Momentum Senior Living

We chose The Carington at Lincolnwood because it was a new facility and it was built to be what it was. A lot of what we looked at were converted from hotels and such. The apartment sizes are very good. Being fairly new, it was easy to acclimate and make new friends because everyone was pretty new. I would recommend without reservation.

The Carrington at Lincolnwood has done an amazing job with COVID. They have had very few cases and are doing a great job with keeping all of the residents safe. They are doing outside visits with your loved one during these times. We chose this facility because the location to family and it just seemed to be a good fit my sister. The best part is having the comfort and security of knowing my sister is safe. She has also made friends within the community. I would highly recommend it.

" I moved my mom from an Independent Living Facility in Winston-Salem, NC. [date removed] because she needed a higher level of care and no other family members were in NC. Initially, I was happy with the facility I placed her in. However, when the Director of Nursing left and Parkinson Disease patients were placed on the floor she received minimal care because she was high functioning. November 2018 three new memory care facilities opened and there were more options. What sold me on the Carrington's Memory Care Unit was: ??Dedicated and consistent staff: nursing assistants, nurses, food service, and life enrichment that are patient with the residents and accommodate their quirks. ??This fall my mom developed pneumonia which can be devastating for someone 94 years old. The nurse noticed it immediately and got the portable x-ray and MD there within 12 hours and mom was back on her feet within 48 hours after being unable to walk. ??Pleasant and open environment. Rooms are designed by someone that understands the residents. I appreciate the locks on the closets since my mom is always packing to go on a trip or home. Now there is less stuff to pack and put back ??Family member's have the option to take residents to some of the independent living facility activities which expands their options ??Great food with a variety of selections versus being served family style I am especially thankful that she is at the Carrington during the quarantine based on the staff's dedication and management's timely updates"

The Carrington is a brand new facility that offers Assisted Living (@ 88 apartments), Memory Care (@ 25 rooms) and Independent Living (@ 250 apartments). They opened in May 2018 and are slowly, but surely, getting the units filled in. My in-laws are in the Assisted Living which only has about 1/4 of the apartments filled at this time, but new residents move in frequently. The staff is great and they work with the surrounding community for medical services, activities and more. The medical attention to residents is very personalized and they keep up with required services. Each resident is given an electronic fob for emergency as well as access to their apartment. The food is good, although the chef is working on satisfying all needs and still working on the menu. The apartments are gorgeous with wide spaces and room to comfortably move around. Each room has their own thermostat. The best is that the showers are zero-entry....no lip on wall to step over. The other great service is that the town of Lincolnwood has worked with the Carrington to provide emergency services (ambulance) on premises 24/7 to take people to the hospital as needed the second something goes wrong. No waiting for emergency services! I highly recommend the Carrington. It is competitively priced with other facilities in Chicago and are very reasonable for the services they provide.

I'm in the independent living section, which is much better than expected! I've told others that the staff at the Carrington take their "nice" pills every day. The executive director is very available for any resident and does her best to make live fun, safe, and productive. There are also assisted living and memory care areas that I am less familiar with. What I didn't like about other retirement communities is that they tended to be dark, old fashioned, with narrow hallways, floral prints on the walls and overstuffed furniture in the common areas. The Carrington was described in their brochures as "urban" - and it is. Wide well-lit hallways, nice contemporary wall art and furniture (that doesn't sink down to the floor when you sit on it!) and lots of community space - living room areas on all floors, a bar, lunch room and open and bright dining area - libraries (at least two!), medical office with nurse on duty. The food (everybody wants to know!) is very good, and many times excellent (filet mignon anyone?). There's a fish, veggie, and meat dish, salad, soup, and desert for all lunches and dinners. OTOH, maybe too good... The apartments are mostly "right sized" - enough room if you downsized enough, but a bit short on storage space - unless you pay an extra amount for an extra 4ft cube of storage. There are studio, one bedroom, and two bedroom apartments, some with balconies. There is a "wellness center" including a very well equipped gym, swimming pool, and an experienced trainer. There are two art/craft rooms, one equipped with two brand new (lower end) sewing machines, two cutting tables with cutting mats; the other is equipped with tools and other materials that depend on current projects. Another goodie that's coming some time in the following months - the town is locating an emergency response unit right in the Carrington buillding! As with any brand new facility/community, there are some growing pains. The ones I've observed the most revolve around food service, but they are obviously working on that and I expect things to iron out soon. It's not for lack of trying (both wait staff and management); it seems to me to be a matter of process and training.

What they could improve on would be to have better food, but we like the people at the community and we would recommend Highpoint at StoneCrest to other families based on the experience we have had so far.

The Carrington is lovely but could be far better. It needs overall updating. We thought it was a new building built in 2018 and it is not. It is showing wear and tear. Furniture needs painting, machines (coffee, teas, and juices) need repair, and an elevator was out for over two months. Apartment designs are not thought out for seniors. There are oversized kitchens when people have meal plans and there is a lack of thought in senior design. You need more than bars. No storage in bathrooms other than under sink. Almost all the units require you to walk through walk-in closets to go to the bathroom and they have two doors. Use pocket doors! Showers elsewhere are tempered glass and have no shower curtains which can mold, are not transparent and are difficult to keep clean. Needs updating. Start one apartment at a time. appliances are relatively new and over complicated for senior use. Any appliances in a senior facility should be user-friendly. They have the new stackable front load washers and dryers with instructions on how to maintain the rubber seals to prevent mold, etc. This is in a senior facility. Why complicate things? Meds are kept in apartment here and this is different from the other facilities we have visited. Food is inconsistent. Hot food is not always warm. Staff is very nice but service is so slow, it needs to be modernized. When food is ready and up for service - the staff needs to be alerted as a reminder. Services hours are very early and/or narrow. Breakfast: 7:30 - 9:30 Lunch: 11:30 - 2:00 pm Dinner: 3:30 - 6:30 pm

Prices are going up and quality is going down. Staff is hard to retain. Missed opportunities for a boutique-style senior community: their movie selections are TERRIBLE! You have seniors and are in the movie capitol of the world. You could have themed movie nights: musical or mystery Mondays, etc. Movies are barely attended. A senior who does not drive, does not have family or a caregiver can spend time in isolation when they could be out and socializing and enjoying good movies. They have a Tavern and have a Happy Hour daily. It does not have to be an alcoholic drink. It gets people out and together before dinner.

An excellent sales person and the facility is beautiful. Pros- Great decor, a pool, doctors on site, a hair and nail salon too, a nice courtyard, and a walking path through the adjoining community are all very nice. They also have a ride service for appts off site and a lot of activities offered daily. They make bed & do laundry! Cons- Move in wasn’t as guided as we felt our parents needed. We left not feeling they knew what to do or where to go the next day. We did contact sales about this. Also- There are different levels of care that each resident gets and we were paying for a level for my MIL that she wasn’t getting. But we found out she wasn’t being given showers through her, not the nurses or staff. Big difference in our cost and not okay. Lastly, they weren’t submitting paperwork to long term care that we had filled in & communicated upon move in. A lot of time & phone calls on our part to get that going. Overall due to pros above we recommend the place but be on top of things!

We chose the 501 because the facility was clean, stylish, they offered a good care plan, had caring staff and a friendly administration. All of the staff seems professional.

Wonderful community of residents and diversity. Staff-friendly personable. Activities available (if you take advantage of them). Good-Excellent Chef, Service improving menu inclusive for Dietary requirements. Facilities is bright and secure.

These answers are based on my observations when my husband and I went to visit. I will tell you I had a big issue with the medical care from either the doctor or the nurse practitioner. One of them ordered thousands of dollars worth of lab work on my friend who is 94, including every STD you could think of. It was ridiculous and I think is total Medicare fraud. I've been planning on reporting it to Medicare but just haven't gotten around to it.

It is quite expensive, and they have raised prices over the year. That makes us less happy. But the facility and the people are great. People should ask not just about current pricing but about historical price increases.

My parents are very happy there and that is the most important thing to me.

Everyone is soooo nice. Housekeeping is wonderful! The move in process was very smooth. The meals are very good quality, but the only thing that doesn't really work for us is the meal point allotment. It's a use it or lose it system, and sometimes we just have to lose it. I have and will continue to recommend this community!

There could have more activities for the residents, some days they are bored. The place is spotless. The people are very nice. As far as I can tell they are doing a good job. I've heard some of the residents say they don't like the choices, but the menu looks good to me. They need to have more exciting options. I've heard the residents say they don't care for the activities they have, the calendar appears full, but maybe asking them what they'd like to do and incorporate new things might be good. Seems to be in line with other places. It's pricey but it is a very nice place so I think it's priced fair.

The staff is wonderful!! Everyone from the receptionist to the dining crew are super friendly! The housekeeping is good. Communication with the family is good, however we don't need much at this point. My parents see a wonderful psychologist weekly! The kitchen is in a bit of a transition right now as they changed chefs. The quality is great, but there are staffing/timing delays. I would and have already recommended this facility to others.

The Variel is a brand new facility, and it is beautiful! Memory Care patients are on the seventh floor, which has full floor to ceiling windows! It is bright and cheery, and the view is amazing. The staff is very friendly and caring. However, as a new facility, we have experienced a few bumps along the way. They were understaffed for a while. That made things a little rough for a while. Things are much better now. They seem to be working out the bugs. The nursing staff is great. My Dad gets his meds on time. On the seventh floor residents get a nice big room, or an even bigger room, depending on what you want to pay. The food is very high quality, tasty and healthful. It does sometimes arrive from the downstairs kitchen cold. Thank goodness for microwaves! My family likes the all-inclusive set up. There are never surprise fees. Residents who are not in memory care have nice apartments, a beautiful dining room and many have dogs! Every single resident I have met says they LOVE living there. Tons of activities for them too. In memory care there are fewer activities, but they have done salsa dancing, and they do art. Overall we are very satisfied with the Variel. It is by far the nicest place in the area. Let me know if you have questions.

What we really like about The Carrington will drive the residents to and doctors appointment which is very helpful. It ultimately is our Father-in-law's choice, but I do think we would recommend this community to other families.

My father in law is enjoying it there. It's clean, newer. Has excellent workout facilities and pool. Pretty active socially.