Encore

I visited the Hickory Park community and found it to be very nice for what I was looking for in living. Everything about it from the staff to the care needs was of comfort to me. The only downside to the community was the price i was willing to pay, I just felt it to be out of my price range.

They never went out of their way. She fell a lot while she was there. Not a great experience.

I am not happy with them. They are not truly a memory care facility for Alzheimer's dementia. She kept getting out the door and they couldn't handle her angry outbursts. They called us constantly requesting us to come and get her. The courtyard is insisting we still pay for the month of January because we have to give a 30 day notice even though she is no longer there. I don't feel we should have to pay due to them not being able to handle her.

They were very accommodating regarding getting my husband in on short notice. They were not equipped to handle his night wanderings or his aggressive behavior. In the six weeks he was there he was sent out to the ER three times only to be released back to them after some testing. I had to hire someone to be with him overnight which was very expensive. Not the right place for my husband who needs constant supervision.

Staff are the best. Everyone goes out of their way to help you. Activities are really good too. There is a large variety of things to do. The food is yuck. One hour for each meal is NOT enough.

Very good staffs, but there are not enough of them during night time to monitor the residents, especially the high risk elders.

The facility staff were not always very helpful, but I get they were busy. Admin staff were mediocre. Mom's room and bathroom was not clean. Toilet was disgusting and they said they were changing the carpet, but they did not even vacuum. I complained, but no one did anything about it until Monday following the weekend we moved her there. The facility was clean other than that. There were plenty of activities which was good. Now I'm waiting for a refund for mom's short stay in July. Apparently, it takes 45 days for that which is utterly ridiculous. The cost was comparable to other homes. The facility was nice.

Residents must be independent. Very little support. Especially at night. Night staff sub par. No nurse support and food bad. The staff knew about all of our concerns.

The Courtyard of Centerville review: Nice rooms Nursing staff is very helpful and seem competent. Food is average but may be better than others. My input is based on a couple of years observations. I do realize labor issues of the current environment which makes it even more important to have documented policies. I question the top management experience and the lack of policies and procedures for employees to follow. The lack of defined policies and procedures assures one thing. INCONSISTENCY. I have seen it! Due to the lack of polices and procedures the staff appear to do what they want with apparent little accountability. I am not referring to the nursing professionals. I have examples but will not elaborate here. Focus is on the lack of policies and procedures and the inconsistency due to this. An audit would validate facility operating compliance to policy and procedures.

It's gone downhill since she first went in and I'm not a fan of the current director she is nasty to staff and residents but of course not in public. I used to recommend it to other people but not now

This facility was bought by someone else and it was a shortage of staff bringing agency staff they were rude and inexperienced. The food choices were terrible too. Lack and inexperience staff, lack of communication between staff and management. Really bad food for the residents!! I probably would not recommend them to others who are looking.

There is not a lot of staff, but that is probably true for all assisted living communities. My MIL complains of small portions of food.

The community is very clean and some of the staff members are friendlier then others. Some of the care givers are better and some sit on their phones. Overall the meals are pretty good, our loved one cleans plate. Some days are really fun and well organized with activities but other days not so much - could be better. Different add ons can get costly. For what happened recently we would not recommend this community to others .

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.