to enjoy with family and friends. The community also features a gracious dining room where residents can enjoy three delicious, chef-prepared meals daily. The on-site staff is available day and night and a safety call system is in every suite. Additional amenities include maintenance and housekeeping services, scheduled transportation to and from appointments and shopping, and a weekly linen service. Health and personal care services at Birchwoods at Canco are coordinated by a full-time Registered Nurse.
Birchwoods at Canco offers a variety of intellectual, cultural, and recreational activities including an exciting wellness and fitness program, creative writing classes, gardening and book clubs, table games, and planned outings to go shopping, visit museums and galleries, or take in concerts and theater performances. Live entertainers even visit Birchwoods on occasion, bringing excitement directly to residents! One of the most popular activities is the weekly movie, which is shown on a wide-screen TV and with refreshments provided.
Birchwoods offers studio,...
Birchwoods at Canco Senior Living
Total monthly costs depend on room type, select services, and the level of care needed
Contact a local advisorGet a quote from your local advisor*Prices quoted are monthly rental charges and are provided by the communities themselves. Actual prices may differ due to one-time fees, timing and care services required. Speak with your Senior Living Advisor to learn more.
for Birchwoods at Canco Senior Living
A Place for Mom has scored Birchwoods at Canco Senior Living with 8.8 out of 10 using our proprietary review score based on 8 reviews in the last 2 years. Over all time, Birchwoods at Canco Senior Living has 65 reviews with an average "overall experience" of 3.9 out of 5.
Anonymous
Assisted LivingFamily/friend
August 5, 2025
Friendly staff and nice community.
She loved it there. She was there for 6 days, got involved in activities (flower decoration), made friends, got the flu, fell and broke her femur and is now in skilled nursing at [community removed] after long, complicated recovery. We all wished she could have returned to Birchwood. It was a warm and friendly community. She felt at home almost immediately. She became active and involved right away.
F.L.
Assisted LivingFamily/friend
July 29, 2025
Bait and Switch Tactics - An Eldercare Fiasco"
The hands-on staff were quite good, friendly, and very sweet to mom. Management, administration and communication was absolutely horrific. I am happy to elaborate more if you need me to. We are no longer there. Again, staff members were so sweet and kind. Mom LOVED THEM! From the get-go, the management and administration were very shady and non-communicative. When we were first looking at the Birchwoods, they did not one but two assessments on Mom. They knew she had dementia. I was very upfront about all of the different behaviors and issues that we were having at home before we moved her in. They gave us a big deal about how they believed in "aging in place", and their goal was to accept people into the facility, who would not have to move again, but could age there and not have to transition again. They also had "memory care" as a service on their website. That conspicuously disappeared off of the website a few months later! The first two nights after we moved Mom in, she was very confused and unsettled with the transition. An aid came into her room in the middle of the night to check on her and Mom became very startled as she woke up to a very large woman who she had never met before standing over her bed. Mom packed her bag and was walking down the hallway saying she had to leave . She never even made it to the lobby before they got her back into her room. I got a call at 3:30 AM that morning from a nurse who was very worked up saying that she was "exit seeking". Something similar happened the next night and I got another phone call, this time at 2 AM in the morning saying that she was asking for me and looking for my dad. Of course, this was a horrible introduction to the facility. I was later told by the admissions Director that he thought that they completely overreacted, and this was pretty normal behavior during the transition. They kept telling me that they would have somebody from management. Call me back to discuss what was going on. They told me this multiple times. I never got a call from anybody in management. The only time they called me was when they perceived something to be going wrong And would not follow up with any sort of phone call or conversation. Needless to say, I was on edge all the time. Additionally, we were never given any contact or email of any person who we should call if we had a problem. I would just call the front desk and try to find out if there was anybody on staff that I could talk to that day. Horrible horrible communication. heir programming was nonexistent. It was very clear after a short time that they were really only interested in people who needed an independent living community. The turnover of staff was very high. Inevitably, a new management company took over a few months ago, and apparently decided that they wanted to focus on independent living and started giving all of the Dementia residence very short notice that they had to move out. There was never even any communication saying that the facility had changed management companies. Again zero communication
Anonymous
Assisted LivingFamily/friend
July 21, 2025
Review for Birchwoods at Canco Senior Living
They were very helpful. I would recommend the Birchwoods at Canco.
Anonymous A
Assisted LivingJune 9, 2025
Compassionate and safe
Birchwoods is very clean and cheerful. The programming ladies are genuine and do their very best to meet the needs of every resident. The location and atmosphere cannot be beat. Multiple directors have been there long term and truly care about what they are doing Chef takes the time at the beginning of meals to engage with each resident, getting to know their individual needs and preferences. The business office manager will take the time to support in anyway she can. The community resource director truly cares about helping your loved one find the right place for them. There are some fantastic genuine staff and their core team is compassionate and gentle. It is an AL2 so it is not the appropriate placement for anyone who wanders but perfect for those who want to maintain their independence as long as possible. The directors-[name removed], [name removed], [name removed] and [name removed] are the kindest people and you can trust them to address anything. Highly recommend Birchwoods for assisted living!
Anonymous
Assisted LivingFamily/friend
May 16, 2025
Transitioning
Short staffed in housekeeping, the food is horrible- nothing is fresh, everything is canned or frozen. A choice might be bologna sandwich and canned oranges. Everyone is very nice, but they can't seem to keep up. There's a new director coming and we've been told that a new chef is coming and that nutritional guidelines will be followed. I don't like to bash them. Everyone is nice, and we are hoping things will get better.
Anonymous
Assisted LivingFamily/friend
May 7, 2025
Needs improvements
Overall experience started off good and has deteriorated. Birchwoods management did not have awareness of what the staff was doing OR what they were not doing. Care of vulnerable people suffered and many families moved their loved ones out. Harm came to some residents at the hands of bad workers and uncaring management. One resident who is in a wheelchair was stuck in her room for hours needing help, ringing for help and no one came. They say the management is now on top of it but honestly they have just let go any employee who knows the truth about what it's been like. It used to be friendly but now it is not. Very few staff care to speak to the residents and make them feel seen and cared for except the social workers who do bingo and activities. Also friendly and caring are the two front desk women and one nurse and a couple of med tech women - two of whom have quit due to all of this. The new med tech men are terrible. Food is awful. The noon time meal can be ok but the evening is awful - one night they actually served a nasty looking baked potato and potato chips. Nothing else. Very odd. For activities, they try - they are kind to the residents and try to make them happy. Value for the money - bad, my parents pay [fee removed] a month and the only thing they get is meds given and some average noontime meals. They buy groceries all the time to have decent food. They all deserve better.
Anonymous
Assisted LivingFamily/friend
May 6, 2025
Don't be filled by the smell of baked cookies
The communication between the facility and the residents medical team and family lacks. It seems to me the facility would rather talk to the family and go around the resident. The nurse on site doesn't appear to want to learn from visiting nurses how to care for particular medical issues and they do not follow the medication protocols very well.
Anonymous
Assisted LivingFamily/friend
January 28, 2025
Birchwoods at Canco Review
The residents seem happy and the price is among the lowest in the area out of the places we looked into. They appear to be under staffed. It appears most assisted living facilities are under staffed.
MD
Assisted LivingFamily/friend
October 1, 2024
Review for Birchwoods at Canco Senior Living
I would highly recommend it. We would choose it again for our dad. We are absolutely satisfied. My dad is thriving. The staff is amazing.
Judy M
Assisted LivingFamily/friend
August 28, 2024
We love Birchwoods!
We moved out dad to Birchwoods over a year ago, and the staff have been so wonderful and caring. He has some aging challenges and Birchwoods has been very accommodating. Great variety of activities forall levels of ability.
Anonymous
Assisted LivingFamily/friend
August 13, 2024
Review for Birchwoods at Canco Senior Living
Birchwoods at Canco is a welcoming environment. My mother has been very happy living there and having all her needs met. I highly recommend.
Anonymous
Assisted LivingFamily/friend
July 18, 2024
Birchwoods at Canco
[name removed] was only here 3 months before she passed away. I would tell others to keep in touch with the staff all the time so you know everything that is going on there.
Joyce D
Assisted LivingFamily/friend
July 11, 2024
Friendly, professional care
Birchwoods has great staff - they are kind and personable and this make it far better than any place that may have newer rooms etc but no friendly people. It’s a great community. I’m so happy my parents are there.
Lunda J
Assisted LivingResident/client
June 24, 2024
I cannot say enough about the wonderful staff
Just a year ago I started the process of looking for a place to live. We took out time all summer and looked at many places after seeing pricy, non pricy, luxurious, average. We divided ona 2 bath cottage.
Keith
Assisted LivingFamily/friend
May 31, 2024
Recommended
My loved one is currently a resident at Birchwoods at Canco Senior Living and she is very happy to be there. The staff, I believe, is excellent. They are always willing to help. Overall, everything has been great. We are very happy with them and we appreciate them.
Beth
Assisted LivingFamily/friend
May 21, 2024
Review for Birchwoods at Canco Senior Living
I would still recommend it, but they do have some shortcomings that our family is concerned about like the quality of food the shortness of help it appears it took a month to two months to get my parents tuned in with the staff and vice versa, and there needs to be addressed.
Anonymous
Assisted LivingFamily/friend
March 28, 2024
not recommended for those needing more care
Wonderful, kind staff but very under staffed at the expense of care. As a result, response time was slow. Especially on the weekends. It was obvious management was skimping on help to save money. I would not recommend for someone who needs a great deal of assistance. It would be ok for someone who needs minimal help.
Wendy S
Assisted LivingFamily/friend
March 8, 2024
We had a good experience with birchwood's senior living. Mom did enjoy the folks there and everybody was very kind and considerate to us. Mom passed away in April of 2023. She had a short stay at Birch Woods but a pleasant one.
TP
Assisted LivingFamily/friend
March 5, 2024
Review for Birchwoods at Canco Senior Living
Staff, food, activities are great! It packs in cleanliness in individual rooms. I picked it because it was the least expensive. I'm mostly happy with my choice.
Anonymous
Assisted LivingFamily/friend
February 26, 2024
Not recommended
I think the cottages are great. Cleaning was very consistent. High turn over. Increase rates. Not enough staff. Never felt like I was getting people that really cared about my grandparents. I think the turn over is too high and quality has drastically shifted in the last 5 years.
Birchwoods at Canco Senior Living
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The features and amenities that are displayed on this page contain marketing information provided by the community. A Place for Mom has not confirmed the completeness of the provided information, and cannot guarantee its accuracy. If you become aware of any information that should be updated or noted, please contact A Place for Mom. A Place for Mom uses the term “assisted living” to indicate that the community provides some level of assistance with daily living activities. It does not indicate that the facility meets official state requirements for level of care.