Avamere

Our family had a great impression of Columbia Heights during the search process. My mother was so impressed that she wanted to pay the deposit that very day. The staff and the facility have been wonderful. I am concerned that their procedures and practices are not in keeping with our expectations. Unfortunately our experience upon moving in was less than stellar. Although the move-in date was decided a month in advance and indicated on the paperwork we signed they were not prepared for her arrival. The apartment had not been cleaned nor had the work on the AC/Heating been completed. No explanation was given except they didn't know that she was moving in on that date. The name by her door was spelled incorrectly. It still has not been corrected. My mother's health took a turn for the worse the first month she was there and she ended up needing increased care. There were numerous changes in her health care plan and those directives did not reach the appropriate staff members. We still remain concerned that the medications are not being accurately dispensed and that she is not receiving scheduled showers and room cleaning we asked for. This is troubling and if my mom wasn't happy to be there we might consider moving her to another assisted living facility. The staff is very compassionate and caring with my mother and we have nothing but praise for that care once it is in place. When mom had a heart attach a staff member stayed in her room and held her while she cried as they waited for the ambulance to arrive. In a nutshell the problems we encountered were the lack of procedures that would ensure the services paid for are actually provided by staff.

We met with Danette Nidiffer on Wednesday 1/14. Common areas and rooms were nice. Activity area had a large group participating in the weekly craft.

My relative lives has lived in this community for less than six months. They are in process of merging with another large senior care company and I believe the change will be welcome and beneficial. We have been pleased with the care and facilities for the most part. At times, you have to work hard to connect with the various directors for care concerns, etc., but it is not impossible to reach them. You just have to keep trying! The food is pretty good and they are always looking for ways to improve, it seems. The care staff are extremely cordial and helpful especially during the week. The weekend staff is more limited in number, but they seem to do a good job with the residents as well. So far, we are not over-the-moon happy, but happy enough to stay and work towards an even better care community!

My dad says the food is great. There has always been enough parking. The best feature of the community is what a good value it is for the money. They have a nice little pond in the back. One area for improvement might be the overall cleanliness.

It depends on what level the parents level – if they needs independent living or assisted living. The more care they need the more the costs rise. There are always little snicky snacks and coffee for the residents. There has always been enough parking.

So far things have gone very well with Emeritus at Sandia Springs! It's a very nice looking, clean community, and the staff are all very friendly and helpful! The administrative staff in particular have been wonderful, they're quick to answer any questions you have, or resolve any issues you bring to them! The one issue we've run into is that there has been a lot of turnover in the aide staff, which has led to some confusion regarding who is performing specific care services.

Clean and highly functional. No yard or outside area other than a nice little patio outside the dining room. Most affordable in terms of apartment rent.

My 84-year old stroke affected mother stayed at Gilman Park so my husband and I (her caregivers) could go out of town for a long weekend. Frankly, after calling around to other ALF's in the area (which I was referred to by A Place for Mom) I was getting a bit discouraged - they all wanted a minimum stay of 7 nights. Gilman Park not only did not require a minimum stay, they were more than happy to have Mom there for however long/short she needed to be. The staff there are all excellent - from Administration to Nursing to housekeeping & maintenance. According to Mom, the food was wonderful as well. The only reason I gave it 4 stars overall was that they forgot to come get Mom & assist her down for one meal on time. No biggie, since they remembered to get her before mealtime ended.

They’re pretty clean. Families should definitely do their homework and I think they should considerer this community. They have a great staff who have been there for a very long time, even through changes in the management. The food is amazing! I used to work here too, but now I’m an EMT.

I think there is always room for improvement. It’s not new, new, but it’s not old either. I think it’s very comfortable and welcoming. My mother doesn’t complain too much about the food, but she says they serve a lot of chicken.

The food could be better. I don’t think they’re giving them healthy food. I was only at once lunch and saw the menus and I don’t think those menu options are going to help with gaining or maintaining a healthy weight. Healthy weight is very important for long term health. I liked the people.

I really like what they're doing and how they are taking care of my loved one. I think they offer quite a few activities! Not everyone can participate in all of them, but they've already taken my loved one out on the bus several times to go to different places. Perhaps, the communication could be improved, but this is new to us, so it's hard to tell. The manager said that I would get a call if anything happens. What really impressed us was the friendliness all around. The staff all know who my loved one is and the manager is really out there. The residents are friendly and my loved one has already found friends to sit with at dinner. Overall, we are very happy so far!

We toured this community while we were searching for the right place for our loved one, and it seemed like a very nice clean place, based on initial appearance. One suggestion I have would be for Cambridge Terrace to get involved with Elder Care Loans. For families who are in tight situations and are waiting for their finances to kick in, it's an easy way to move in. This would have made Cambridge Terrace a front runner for us.

It's an older facility, but they keep it very clean. The five star staff is hard to find. They have small cottages available so there is a little more space and she can feel a little more independent. The people were able to understand the system and the laws and what she needed, she wasn't ready for the assisted living as much, but the care is available if she needs it. They just bent over backwards and they were good at explaining everything. They do have activities going on. They have doctors that come to Emeritus, which is really nice.

Sandia Springs was a surprise to us. It is a smaller community than the other retirement living communities that we have visited. Also the majority of residents were in the assisted living building. However, the cottages for independent living patrons were very nice and the price was much below similar quarters at other places that we have visited. There are not al lot of extra amenities so maybe the costs is within reason. Considering all, I have to rate it right up there with Fairwinds (next door to Sandia Springs), Palmilla, and Monzano Del Sol. If Sandia Springs was located on the east side of the river, instead of the west side, I would have given it 5 stars.

It's been really good, they are pretty much Johnny on the spot when she calls. They even give me a call when things happen. The food I would give a four, most of the time she likes it. They could try a little harder to engage the residents in the activities, maybe a buddy system of some kind. It was less expensive than some of the others we looked at and yet it was inviting. She often eats alone because the people who are assigned at her table often don't show up and I don't like that she eats alone.

They looked good, but they didn't have any openings so we didn't think too hard about that one. I think they had a more limited menu and my mom was super picky about her food and had dietary issues, so that would have been a problem.

My mom was in the Alzheimer's unit there. My mom was lucky; she was always happy and got good care. They have assisted living there too which we thought about for my sister but I heard some remarks and my sister knew some people there who said it's a lot like high school sometimes. A lot of patients or residents have little groups and some of of them are not so friendly. The memory care was good for my mom but we didn't think the assisted living would be the right place for my sister.

My mother just got out of here. She was there for rehab for about 4 weeks. The care was very good. That's a very nice facility. They do have activities. It's more like a skilled nursing/rehab facility so it's not a place you would stay in long term. It's more a place that you would be in for 1-3 weeks so they don't have bus trips or things like that. They bring in activities like once they had a guy making sushi in the lobby and the residents could go check out what he was doing. I think about once a week they did something.

Showed us around the facililty & introduced us to Anita their nurse.