Merrill Gardens

Make sure to visit first and see if the place is right for your family members. It will get expensive very fast.

Care is better, but only one caregiver from 10 PM to 6 AM. I would. It is much cleaner, less hospital like. Care during day better and less expensive. Food is just ok.

Friendly staff in memory care unit. Attentive to residents. There has been turnover with the director's (3 in less than a year). The facility is well maintained, freshly painted and new art on walls. Housekeeping does a good job with cleaning and laundry. Staff to resident ratio could be higher. Due to the nature of the memory care, precautions with locked doors is good. Meals are well proportioned and of good quality. Nurse Practioner, podiatrist visit facility and home health with PT and OT visits seem regular based on residents needs. Medication is kept in locked and stored area with authorized personnel delivering on a timed schedule. I so feel some additional things could make the facility better for elderly residents: Grab bars near toilets; shower seats with handles; call buttons or monitoring in rooms. My mother fell and was in bathroom with broken arm and severe bruising of her face without personnel knowledge for a period of hours. Perhaps more frequent rounds checking rooms 24/7, monitoring devices, etc. Patients with moderate to severe dementia/Alzheimer do not remember what or when something happened, so the extra precautions may help. It would also be nice if there was an online portal to check on residents and to get email updates from staff.

Staff are really great! Highly recommended.

My mother was a resident at the Pines for about two years. When she arrived, she was at a moderate level of dementia and so had some challenges. The staff at the Pines made her feel welcome and she integrated well into the community. As Mom's condition gradually grew worse, the staff continued to do a great job meeting her needs. Staff wheeled her from her room to common areas (including dining) when she lost her ability to walk. They also took care of her needs as she became incontinent. In the latter stages of Mom's stay at the Pines, the staff even pureed her food for her so she could eat. They also assisted her in feeding. I am very grateful for all the care that Mom received while she was at the Pines. I would also like to mention that the care Mom received from the Nursing staff was excellent; very attentive to her needs. I finally had to move my mother to a nursing facility recently, as her condition continues to worsen. I would highly recommend The Pines.

Their billing practices are questionable. Other than that, pretty good. Facility nice. Housecleaning so so. Menu limited. Food tasty.

The hands on staff are very attentive and loving towards my mom. The maintenance staff could use some common sense. [name removed], the general manager is an absolute gem. She has a way of making you feel supported in your decision to move a loved one into the facility and that she has your back anytime, day or night.

My brother is in memory care. He still has enough of his mental faculties to be a bit bored day-to-day, but overall he seems content. The staff are pleasant and kind. Meals are the highlight of his day, and my brother has become a member of the 'men's table.' There is a library where he can check out books to read.

I spent 6 mos there. In that time I met 1 person who was in my age bracket that lived as an independent who was blind. I became somewhat of a caretaker than just friends. There were more women then men but None my age. Entertainment consisted of board games and random speakers. A movie once a week sitting on hard chairs. Thursday thru Friday was a 2 drink happy hour followed by a 4pm dinner. While I was there many people were hospitalized with severe abdominal infections. They allowed people with Covid to rejoin the dining room as soon as they were discharged from the hospital. Multiple people required EMS every day from falls and such. I don't know if I mentioned my medication was taken from my apartment the day I moved in and later recovered

The activities are TBD (my Dad has yet to regularly engage in them). The staff is very helpful and responsive to all questions before placement and continues still now. All issues are addressed in a timely manner. Truewood is independent living, but they have an independent, on-site contractor for comfort care assistance. This helps our family keep our cost down but still provides the assistance our Dad needs in his aging stage.

Felt the staff was awesome. Yes, we would recommend this community to other families with the caveat of the food was questionable and portions seemed limited.

Facility is bigger than most would expect so be prepared for lots of walking or rolling. Nice enough staff. Food choices aren't great.

Caring staff. Clean. Nutritious meals. Would benefit from more activities

Initial setup and move in was great. Clean apartment, any issues were quickly resolved. My father in law adapted well, with the exception of the dining. More of a social issue than food quality Im guessing . . Lots of sidewalks for him the get his exercise. Not what you would expect. Would suggest to those that are looking for Senior Independent Living.

I would recommend to others. The food is not fried with olive or avocado oil.

Staff and residents are kind and nice. I really like that one can order meals from morning to 7pm throughout the day as it fits your schedule.

The aides are very caring and make a point to get to know the residents likes and dislikes. The only reason * didn't give a 5 is the food could be more traditional meals. They often serve odd food pairings versus traditional meat, starch, and vegetable

The staff is great. Billing was very poor. Beautiful clean facility. Friendly, knowledgeable and trustworthy administrators and staff.

Generally, very happy with Merrill. Good amount of activities. Care is good. The caregivers get to know mom so that personal touch/relationship is good. I have gotten calls when they can't find her (in the roof garden or was checked out and system was down) or when she fell. Negatives - food isn't great. Chefs and servers don't seem helpful in helping with food allergies/sensitivities. Also, lots of turnover with staff, especially key people: [name removed], Head of medical, head of medicine, chef, activities lead, sales people (not as big of a concern).

The only thing I didn't like about the location was the activities Director. She used to be the sales manager, but she doesn't have any personality at all, the only activities she did while I was there were with somebody who came in from outside to do it. She was not at all engaged with the residents, and I know a little bit about it because my wife did it for years. Other than that, it's a very nice place in a very good price.