Encore

This place was not what I expected. I took my husband there for respite care for a month of March. I took him home a day and a half later after quickly realizing the place was not for him. Firs day I visited him he sat outside of his room alone with wet diaper. The next morning I visited during breakfast and it was horrible. Prison food is better. No coffee was offered and the food was so dry. It appeared that most residents just sat around. There was no physical engagement. I was very disappointed. My husbands well being was more important that the $[removed] that I lost.

There were many things my brother and I liked about the Courtyard, it's a beautiful facility which seems well staffed. However when some issues arose my Mom was not happy and we ended up moving her to different facility. Shortly thereafter she went into skilled nursing and she passed away last [date removed] . It always seems very clean and well kept both in common areas and residents rooms. We found the administrators and many staff to be helpful and polite, but Mom did have some issues with some of the staff, specifically nighttime and weekends staff. We realize it's harder to get people to work these shifts, but she told us some stories that were upsetting especially about staff yelling and bullying patients. This seemed to happen after hours when administrators weren't around. I requested frequent wellness checks on my Mom and they always responded as asked. They came when she needed them. Of my Mom's biggest complaints was the food quality and quantity. As one of the most expensive facilities in the area we expected food to be the best, but it wasn't. Part of the issue was that the resident cook, who my Mom actually knew before she went there, had an accident at his house shortly before she went in, and he wasn't able to be at work making meals while he was recuperating. So they had to have regular staff do the cooking and according to Mom they weren't good at it. But more concerning to me was that she said people weren't allowed to ask for seconds, or if they complained she said they were "punished" later, such as not getting privileges, etc. We did bring these concerns to the administrators but it seemed like nothing was done about it. The staff did seem to really try to come up with things for all the residents to participate in. my Mom often wasn't interested, but she did mention they would always ask her if she would participate. We felt the overall value was very good. the amount of unlimited caregiving was a huge bonus and the rooms very spacious. Basically there were a lot of positives, and especially after we ended up moving our Mother to another facility in town we saw a lot of things we missed that the Courtyard, Being all on one floor was a bonus for residents and visitors with mobility issues, no steps or elevators to wait for. Plus I loved the setup that they had which would have allowed our Mom to come in on one level of care, and stay in the same room even as her care needs increased. We had been told that at the Courtyard even if she would have gotten to the point of needing hospice she could have stayed in her same room, which would have been much easier and more comforting for her.

Management is a bit bullheaded. We were a little misled/misinformed. The explanation of services is ambiguous.

There is an occasional good meal but it's rare maybe once a week. The food is not good and my mom forgoes many dinners and has a snack instead provided my family members. Even the people who bring her the food say 'I'm not the cook, sorry' and have admitted they would not eat it. Also the menus posted do not match what is provided at the mealtimes. One positive is they will bring meal to her room for no extra charge (yet).

Go somewhere else. They trick you into letting them handle medicine then when you realize it, you have to go through a lot to get the medicine back so the resident can take them herself. They even stole some of her controlled substances medication. When she move out they either stole a lot of her stuff or they didn't call me to come and get what she left behind. The food was cold or not eatable.

We toured Encore at Mahtomedi and it was okay. Our tour guide that walked us through seemed well informed. The overall staff were very friendly and informative.

I had to remind them to give my mom a shower during the first month that she became a resident. A little slow at getting her wash done in a timely manner. Both issues improved with me making phone calls to management. The rooms in memory care are private and very nice.

Our family had an in person tour and the community is really big with big spaces, but the rooms were all studio sized apartments and that was just not going to work for our loved one.

I overheard this weekend that the lead med tech didn’t graduate high school and lied on her application! I’m very disappointed due to my loved one being in her care. This is not acceptable at all means!! PLEASE do something about this issue. My aunt loves it there and I don’t want to take her out of the facility

I was not able to view a room.

I have lived here for 5 months, still adjusting.

It has been challenging during Covid. My loved ones have not been as pleased with the food as they were expecting. Previous residents had told them it was quite good. During Covid, they've had shortages of staff, which has impacted quality. We've had a few instances of medication mix-ups, which is frightening. It has been more difficult getting transportation to and from appointments than we thought it would be. The intake process and getting us to points of contact was all wonderful. The people that we talked with were wonderful, and the move-in process was quite smooth. And then once they moved in, there were four separate weeks of lockdown in the last 5-6 months, which has been really difficult. I'm very hopeful that much of the negative aspects that we've experienced are primarily due to Covid. Prior to that, we received very high recommendations from people we knew and trusted. Bellevue has responded well when we've go to them with concerns. But we've had to be doing ongoing monitoring, which I don't think we should have to be doing.

I would not recommend you come to The Courtyard. They are now giving my loved one a bath once a week; however, it took a month to get this to happen. My loved one likes some of the other residents. The food is not as good as it could be. It seems to be getting better since they are in the dining room. The community is only getting the Moderna booster and they told me that I had to make arrangements to take my loved one to get the other booster.

Location wise we really like this community, and from what we hear from our loved ones they really enjoy their room and set up, they say it is very spacious. Also they are really loving the meals and dining service, and we can see their activities calendar and there is a lot to be offered. Our loved one says thing sometimes there is to much bingo. For the lower ratings, it is really hard to get a hold of someone when your reaching out, and when we do get a hold of someone they are not the friendliest and they rush you off the phone. We know communities right now are struggling so it is not Encore's fault but they are having issues with keeping their staff members.

I was not happy with this community. The community just did not have the right feeling when we went. It felt as if there was nothing there and we would have to buy furniture and the room was a lot smaller. There were also multi levels and I did not want that for my loved one.

see ratings above

Love everyone here!

Everything is fine!

I don't think there will be any community that you will be gungahoo. The room and board price is ok. I don't feel my loved one is the best care. The staff only bathes my loved one twice a week. The shower chairs that have been sent have all been wrong. Finally the community sent pictures of what the shower chair my loved on needs, so I sent that on to the medical equipment company. My loved on has been in this community since June of this year. There are only 39 rooms in this community. The staff forgets what the residents needs or there is a major delay in getting the items for the residents. The staff doesn't let me know what my loved one needs until they are out of medication or personal items. The staff doesn't lay out the items for my loved one to see' they just through it in their room. My loved one doesn't enjoy the food.

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.