Friendship Village

As I walked into Friendship Village I noticed it was very clean and very wall taken care of. There seemed to be plenty of staff, and they were all extremely friendly. As I walked down the hallway to her room, it was neat and didn't have the normal nursing home smell. She was able to have her own room, and it was a decent size with a decent bathroom. The dining area was kept clean and was huge. She always seemed comfortable and always talked about how the staff was taking wonderful care of her.

The experience with Friendship Village was less than ideal. My grandfather stayed there for a couple months after a series of surgeries. Certain members of the staff were incompetent. The physical therapist pushed my grandfather too quickly and the nurse practitioner heavily overmedicated him. The physical therapist was not responsive to his individual needs and as a result of pushing him too quickly his progress actually slowed down. When the physical therapist was asked about this he blamed my grandfather rather than owning up to his mistake. He was overmedicated to the point of being psychotic. He was delusional and hallucinating, which is completely abnormal behavior for him. I must say the direct care staff was great however. The facilities were adequate but nothing more or less. The amenities of Friendship Village had decent food and good activities for residents. Residents could attend movie nights, live music, exercise, board games, and full television service. Overall, Friendship village has decent amenities, good facilities, and a nice location but the professional staff does not allow me to recommend it to others. They simply were not responsive to my grandfathers needs.

Friendship Village is a wonderful retirement community in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The facility and the grounds are great. There are so many paths and walking areas. The campus is on many acres of land. I really liked all the activities that were offered, including day and overnight trips. There were clubs and classes offered every day. I loved the idea of the residents taking a vacation together. There is a dining room with restaurant–style dining. There is even a private dining room that can be reserved to celebrate special occasions. I mostly loved the homes. They are garden or townhomes with attached garages. The floor plans were great and they were all very lovely. I would highly recommend this retirement community.