Brookdale

We are very happy with Emeritus and the level of care they provide. The staff is really friendly and the community is very clean and well maintained. The activities could be a little better it just seems like they have it on the calendar but last minute it gets cancelled. Overall the Emeritus at Lake Highlands is a great community that we would recommend to anyone.

We visited a few communities when we were looking and the residents here seemed to be more alert then at other communities. It does not feel like a sterile hospital setting but rather an apartment complex. Her room is the second smallest they offer and it is very spacious. The food is amazing when we visit we can eat for $11; if our loved one wasn't here we would still go eat here. We like to schedule our visits around lunch time to take advantage of the amazing food. They were very responsive when answering questions. One thing Chambrel could benefit from is an orientation type packet that provides checklist on what they would need to bring, laundry schedules and other information. I was so impressed with this community that when it is my time to move to a community like this if they are still around I will not even look anywhere else, I know exactly where I would be going.

When we visited this community our hearts just knew this was the place our parents would get the love and care that they deserve. The community is a Medicaid community so when they run out of money they still have that option. It is a one level community so it makes it easy to get around. The love the staff has for the residents really made it feel like home.

We chose Sterling House for our loved one because after looking at the other communities in the area it was a smaller community. It is one level so it makes it easy to get around and easy to navigate the community. Sterling House has done everything they could do to care for our loved one. They keep an open line of communication and let us know how his appointments go, any change of medication and just about any other information they have about our loved one. We are very happy with Sterling House and would recommend it to anyone.

With the help of "A Place for Mom" we located several senior communities which seemed to fit our criteria for a place for our brother-in-law. After touring all the facilities, Sterling House stood out from the others. It was close to my brother's home, which is important to us because it will save my brother transportation time & money with his visits. It allows our brother-in-law to have three of his cats live with him in his apartment, and provides pet care. There is a secure outdoor courtyard where our brother-in-law can go when he wants and be safe from wandering should this become an issue in the future. Sterling House is a very small community - 29 apartments. We feel this suits the personality of our brother-in-law better than a large facility would. Also, there is a separate but attached 12 apartment community which provides full memory care if and when needed. Sterling House indicated that because they are a small community, they can often maintain a resident in their regular apartment even if they need significant memory care. Sterling House can also offer end of life care in a resident's apartment. My brother & I were impressed with the cleanliness, the ease of getting around the facility, and the friendliness of the staff. We have every hope that this placement will work out well for our brother-in-law and that he will be happy there. We feel assured he will be well cared for.

We chose Emeritus because of its proximity to where I live and they had all the right answers to the questions I asked. I did eat with my loved one there and the food we had was very good and seemed very nutritious. The enthusiasm of the staff really made a difference; they had all the right answers. They also have a very good reputation and it does precede them. They handle themselves in a very professional manner. We are very please with our choice and would recommend it to anyone.(Have not used care services so can not rate them)

The staff at Clare Bridge is really friendly and very caring. The do not treat the residents are customers but rather like a part of the family. They really took a personal interest on my mom and my dad so it really makes me feel much better when making this type of decision. They could offer a bigger variety of activities but they do offer exercising, bingo and several others. The availability of a double room and the way the staff really made us feel welcome when visiting this community really made it an easier choice. It is a very nice small community with only about 30 residents so it really gives it a more home like atmosphere. The community is very well kept and really does not have the institutional feeling. Everyone knows everyone by first name and is a really close community. We are very pleased with our decision.

We chose this community for my parents because it was not like other places, other places there was a smell and seemed like everyone was just kind of sitting around in wheelchairs waiting for their time. This community had no smell to it and just seemed more uplifting; people were walking around and interacting with one another like they were enjoying themselves. The community is very clean and the staff is extremely friendly. When I visited this community it just seemed to be setup to take good care of people with dementia. The only thing I am displeased about is that they charge me $500 a month to administer one aspirin a day to my parents. Overall we are very please with our choice in Clare Bridge.

Heather was awesome. So positive. Nice facility, but too far from D in Vernon.

Our Uncle spent his last 8 months with Clarebridge. I can't say enough about this community. He was loved, respected, well cared for and most of all he was home. His Dementia was progressing so quickly and this group treated him with complete dignity. I can't say enough about Diane, Amie, Tony, Renee, Lynn. You are the reason why our families feel safe having our loved ones with you! Knowing and understand this disease really is what this group knows. Unc walked all the time. He was tired, he sat, he wanted to vacuum he did, he wanted to wear hats they got him hats. He was ready to go, they were the most gracious people i have ever encountered!

My sister has only been there a short time so I am not ready to rate them on value or activities offered. I learned about Clare Bridge through church members who have loved ones living there and my first impression of Clare Bridge was so favorable. I was not sure if it was in my sister's budget but once we realized we could manage it was our first choice. I looked at a couple other places and so did my family members and we all thought Clare Bridge was the best.

definitely check out, has a excellent memory care, might be too far.

Loved the facility, but feel it is too large for Mother to handle.

Checked out, looked very nice. Passed along info to sister.

We toured Merrill Gardens and their gorgeous grounds. Took our mom and she also liked it. But a deciding factor was a financial program that we were told our mom was elligible for at Merrill Gardens. It is too early to be able to rate their care services and activities. They offer plenty of activities but mom has not started participating in them just yet.

The visit to Sterling House was very pleasant. We were there for over three hours, but could have even stayed longer if we hadn't needed to leave. We never felt rushed at all. We were greeted warmly when we got there by Megan, and she was prepared for us. She talked to us for a few minutes in the lobby and then showed us to the private dining room, where she had place settings set up for the 3 of us (herself, my friend, and me). She asked if we would like to have some of the residents join us in there for lunch, and we said absoulutely. She invited a couple of ladies to come in, and quickly had the table set for two more. Very good conversation during lunch. The ladies were very open to tell us their thoughts. I also appreciated that when we asked the ladies a question, Megan did not try to answer for them. She just let them answer. One topic that was brought up over lunch that is a concern to me as well is that they do not have the alert necklaces for the residents. One of the residents was mentioning that she had fallend and could not reach the pull cord in her room, and had to sit on the floor until the next time someone checked on her. (Buffalo Creek is the only place I have visited so far that had these for all residents.) The food was good. Not great, but good. We had pork chops with an apple chutney type sauce on top. [The chops had bones in them, which I thought was an especially bad idea with elderly. Some of the bones were small and I know I ended up with one in my mouth that I had to spit out and so did one of the residents in our room. I'm thinking that would be easy for them to end up choking on.] There were some noodles served with it, as well as squash, small salad, and a roll. And, chocolate pie for dessert. It was all good. During our lunch, Jamie also came in to meet us and chatted for a few minutes. The activities director also came in to meet us, and talked to us about some of the activities they have. She also showed us several examples of crafts they've recently done, which really got our 2 residents talking again because they had enjoyed them so much. After lunch, we went our our tour of the facility. It seemed everywhere we went, we would see staff interacting with residents. We certainly saw some that were alone and looking sad and pitiful, but overall it seemed like the residents were fairly engaged with each other and in what was going on, and that the staff was engaged with the residents. We saw the activities director again as she was rounding up residents to go on a walk. Near the end of the tour we saw her again, sitting on the porch with a group, juct enjoying the outdoors and chatting. When we left, there was a group playing bingo. The rooms were nice and adequate, but nothing really special. Similar to what other facilities have. Nothing really negative to say either. We visited the Memory Care side of the facility as well. WOW. They only opened this part of the facility about 6-7 months ago, but we were very impressed. There were residents out in the common areas, and it did NOT have a depressing feel like the other one we visited. Again, Megan was plenty comfortable with us interacting with the residents and of course, the residents loved it. There was a table of ladies coloring and we talked to them about their pictures. There was a lady with her Bible that talked about scripture and prayed for my friend's fingernails. We saw a group of residents watching TV. There was a man in the late stages of Alzheimers who was walking the hall. Megan interacted with him (as well as the other residents) and told us that one of the last 'life skills' to go in Alzheimers is the nurturing instinct, and it's one of the only ways they can get him to really engage in anything. They have a 'nursery' set up with baby dolls and she offered him one of the dolls and asked him to 'babysit.' He started cooing and talking and kissing at the doll. It was amazing to see and hear.

There were not any other affordable options, so this home is further away than we would like it to be. But the staff is wonderful, I couldn't say enough good things about them. There was one problem we had that they quickly resolved to our satisfaction.

The Emeritus at College Park has a lot of activities that they offer their residents. The main reason we choose the Emeritus was financial, we needed to find an assisted living facitlity for my brother-in-law needed when we were out of town. So far he seems to like the food selection.

The staff has really great attitudes when I call. My dad was in a rehab facility before moving to the Emeritus and the staff here is really, truly happy which I found refreshing. He's only been there a short time but the staff has introduced him to other residents and we are trying to get him to participate in the offered activities. When I toured I liked the atmosphere, the place, and the people. The residents looked happy and clean, just had a very good feeling while touring. A friend of my husband's is looking for a place for their loved one and we highly recommended the Emeritus at Echelon Lake.

This is a fantastic upscale community for independent seniors. The apartments are big and the staff is incredibly friendly. The only slight downside is you get 20 meals per month, and there is no lunch offered. For independent seniors, its great, but if you need some personal assistance, the cost of care is VERY expensive. Overall though, it is one of the best places in the area.