Encore

The community is kept very clean, however that is due to the care givers cleaning the main areas. At present, they do not seem to have consistent housecleaning services available for individual resident rooms. They also had care givers serving meals as they hired more personnel to staff the kitchen. As a result of the lack of kitchen staff, the meals were bulk prepared and then warmed later and served by care giving staff. This is very unsanitary and results in lacking food experience. With that said, recently they have hired some new nutritionist staff, which has resulted in slightly higher quality food, however still poorly served.

Hickory Park is a wonderful building and a caring staff. It is nicely updated, clean, bright, and smells great. It's an ideal fit for an elderly person who will require light assisted living. Everyone is very nice and tries their best to accommodate residents. Their hearts are in the right place! In my opinion, its a more independent lifestyle with very nice rooms and on-site amenities. We had a few major issues with medications not arriving upon Mom's arrival to HP. Few months later an important prescription did not get refilled on time which sent Mom to the hospital for two weeks. Disappointed no communication given to our family about the status of Mom's refill. Mom fell thru the cracks. Must stay on top of medications always. They have a few outstanding health aides and few that need more training. The food at Hickory Park on Scale of 1-10 is maybe a 2. It's not appealing and does not taste very good. 50% of the time some part of meal not warm any longer. No place is perfect but Hickory Park Management does a very good job. They do care about their residents and know them. For someone much older with more declining health or nursing needs this would not be the best fit.

Very difficult to communicate with. Never had follow up calls despite leaving a few messages. No one was there to meet me. The Chef did his best to walk me through things.

I haven't been here long. The staff is friendly.

Place is clean and fairly well run. However the suppers have become very meager the last few months.

The first 2 months my mom was a resident there, the group activities included excersises as a group every morning . In the afternoon there would be group activities in the great room, sometimes even entertainment . Then the whole management left within 1 month, the new management team doesn’t believe in the whole group experience and now have 2-4 people doing life purpose activities like folding laundry, counting silverware, very degrading ...no more singing ..or puzzles together ...now when I go to visit my mom..she is often in a tv room by herself..yes she has Dementia and that is scary enough..and now not to be with people like her very disheartening The staff is wonderful with my mom..thank goodness they have good employees who care.

It wasn't the right environment for my mom....she enjoys cooking and the apartment kitchenette would not be adequate for her...the apt, though great was also a bit small since she has not been able to down-size much at this point. [Name removed] did a great job on the tour, but looking for a bit more active environment with women her age and interests.

People were friendly. But it was very run down in appearance. They have all that property and its overgrown. Carpeting looks like the original. It was a lovely building when it was new. I was there for an event. Very disappointing.

to far for me to visit on a regular basis.

I moved my loved one here for respite care, and I thought they did a good job, so I changed over to permanent, long term care. Now, things are not good. Sometimes, the staff just don't seem to care. My loved one has had several falls since arriving, and they really don't do anything about it because they are not allowed to retrain or hold residents. I told them I would sign whatever they wanted, that I just wanted my loved one safe, but they haven't gotten back to me yet. He has skin issues and cuts that he didn't have before, and he has been missing clothing and things for weeks now. I worry, because I feel like I never know what to expect when I visit.

The kitchen does not have a stove. This is a location that includes meals in the base price and therefore is not right for my mom who likes to cook. If you are looking for meals, this may be a good choice.

Mom is doing fine here. The staff is friendly and helpful. She has joined the bingo group and is enjoying that. Mom does not like the food at all it is not prepared on the site it is catered in. The beautician is only there once a week and runs on first come first served. They keep the place clean and neat.

LIKED: clean, conventient location, transportation NEGATIVE: no assigned or underground parking (DEAL BREAKER)

My father is at Gracewood in Maplewood. I'm a retired social worker so I know what I'm talking about regarding the care that Gracewood gives. Like anywhere else that is comparable, its just a business. Some CNA's are good, a few are great and some are bad. The staff/client ratio is poor. I suggest that you go everyday at different times to watch over how your loved one is being cared for. Recently, it was sold I believe and there is high staff turnover and its somewhat disorganized. The manager who just started is very young and is only a CNA. They should legally have to hire a professional 4 yr. degree person. They save money by hiring just a CNA. My father is not able to feed himself, there is not enough help available to even cut up his food, nor does he get the liquids he needs to fend off dehydration. So at times the food just sits in front of him until they take him away from the table. It would appear as the 2 CNA's have about 15- 20 people to help and look after during meal time and obviously it not enough. I notice the cut little old women get more meal time help to eat. They do listen to suggestions in the past and have made changes, it will be interesting to watch the new owners/manager to see if they can be just as good in the care they give as well as their direction and guidance over the CNA's. They need to have information exchanged at the beginning of a shift that is verbal not write it in a book. Some aide do not read the book, its a lazy way of doing things. All in all the care is not any better or worse then anywhere else. All MN. "homes" should be more regulated and laws should be passed to have a smaller staff/client ratio. Is it the care it should be, absolutely not, but there isn't a place in MN . that has great care.

It is s going well for my grandparent since moving in. All is a working progress to be better. My grandparents are enjoying the selection of meals and enjoy trying some activities. I like the availability to go in and see them at any time. I like the friendliness of the staff. I would recommend the community to a friend if needed.

I am not happy with the care of this community. The staff is very nice and attentive. The care could be improved. They lost personal items that were not recovered. They do have activities. The other residents are able to walk around into other rooms of the residents. I would suggest families see this community for care for a loved one.

I toured this community for my father and his needs. My tour went well. It is a pretty nice community. From what I saw the community appeared to be nice, and clean. Staff was kind, and friendly. Everything went well. It was a good experience.

We toured this community for our parents and we did like the staff who were friendly. This community did not have what we were looking for. I suggest other families tour the community for the needs for a loved one.

I really didn't care for the location when I immediately drove in for a visit. The person I met with was very nice and answered all of my questions. I was glad to see this property last out of the 3 because I was able to ask appropriate questions based on the other 2 I visited. I was very surprised that they use what seemed to be one common room for almost all activities... Crafts, movies, church, entertainment, everything else under the sun. The woman said all meals are included and she boasted about the menu and food. The price for what was included seemed to be incredibly high and certainly more than I would pay even if it was within our budget.

My mom is doing good. We have been there since November and still finding our way. The staff are helping us to understand the community. I have been learning things about the amenities and activities. We picked this community based on the proximity to family members.