The Harbor House at Ocala

Madelyn

My mother-in-law was at The Harbor House at Ocala for five months. She never wanted to be there, so she was not happy, but then after a while, she got used to it. The ladies there treated her well. She kept getting vertigo, so they kept sending her to the hospital once a week for that, and that was taken care of. Health-wise, she was good. It's just her memory. I think the staff members were pretty good. My mother-in-law is 89, and it took a while for her to get used to not cooking and not having her own things. She also felt like she was in prison in a little room, and she had no access to go in and out. She was also very fearful, and so, she doesn't trust anybody. So that was the issue with my mother-in-law; however, the staff there all treated her very good. She was difficult, but they were very patient and very kind to her. They would call me, even if it was in the middle of the night, just to let me know that she was mean, but they were trying to calm her down. So, I think they did a pretty good job considering my mother-in-law was not the best tenant. They had a lot of amenities that she didn't use. She only went to the cafeteria to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Nothing else. She didn't do the craft room. She went to the grocery store. They have a little general store where they can buy shampoo and stuff, but it wasn't the best quality stuff because they don't have a lot of money. So they try to make it a lot of things from Dollar General or maybe Dollar Tree. There was nothing wrong with that. The place doesn't smell, which was my main thing. It doesn't feel like a nursing home or anything like that. It was fresh. The food was really good. There was a good cook there who cooked really good food, though my mother-in-law still complained about everything, but that's her character. The director was good and attentive, and my mother-in-law got along with her. The staff was good, but it was my mother-in-law who made it very difficult for them. It's very country. There's nothing around. It's just very residential, and even the houses there were not close to the facility. So, they're very isolated. It's also an old place and not very appealing to the eye when you walk in. It could use a good paint job and freshen up a little bit, but at least it doesn't smell.

Robert

I went to The Harbor House at Ocala. It was more well-lit than some of the others. It was older but relatively clean, and I was able to meet some of the employees there cleaning and taking care of people and doing stuff. And it seemed nice there. If my dad could stay there, it would have been one of the best, plus, it was affordable. It was one of the most affordable assisted living places that I went to. I think she said the price was like $2100. The staff was very nice and relatively helpful. She didn't have a whole lot of information for me though. They had an area where people can go out and sit and there are flowers and trees, like a garden area that was fenced in and stuff, like a courtyard that was much nicer than some of the other places.