Oak Park Retirement

1. Over all experience: Medium: love the location: many places currently have problems finding and hiring good workers.. The housekeeping staff are overscheduled and often pulled from their hired duties.. This creates problems but lots of staff do the best they can:. The wait staff are not given due consideration by Corporate. They are required to serve as if a 5 star restaurant. The clientele would prefer seeing these folks be able to use carts rather than carry very heavy trays of dishes. It is wonderful to have Physical Therapy on premises: The size of this facility needs more than one elevator. That creates a problem when there are people with NO patience. Often Corporate is quoted when that is not truthful reality. Over all I would say if you can no longer cook or keep house etc. It is wonderful to have a place like this to reside. 2. Cleanliness: A major steam cleaning of carpets is done once a year. That is not enough as there is lots of spills etc by the older folks who use walkers, canes, wheel chairs. Again the available staff are stretched to keep up with the need. The bath rooms are always given the attention needed. They are always kept clean(if there is a mess, they address immediately). 3. Friendliness: [name removed]-Administrator is great. He is friendly and kind. Always willing to help and very pleasant. [name removed]-Administrator (wife of [name removed]) is loud, obnoxious, will yell at you and is not always nice. Prior to my leaving she was on leave and their son was acting in her place. His personality is like his dad's. Assistant Adm. [name removed] is wonderful , a Saint. So sweet and friendly and always helpful. [name removed] (husband of [name removed]) Assistant Adm. is lazy, grumpy, hateful and a smart alec. He can do an about face and be really nice. Overall most staff friendly. Seems confidentially is not always confidential. 4. Quality of care. The Adm. Staff really seem to care for all the folks there. If anyone has a medical problem they are quickly attentive and seek emergency care. I know of situations they have personally done for a resident. High score in this area. 5. Food: occasionally there is a really good meal. Unfortunately it is not very often. I would give a low rating for food. No consistency in portion size. Sometimes lots of food. Sometimes not enough. Cheaper cuts of meats generally used. Many dishes had to be looked up on the internet to know what they were. And usually not very good. (Corporate wants to advertise as 5 star and they are barely 1star at times). They are required to use a certain type of pepper. It is so finely ground it chokes many older folks. They require a vase with artificial flowers on each table. There is not enough room on tables for all that is required to be there. The flowers are not regularly cleaned. Consequently are a fly magnate. They have no back up menu in case there is a problem. One evening the salmon was burned badly. They served it anyway. But it all got sent back to the kitchen. A bad experience for all. At one meal of chicken. One resident said"I didn't know I ordered a child's plate" She hadn't of course. Most of the time the desserts were good. However, if one was not very good, they would serve until it was all gone. They were supposed to always have snacks available. They did not. Often these were depended upon to carry the hunger until the next meal. Not being there the folks went away hungry. All of the above was brought to the attention of Adm and Chief Cook. Always a promise of working on to make better. That never happened. Corporate was made aware of the problems. They sent in a person to work things out. They came for about 2 weeks. Never talked with any residents. Those two weeks there was an improvement in the food. After they left the situation resumed as before. Corporate said they have had the same meal planner for 20 years. I suggested perhaps it was time for an update. The food is a part of my decision to leave. It is sad to see older folks who cannot for different reasons get food from outside to supplement. : 6. Activities. There are always activities for people of all different abilities. I give them an A or high score for this. 7: value for money: I am not sure how to address this issue. I believe they could retain more quality staff with better wages. They definitely need to allow more food budget money. I do not know the profit margin of Corporate. But with inflation I believe everyone will need to give a little.

She really likes it now that she's settled in there. Right now they have one Covid case, and they've handled precautions pretty well, although they don't require a vaccination to live there. But people coming in from the outside are required to wear a mask. They had a problem with the food, but it's gotten better lately. They said it was a matter of getting supplies so they could put together a good menu. They don't currently have a cleaning staff, and the assistant manager has been let go. So there's been kind of a lot of upheaval, but they're holding it together, and she's settling in well. They have lots of activities, and she's enjoying Texas Hold 'Em poker, bingo, and bus trips to Walmart and different places. The in-house care and PT is really good as well. They come to her apartment and have been very helpful in getting her proper shoes to wear, and they ordered her an electric cart. The doctor there treats a lot of the patients, and she really likes him. The location is convenient for our family, and I feel like we did a good in picking them. They have a variety of choices in living spaces - penthouse apartments with vaulted ceilings, 1- and 2-bedroom apartments, and studios. The manager and assistant manger live there on-site, so someone is always there 24/7. My mom fell, and they were up there immediately. They do everything for her. They hung up her pictures and shelve and even installed a paddle fan in her bedroom. They have been more than accommodating. Everyone knows her and likes her, and she's made good friends. We're delighted that she's there and liking it and having opportunities she wouldn't have if she were still living by herself in her own home. I highly recommend it.