Talamore Senior Living

We moved our mom in back in Feb 2022 and we have been very pleased with everything. The staff is kind and friendly. They are attentive and always willing to help. Amazing management team! They are easy to work with and always willing to answer questions and help resolve any issues that arise. We highly recommend this community.

We have told several people about this community for their loved ones . They are very friendly people. They have activities like bingo, puzzles, happy hour, church and more for the residents to do to stay busy.

We picked them because it was close to a hospital and freeway. New and bright interior. We needed to find someplace fast and they were willing to work with us to get my parents in within a week.

Wish they did more cleaning in mom's room. We loved the staff. The activities staff was amazing. The cost is so high, but other places are the same.

Talamore was wonderful overall. Talamore was clean, they kept things very tidy. The CNA's were kind to my Mom and me. They went out of their way to make things right for her and me. I actually miss seeing many of them. The staff took good care of my Mom. They distributed her meds, checked on her, called me about any concerns. The Nursing Director listened to my concerns, I was happy overall. Meals/Dining - This will be the lowest score. The food was ok, but I think they need to change-up the menu more. The Activities were great! They were always offering things to do, places to go and brought in a lot of entertainment. Value for cost - Well, it wasn't cheap to live there but you get what you pay for. My Mom stayed at 3 places and Talamore was the best. If I could do it all over again would I recommend Talamore, of course I would. They were good to Mom and me, I felt like they cared and connected with us both. It's a beautiful facility with very caring people.

The facility is very clean. Staffing is all in house no travelers. Food I think is an issue with all facilities lots of preprocessed and not much variety. The actives are very good there is someone there daily to do different things with patients. Only these facilities or Paramount on top of things things get missed like changes of medication that don't come right away specifics about your loved one that may not get passed on to each individual staff each day. Overall, they are much much better than the previous facility we were at, but it's only been because our family is very involved in my mom's care. Often go to see her and ask questions with the staff.

Be prepared for additional fees for every small service - making a bed, meal brought to the room, etc. Prepare to bring your loved one toilet paper, Kleenex, soap, Depends, etc. are not provided. Woodbury has major water issue due to 3M contamination of the aquifer. Until that is fixed, the city is recommending bottled water. Prepare to bring cases of water regularly for your loved one to drink. Staff turnover seems frequent - aids, nurses and maintenance. Communication with management and staff is problematic and often not taken to completion. Beautiful building, but lots of room for improvement in many areas. Unsure about recommending Talamore to others, but also know that every Assisted Living and Memory Care seem to have many of the same issues.

If you went by looks of the place alone, you would think it would be the best, because it's beautiful and clean and the salespeople and director are really good at selling the place. If you are needing a higher level of care, there are only a few staff members that seem skilled and trained enough to care for that level. Generally speaking, the staff are good and kind, but there are a few that are condescending and seem to avoid working with the residents, which ruins the positivity of the other aspects. They are understaffed like almost all places and many of the good staff are overworked and work doubles and you can tell are getting burnt out. I would train the staff better in transferring patients that need a 1-2 person transfer. Having lessons from a PT would be helpful (I had one lesson and had the PT giving me pointers a couple of times and I can easily transfer my loved one by myself and I'm a little person). The cleaning is good, they come once a week, but I wish they would avoid the heavily scented cleaners and use something that is more natural and not as potent. The move in process was easy and there is a back entrance and elevator and they have carts available. The meals are good and they have plenty of options. Generally speaking, yes, I would recommend the facility to others.

Everyone at Talamore has been very friendly to my Mom, me and my family. I'm always amazed at the number of activities going on and they are very good about including the residents in Memory Care. The food is ok, wish they offered more of a selection. Overall it's been fine and I have been really impressed with the administrative staff. Every question is answered and they have always addressed my concerns.

My Dad has been at Talamor Sun Prairie for a year now. He commented recently that this was a nice place to be. Everyone is so friendly there.

Communication on things like laundry pick up and delivery times, daily check in, too random, reminder knocks and even opening the door to announce meal times. Had to be addressed. The community is very new and clean. New facilities have a lot of 'bugs' to work out. They are addressing them promptly when made aware. Thermostat malfunctioning and they replaced it right away! The staff are so friendly and greet us in the halls, etc. The care services will improve as staff is there longer, they just opened 2 months ago. Still getting a feel for it all, residents and staff. The meals are very good. Learned quickly that half portions are best! Seem willing to work with dietary preferences. The activities are much more sparse than we thought. Chair exercises, a movie, occasional outings, happy hour or grill out is good. I think our expectations were not realistic in this area. Thinking there would be more organized small group things for people with more memory issues and wanting to stay connected in simple activities. Maybe they have to live in the memory care section for these types of activities. They seem more geared to fully cognitive people. The value for cost is a lot of $ of course, but the whole industry is heartbreaking for our seniors to afford. It's reassuring to know that help is there if needed though!

It's been a really great situation for my mom. The activities directors and the activities they facilitate are great. Their marketing person has been great. The staff are attentive if something needs to be done. My mom is very happy there. But I think there are some things that aren't set up well for an assisted living facility. If you go into the apartments, the cupboards are way to high in the kitchen. The toilet is too low for older people. There is also a public restroom on the first floor near the dining area that I've asked for them to put in handicap assisted buttons to open/close the doors because I've witnessed multiple residents have a hard time getting in/out with their walkers/wheelchairs. The executive director misunderstood my request and has not gotten back to me after I clarified that I meant only that one bathroom, not all doors in the building.

Moved to Talamore [date removed]. Not very happy at first. Several experiences made me doubt efficiency of management. New manager- great improvement. [name removed] activities director- wonderful. I feel that things just get better and better. Staff is very warm, friendly, and helpful. Now I am content and I would not consider living anywhere else.

The staff and residents are very friendly. Some of the activities available include exercise, religious services, puzzles, monthly birthday celebrations, and more for the residents to participate in, if they choose. They have doctors on staff and PT is able to go to the resident's rooms.

They are understaffed, even though they are not at full capacity there are still not enough staff for the people that are there. My loved one has one of the most expensive packages and breakfast is at 8:00 am, a lot of times they don't come to get my loved one until around 10-11 am to get breakfast so she misses it. Then they charge $3 to deliver the food to you. Some of the staff are amazing but some of them are not there to take care of these people, most of them are good but some are not. The RN on staff is terrible. The residents are sent to the ER for anything. They recently lost the head chef also so at this time the meals are not good at all and a lot of residents dislike it. There is also a bistro that is supposed to be open but it has not been open since the time we have been there so we are not able to go eat with our loved one. It is a beautiful facility and if it was how it was advertised it would be good.

The facility itself is beautiful, and I think people would be very lucky to be able to live there. Some of the other kinks could be worked out with more communication from the staff that are helping the residents. We've had couple of main concerns. First, they went over my head when they made the decision to put our loved one in memory care, which was totally upsetting. Second, they initially told us that after about two weeks they would hold regular conferences with our family, where we would have feedback from the staff and talk about how our family is feeling and how they're feeling about our loved one's care. We initiated trying to get together to talk, and that has not happened yet several months later. We've had no meetings with the staff so far as promised. I feel like they're not fulfilling what they marketed to us. Some of the employees are very pleasant, but some are abrupt. We've had an encounter with a rude person at the front desk. The care our loved one receives seems to be pretty top notch. But I've been concerned that we talked a lot during the enrollment process about our loved one being able to attend Catholic mass, and that hasn't happened yet either. When I visited my loved one about a month in, I noticed that she had little pieces of paper - half a napkin here and there that she had saved - in every drawer in her kitchen, bathroom, and dresser. That seems like hoarding behavior, which is concerning to me. She had all these napkin remnants everywhere, but there was no toilet paper in her bathroom, or anywhere else in her room. I told the staff there was no toilet paper, and the woman I told was very abrupt in telling me they don't furnish toilet paper. I can't believe we're paying all of this money, and they don't even furnish toilet paper, a basic necessity. I thought that was absurd. One of the staff members quickly ran to Target though and picked up some toilet paper, and our loved one still has toilet paper in the closet, so that's a good thing But it seems like we've been checking on her continually to make sure her needs are met, and it's been one thing or another. It seems like they're understaffed and just can't take care of all of these things for as many memory care residents as they have. One day we were in the memory care unit and wanted to leave, and the person who was there monitoring the unit didn't know how to unlock the door to get outside. She had to call someone to ask how to do it, which I feel is totally unsafe.

If your loved one needs a high level of care I would not recommend it, but if you need a lower level of care and want a clean newer place it's wonderful. It is too big and they do not have enough staff to cover all the needs. There are a number of absolutely wonderful staff members, but they typically leave after a short period of time to go work somewhere that pays more and has better management.

Haven't seen care available. Several side options do not make up for a seemingly premade entre. If you do not eat by 5:15 ish the entre is out & you get sandwiches. Uncertain on this, my "parents" have only partaken in 1 cocktail hour thus far. Neither are crafters. Their schedules with Drs & Home Health have been controlling if their time. They thought some care assistance was provided by Talamore. Doesn't seem to be the case. There were repeated issues with maintenance prior to actually moving in. Communication seems to be an issue or "in-charge" rely too much on housekeeping & maintenance to resolve concerns. They still have not gotten their thermostat regulated. It's 77 or warmer all the time so the patio door is cracked open. I'm listed on the files there but had to ask how I was to gain entrance after 4pm. My key fob was never given to me. I had been in & out of that bldg 2-3 times per week for 5 weeks before this was resolved. Sales apparently do not follow up.

With the quality of care - Disappointed that mom went into hospital shortly after moving into Talamore. Medical staff at UW hospital found her to be dehydrated. Another trip to hospital resulted from Talamore staff giving her two (one because deemed mom didn't take properly) nitroglycerine tablets. Med staff at UW hospital deemed that may have done more harm than good. She hasn't taken a nitro in over a decade and we have since removed that med from her list with concurrence and advice from UW health. Hind sight (20-20), I would place a high value on a place that staffed a RN (on-site) 24-7, which Talamore does not. Positive side: I feel certain overnight staff (aids) have done an exceptional job easing mom's anxiety and fears the first few nights. Disappointed that no value placed on keeping HFCS out of residents' diet. Example: pop is the default beverage for residents at lunch and dinner (my mom gets MILK, at our request and many reminders). Another example: syrup used for pancakes and waffles has HFCS as key ingredient. Also disappointed that Soup of the Day is not a planned soup made with fresh ingredients, which can then be known ahead of time so I know if my mom will eat it- but is instead a make something with leftovers from previous day- so soup for that day is not known until morning of that day. (When I select meals for my mom, I select a week's worth of meals on Sunday for next Mon-Sat.) Even if I select meals one day at a time, I have to turn in selections by 6:00 pm the night before, so I don't select soup because I have no idea what it will be. Disappointing because my mom would eat a good basic soup, besides the fact that it would further aid in hydration. Finally, it's a bummer that they don't give memory care residents a knife to cut their food. They get a fork and spoon, and are expected to eat a big piece of meat with those utensils. My mom knows how to use a knife and is no danger...so don't understand this. I don't believe it's a state requirement? Great director and Assistant Director of activities! Love it that assistant activities director also is staffed every other Sunday! He does a great job of rounding up residents for "moving and grooving, coming around to their rooms to cheerfully invite them out! [name removed] is amazing! [name removed] also great, and love that she brings her dog, [name removed], to work sometimes! The ratio of 9:1 residents, is tight, considering all they are tasked with, and that the secured MC area includes a number of enhanced care residents requiring two-person assists. Final comment: Overall, Talamore is meeting, but not exceeding, my expectations. I would not move her because the location is the best for all of us in the family that visit her. Wish dining were better and wish there were RN/oversight provided 24-7. I have given the above feedback also to Talamore and the local management appear to respond where they can. Some of the dining issues are also out of their control because of the third party they use, Unidine, which limits what they can order (e.g. maple syrup choices).