Whispering Winds

This is an independent living community located in a nice area in Bend. The facility is made up of the main common areas surrounded by beautiful and spacious resident apartments. The apartments are really nice, they are well designed with an accessible layout. They are also equipped with many safety features and they have beautiful views of the surrounding areas. So many of the residents have mentioned to me about how "at home" they feel in their apartments and in the entire community. One resident told me she really appreciated being able to decorate and furnish her apartment to her own preferences when she moved in to the community, she said being able to move in your own furniture, bed, knick-knacks, pictures, pet, etc. really gives you a sense of ownership and pride over your new home and it helps you adapt to your new surroundings so much quicker than if you were to move in to an apartment that came furnished and you had to be surrounded by strangers possessions. She said that if that were the case that both she and her pet would have been very uncomfortable and would have had a very hard time adjusting. She said her dog has his own favorite chair and that if he had to be without that chair that he would be so lost. She said that she is so thankful the staff understand how important it can be to a resident to be able to make their apartment their own.

Many of the residents have commented about how convenient everything is, and I can see that - every amenity, service, option appears to be within arm's reach. One resident told me that they provide most everything he needs within the community, he said that there are few things he goes outside the community for such as doctor's appointments, grocery shopping, special outings with friends, family, or other residents, etc. He says he is blessed to have found a community where most everything he needs is readily available. I have also heard many compliments about the activities and event schedule, residents and their families have commented on how full and creative the schedule is. They say that there really is something for everybody, for every personality, for every taste. There are individual and group activities, special events, parties, and celebrations, live entertainment, special-interest clubs, discussion groups, etc. I have also personally noticed that there are always brand new activities brought before the residents. The staff are always exploring new and exciting programs for the residents and they very much welcome input, ideas, and suggestions about the current activity schedule and new things the residents would like to see. There are also many areas throughout the facility where residents can socialize with one another, entertain friends and family, or just go to relax and get comfortable. There are a couple different activity/craft rooms, a fitness center, a library and tech lab for computer use, a theatre and so much more.

The staff members seem to try hard, it's nice that the residents here in this community require very little assistance or else I would be very concerned, but it seems as if some of the staff are very unorganized in the way they manage their work tasks and unprofessional in their behavior toward working, which at times has come across as them being rude and disrespectful to the residents. They just appear to be so frustrated and unapproachable, I have had some residents tell me that at times they have not asked a staff member for the assistance they needed because of how the staff members were acting, they said they were tossing things around, slamming doors, etc, and they felt uneasy about asking them for anything. This is not acceptable. The staff members are in place to assist the residents if they need it, I just am thankful that the residents living in this community are in need of very little assistance as they are for the most part very self-reliant. However, the staff members need to check their personalities at work, the residents deserve staff members that come to work with friendly and helpful attitudes, not staff members who walk around cussing and slamming doors. If the quality of resident care and treatment were better than I would probably recommend Whispering Winds more than I do, but I just cannot get past the sickening feeling I get when I think that the residents are scared to ask a staff member for help because of how angry the staff members always appear to be. The residents should feel comfortable going to any staff member at any time, day or night, and ask them for whatever assistance they may need and until the residents in this facility feel comfortable approaching the staff I do not feel comfortable referring people to the community. No matter how wonderful and beautiful the community is if you do not have a friendly and caring support staff, than the rest really doesn't matter all that much.