Sunrise Senior Living

We are pleased with the facility. There are still a few things we are working on with some of the staff, but everyone is so helpful and willing to talk with us. Our dad is happy there and has made many friends. He feels "at home" in his new environment. When in the hospital last month, he said that he really missed being there and whenever we stopped in to pick something up for him, the other residents were asking about him. I feel that we made the best choice.

Overall, I've been happy with Sunrise at Sunnyvale. The facilities themselves are very nice and welcoming. The caregivers are wonderful and truly do care about the residents. My husband needed a higher level of care and he's definitely receiving that at Sunrise. My one area of concern is that some administrators at Sunrise are not as easy to work with as the rest of their staff. Fortunately, I don't need to interact with them often.

Everyone is very friendly. There were a few hiccups at the beginning with the administration but everything was worked out. So far they have been very helpful and pleasant with mom. She can be difficult. The staff is always pleasant and helpful.

Overall, this is an appealing place in a pleasant setting. We liked the idea that there are only about 70 residents there. We both agreed that the rooms were considerably smaller than we expected (We are familiar with Country Meadows in Frederick). Particularly small when a room is shared. The size doesn't matter if you are someone who socializes well and often -- lots of places to get together with other residents outside of your room. But if you tend toward reclusive or shy, then the rooms, especially shared rooms, seem confining. Otherwise, we were impressed with Sunrise. This is the first place we visited, so comparison is difficult.

We found the room (sharing) was not quite as divided as one might expect. The bathroom was not clean upon entering, notification was given and it was promptly serviced, and kept clean thereafter. The meals were average good food and service. Personal service was good, The extra care was good, the medications were delivered as prescribed, on time. The overall "living experience" was good, although my mother could not partake in the activities.because of her debilitating illness. I found the up-front move-in fee high, but the day-to-day fees are acceptable. Well kept, pleasing manicured grounds, and cheerfull caring employees-all the way to the top executive level was pleasant. Placement was as quick as one could wish for.

This was okay, it was right across from a huge high school and also on a very busy thoroughfare and a real busy intersection and my mom likes to go out for walks and I opted against it mainly for that reason. It would have been pretty much the same as the other Sunrise in Naperville but what was going on, as far as the activities, i think it would have been better overall. For me, cause we were having problems at the time with my mom, we were trying to figure out how to get the car keys from her, and she's not a good driver to begin with so I said to myself, I'm thinking "flight risk" constantly with her.

I think there is more they could be doing with activities and there appears to be some problems with transportation. I think there's more things they could do in the area but they have a bus and everything but I don't know if they have a driver on the weekends. The big thing for our family is that my mom is Catholic and probably the only thing she did socially up to this point is go to Mass and there is a church hald a mile away but they don't provide any transportation to get there. They have someone come in just for Communion and I know they have other people come in for other denominations but when I asked about Mass they kind of hedged around that. I do think she's in a safer place because there are people all around but there's a lot of times when my mom is outside and there's a park next door so she'll go out for walks but I'm really wondering if they're monitoring what she's doing. I know they ask and make sure she gets to meals but as far as other activities... I think part of it is lack of interest on her part. The only thing I'm going to say, no care giver, or say for instance the marketer or the person who got her in, none of them have really approached us afterwards to see, like everybody knows her, but nobody's asking how she is doing.

It's a very nice place. When you walk in it seemed like it was a step above but it was quite a bit more expensive. The location of Sunrise, there's a lot of traffic right there. It's got a nice porch around it and a nice, Victorian look to it. The staff was friendly and they have full care if needed and a wing set up for that so if you need that later you wouldn't have to move.

My father in law was only there for about 2 months and then he died, he was there at a very different stage in his decline. We actually hired our own person to come in and sit with him 24/7 because they aren't staffed for that and we had hospice also but they helped us arrange for that. They were very friendly and the manager on the floor would pop in and check in to say hello and see how things were going.

It's terrific! It's great and I think she's happy there.

Value? I wouldn't know if i'd go there if I were you, it's a lot of money per month, 5,500 dollars per month, so a lot of money but the care was pretty good, I'm not disatisfied. We chose it because it was the least expensive, it was convinient and that was that. He would sit by himself in his room and had issues, he didn't want to be there, it wasn't a pleasant experience for him. The problem was he was the only blind patient there and I don't think they had a lot of experience dealing with that but they did the best they could.

The thing I would like to add, because many of their patients have dementia, they're losing their glasses, hearing aid and teeth so I'd like some type of insurance that would help cover the cost because they're constantly losing stuff. Currently they do not cover things like that. They do shopping and go and visit historical sites and museums. They have spiritual services and sing alongs and something similar to a class that deals with English and math. I think it's just really to help them with their memory and then of course they do yoga and some type of exercise. My aunt seems to be doing very well there. She's adjusting a lot better than I though she would. I found they had the facilities there that could take care of her better than I could.

I would say it's very clean, the staff is very good. I think it's relatively too soon for me to judge costs; it seems comparable to other facilities, I don't know because their cost is still changing because they're assessing her care need and getting used to her but I don't think that's just Sunrise. The care seems very good, my mother seems happy, she always looks well kept, there's always activities available, she's always there but not physicially participating. Right now she's on the remembrance level, that floor is really much better equipped for what she needs. I'm a nurse, so this probably may have something to do with it, but I would like more medical and care involvement, and also as a family member that has been taking her to the doctor, I feel that has been somewhat severed. It's a double-edged sword, she's know at a place where the doctor comes to her so that burden isn't on me but I'm not there to go back and forth with the doctor like I used to, it's a little harder for me to get those updates on how she's doing. Other than that I don't think she could probably be in a better place, it's very accomodating for where she's at now.

She was here for about 9 months, they had the wander guard but it didn't work for my mother at all, it prevented her from going outside at all. She would see people who could go outside and she couldn't be there with them so that would irritate her.

Things are going really good there, were really comfortable having them there

They're pet firendly. It's a 3 story facility and when I first saw it was 1/3 full because it had just opened. I was devestated at the end of the tour because my mother came out of the office for the interview and she came out and she said why are you two people throwing me in the garbage? She was just not ready to go into a facility at that point. It's porch is on the 3rd floor. they can put a cover over the top and drape it down so they can still get out when the weather is not great. It still gives them the idea of being outside.

Peace of mind wise, I would say it's a 5. Cost wise I've only paid for 2 months and the long term insurance is paying for it now. Right now my parents are on medication management which is a god send for me! One of the reasons I chose them, and I did a lot of research, was because they still have some friends in the area to come visit. Also it was small unit, two stories. I knew they really didn't want to go and I figured it would be an easier transition to a smaller unit and it has been. I can stay there and I can bring my dog. There are rules and regulations with the dog that I have to abide by and I don't mind that because the minute my mother sees her she calms right down. If something happens with my dad, they will move her to another Sunrise community near me in Massachusettes. I don't have to take that expense. Sunrise has been marvelous. They really do wonders with the Alzheimer's people.

2Bedrooms apartments are 1056sf good sized but only have kitchenettes.

I really liked the Assisted Living side, lively and cheerful. I did not particularly care for the Memory Care side. Seems that the lower-functioning residents were a lot less functional than mom. There is a waiting list at this location. Seems mom may fit in the Terrace Club (Barrington and Wilmette only). However, she will have trouble with the assessment since it will be in English--this is a problem (applies to all facilities).

This placed turned out to be for people with higher care needs. Maybe if my mom was in poorer health it would have been a better fit.