Brookdale Allenmore (23rd Street)

Wendy

I went to Brookdale Allenmore (23rd Street). The people that I met with were great. The facility is fantastic. It is a little more expensive. The other place was $1,000 cheaper. I am looking specifically for studios. The reason why I am looking at only those that I have chosen is because, at this point, they do spend down Medicaid. It's either two years or thirty six months. I've seen groups get together to play games. They were playing a trivia game all out in the lobby. They all seemed to be having fun. They have libraries, beauty salons, game rooms, and TV rooms. The patios out there are all nice. And the residents do the tending of many of the flowers, and have contests, and things like that.

Wendy

I went to Brookdale Allenmore. I thought that it looked fine inside. I don't think it was very spacious. I saw no men at all. I only saw women, and it seemed like the clientele was quite elderly. But the facility itself looked fine. We toured an apartment. I remember the front room was quite small. It's a one-bedroom. The bedroom was very small. That's what I thought. And it probably needed a little updating too. There didn't seem to be a lot of outdoor spaces to go to. They had physical activities every day, but they didn't have a fitness room by itself, because they didn't feel like they wanted their residents to go to a fitness room because of possible accidents. I thought part of the food was OK, but the vegetables were terrible. The celery was like cement. That's the weirdest thing to have celery in the vegetables, fried vegetables that were so hard. And the dessert wasn't very good. But other than that, part of the main dish was good. But the vegetable was not. And the desert was not. The staff was very nice.

Melissa

We have moved my parents into Brookdale Allenmore. The best thing about it is the friendliness and helpfulness of the staff. The facility is nice. It's a little outdated. The apartment size and the layout are very nice. There is medical staff, housekeeping staff, and maintenance people who are friendly and come when you call them. I know that they will be having a live concert this weekend, and they have wine tasting every week. There' are lots of activities. There's only actually one staff that is kind of rude, and that's the main receptionist, which is funny. The receptionist is rude, but once you get past her, everybody else is wonderful. My parents have told me that the food is not very good.

Carol

Brookdale Allenmore was very clean, and they had a number of activities. We visited right after lunch, and so maybe that wasn't the best time because we really didn't see any people out and about. The staff told me that they had a lot of activities going on. I liked that they had small porches in some of the rooms, so you could go outside just from your room. That would be really important to my mom because she loves to go outside. She can just have her own private little place. She could just step out at any time and just get a breath of fresh air. I really, really like that a lot. The bedroom was a good size. It was clean and brightly lit. I like that outside, they had places to walk and places to sit. It was very pretty with lots of flowers. They were very friendly, and it looked like it was safe to walk outside, sit, and enjoy the fresh air and beauty. The staff I met up with was very friendly and answered all my questions.

Nora

I moved into Brookdale Allenmore. I have a bathroom, a good shower that I can shower in with help, I have a living room with a TV, and my office is in there. We do have a nurse here, and we have people who are very close to St. Joe's Hospital, so we have access to a lot of possibilities. They're bringing food to our room, they take good care of us, they give us sugar free ice cream, and everybody here just loves it. The facility is excellent, they keep it clean, and it's well kept up. They can't take us to the doctor or that sort of thing. They supposedly have a bus, but it's never available. The people here are wonderful, they're really caring, and the things they do for you are really special.

Jennifer J

It all starts at the top when observing the attitudes, professionalism, and commitment of a staff. The leader sets the tone. Brookdale at Allenmore has amazingly positive, caring, and strong leadership.The executive director is phenomenal, and the "sales" individual is as fabulous. I am beyond grateful for every single individual who is employed there. Everyone is wonderful to the residents and visitors. The nursing care is on top of it! They are like clockwork regarding my father's needs. They are the best. Yesterday, I finally had the afternoon meal. Guess what? I'll be returning once a week, at least, to enjoy the delicious and nutritious food. I chose moist turkey breast which could be cut with a fork, real mashed potatoes, delicious gravy, a garbanzo salad with a light vinaigrette dressing garnished with red and green peppers, a brussel sprout casserole with the vegetables baked in a light white sauce. To cap it off, I had the best rhubarb pie with a flaky crust. There are two serving employees working at meals so food delivery is slow, however, the food arrives hot! The studios are quite small, but for my dad in a wheelchair, it is easy for him to wheel the chair with minimum movement. Storage is a king-size problem, in my opinion. We whittled down his belongings, and there still isn't adequate room. The other negative is that the clothing rods are at the normal height, making it impossible for a wheelchair bound individual to have access to their clothing, therefore, limiting their independence. It was expressed that I could buy rods, and they would install them. The occupational therapy told me about rods that can hang from existing rods making it possible for the clothing to be in reach for wheelchair people so I invested in those. Another big positive, the caregivers are outstanding! I cannot help wearing smile from ear-to-ear when I see them. They are sensitive, helpful, caring, and sincere. They are my angels on earth. Would I recommend Brookdale at Allenmore? Absolutely, yes.