MorningStar of Rio Rancho

I am ranking this on using the memory care side of the facility. The facility that is not memory care is appealing which is what they sell you on. Experience on Memory care is what I am rating. The memory care area is way too large and the bedrooms are far from the main eating and gathering area. Each bedroom has to remain locked because residents wander and take things that don’t belong to them. If your mom/dad can carry a key and find there way back to their room great but most of them cannot. So using the bathroom or going back to their room is very difficult, not enough staff on that side to assist. If they are capable to join activities on the assisted living side they will take you there, if they have a concern of you wandering you do not go, totally understandable but activities for the memory care side is extremely limited. There really is no monitoring once the residents are put to bed on the memory care side. Unless you are requesting pop in night time checks they don’t happen. My mom was found on the floor many times in the morning when they came to get her dressed. There is a poor system for cameras but you pay additional for that and it doesn’t allow them to know instantly if they fell. It is not worth a self pay of close to[fee removed] per month to add additional a camera system which is useless. After my mom ended up falling several times and had to be transported to the hospital for review, her own doctor told us to find a smaller place for her. We did do that, I wish someone had suggested that right from the beginning. We moved her to a small set up with only 10 residents which not all of them our memory care, which was much better. We should have done that from the beginning, we were caught up in all the glitz of the Morning Star facility instead of quality of care, space, and feeling like family instead of corporate. I am sure the living assistance part is very nice just not memory care side. I was visiting every day trying to engage mom and saw a lot of the real hands on from the workers. Not enough workers for memory care. Don’t waste all that money on Memory Care, find a small home facility. My suggestion is if you think it is awesome, spend a few hours in the memory care unit. Watch, observe, what they are doing, take a walk like you are a resident trying to find your room or a bathroom and realize that no worker can even see you while you circle around that part of the facility looking for your room. They need cameras and more workers.

There were instances where staff called me instead of 911. I had to tell them to call. The meals themselves were wonderful. But they charged extra for things, like if mom didn't want to eat in dining room she was charged a fee. If I ate with mom they would charge her. So I stopped eating with my mom. I would recommend. Its a nice facility. One has to look past the polish though.

Overall, MorningStar has been a good choice for Mom, but I can see where some improvements need to be made. For example, it would be nice if they provided some evening activities occasionally as that is when my mom gets the loneliest. Also, some of the activities they do seem to be geared more for the staff themselves not necessarily those who live there. For example, they had a whole celebration of Barbie when the movie came out, and my mom was really rather annoyed with it. The staff are always friendly, and treat my mom with respect and care, which is very important to my family. The food is top-notch, and my mom enjoys the choices offered. She loves it when they bring it outside entertainment especially when they do the old time songs so they can sing along.

I moved my father into Morningstar Assisted Living last spring, and unfortunately, our experience has been disappointing. The facility has faced ongoing issues, such as non-functional transportation and a staff that seems ill-prepared to handle residents with health problems. The management appears disorganized, often reacting to problems rather than proactively addressing them. One staff member, [name removed], has shown a lack of compassion and professionalism, even discussing residents' personal matters openly with other residents and junior staff. It reminds me of middle school. My father's health concerns were met with threats of cruel and unusual treatment rather than support. The advertised amenities, such as fresh produce, are not provided, and the nurse is rarely on-site. Overall, I cannot recommend this facility based on our experience.

I would advise you watch and determine the facility and staff and do not rely on reports of their loved ones. Staff is conscientious, caring and professional. Facility is clean, nurturing and well equipped. It must always be remembered those clients in residence are confused, scared and/or feel abandoned to strangers. It is highly unlikely the loved's report, though the truth in their opinion, is accurate and unbiased.

I am thankful for them helping me and my mom and the situation we found ourselves in. Things have just gotten expensive .

Beautifil place for active petson. They promise the world to get you in then don't deliver on promised care. Waaay too expensive for what they give. If loved one is in a wheelchair, the room bathrooms are not set up for it. Too little staff. Hard to talk to management about issues. Promised transportation is unreliable. For the cost of the place, the service should be much better.

They just increased monthly 10k a month for memory care. They do have church and communion. They sit and watch TV in the main room most of the time. Have difficulty getting her compression socks. Employee turnover seems high. But the people I regularly see are kind.

Great experience!! Excellent experienced staff..

The entire staff has been an absolute delight. It felt like we were visitors at a resort with great hosts. The communication has been beyond wonderful, with wonderful feedback and great response times. The move in was smooth and very accommodating to our schedule. The meals have been great quality with a friendly serving staff to assist with decision making for mom. I would highly recommend MorningStar of Rio Rancho!

Staff was very nice. I was not impressed by the medical staff. In the six months my mother was there, there was a lot of turnover. If you or your loved one is self sufficient everything will be fine. If they're at all frail, you might consider a different venue.

Don't send your loved ones here! Outrageously expensive and won't work with you to forgive any fees, even ones that can be overlooked. We spent a fortune there. They are also not transparent. Told us my dad could go to their memory care then did not pick him up on his scheduled day. Never told us. We had to call to find out why. Pick another place!!?

My loved one lived in this facility and our experience was not good. The place is beautiful and gives a great first impression, but when it comes down to actual care of the residents it's not so great. There was so much miscommunication within the nursing staff and communication with the family could have improved also. The level of care that I ended up paying for was expensive, but I was assured that my loved one would get the care and assistance that she needed. However, she didn't get it. I was really disappointed with this facility. My tour was nice and it seemed like this facility was going to be a good place for my loved one. Things just didn't work out and we ended up moving our loved one to a different place. I have a couple of friends who had loved one's at this facility and also ended up moving them to a different place. From medication mix ups/not being given, to assistance for my loved one to get to and from the dining room (which they assured me several times that they would do and did not), to my loved one having a gouge in her forehead that I only knew about when I visited but was never notified of from the nursing staff....just not a good experience. I would not recommend this facility to family and friends. Again, the residents seemed overall happy, it's a nice atmosphere with a great mountain view, it's clean, the dining room is nice. But the care that is given to residents just isn't great, from our experience anyway.

Make sure you have the emails and phone number to the medical staff and managers. I live far away and doctor appointments need to be coordinated with their driving staff. They only will transport two days a week. Staff is friendly and willing to help. Encourages involvement in activities.

We picked this community, for several reasons, one is that it is in close proximity to my brother's house, it is a clean and very friendly facility, and it has a reasonable number of residents...not too big not too small. Overall, we are very pleased with the community, and our parents seem to be adjusting pretty well. I can't speak highly enough about the staff who gives them such good care!

We really like that the staff take the residents out to the main area with the other assisted living residents to listen to the live music and even participate in the bingo and arts and crafts if they are able to. However with the constant staff changes and shift changes we feel at times it could be chaotic with trying to keep all the staff on the same page. We do think with the onboarding process they could get all the paperwork together better since it all can be so overwhelming and confusing

I found communication between myself and the upper stuff to be a little slow, there was a gap of time in answers and when things would get done. But other than that, our experience with Morningstar was great and I would recommend to others looking as long as you are able to afford it.