Lutheran Life Communities

My first impression of the facility was five-star worthy however I witnessed an incident in the memory unit that made me shake my head in disbelief. One of the staff members was dealing with an agitated resident and called out for back-up at least five times and not one of the group of 3 or 4 staff members standing around talking went on to help out. That's not even the worst of it. A family member who was visiting one of the residents ended up running out of her loved ones room to assist the staff member! Is that how little they care about a resident who is agitated and in need of help? The staff in the memory unit at Luther Oaks should be ashamed of themselves.

We put our money down and picked a move in date, we did not get the 40 page contract until the day we moved in and we had to sign it right then and there. It then took a month to get a copy of that contract. When I got it and read it I realized there was a resident handbook that we did not get. They told me they do not hand it out anymore even though things I read were very important. When you move in, you are practically on your own to figure things out. Someone is supposed to clean residents rooms for an hour every other week and I do not see anything being done other than the bed being made. It is not clean unless I go in and do it for her. They are having staffing issues, they have a shortage of people to do things like clean and serve the meals. The options on the food menus are not healthy, they have a lot of bread and fillers. Their big meal is at night, I think it would be beneficial if they changed that to lunch time. I know they have just hired a new food service, I am hopeful that things will change. Overall there have been many things that we are disappointed with during our experience. It is a very nice facility that has a ton of potential.

My grandparents moved into the Wittenberg Village roughly eight years ago. My grandfather passed away nearly three years ago, and my grandmother, who has experienced significant cognitive decline, moved to another assisted living facility two years ago. It was not until my grandmother moved out that we reviewed the contract they had signed when they moved in. What we came to find out was seriously concerning. Wittenberg is a “buy-in” community, meaning that my grandparents paid a $300,000 “entrance fee” (in addition to $2000/month “service fee”) to reside in the community. They did not own the residence they lived in, nor, per the contract, were they “tenants.” The contract provides that 90% of the $300,000 entrance fee (notably without interest) is to be returned upon moving out once Wittenberg has found a new resident for the same home. Effectively, the contract gives Wittenberg massive leverage over the significant financial “entrance fee,” and even perversely incentivizes Wittenberg to delay finding new residents and reimbursing the “entrance fee.” It has now been two years and Wittenberg has not refunded the $270,000, despite having their employees reside in my grandparent’s old residence. When we inquired about employees residing in the residence, Wittenberg was extremely evasive, but ultimately confessed to having their director living in the residence. They still asserted they had no obligation to return the $270,000 entrance fee until they found a new resident, nor could they point to any reasonable efforts they’ve taken to find a new resident. While I can’t speak to how the medical/care staff are at Wittenberg, I can confidently say that Wittenberg’s management cares only about their bottom line, and their business model is highly deceptive. I would strongly recommend against this “buy-in” facility. To anyone considering Wittenberg, I would be happy to provide our experience if you reach out.