Brookdale Avondale

Brookdale Avondale seemed like a nice place and was completely adequate for the services it offered. The person that gave me the tour seemed pleasant. The surroundings seemed pleasant, and it seemed fine for the services they delivered.

We had a nice tour at Sterling House, and we saw all the services that they provided. It was an older facility, but it was nice. They were very patient-oriented. All of the staff, I was sure then they saw a tour guide bringing people, put on their best behavior. They were all friendly and on a first-name basis with their people. I looked into various offices, and I didn't see any dissention in the work place. If there had been, they couldn't hide it that quickly with us coming down the hall. It was nice, but my husband was not really impressed with it because he said it reminded him of the place where his sister was in. It was full nursing care, and I thought they had assisted living because I saw a lot of people going about as they wanted. It was very secure. It wasn't really roomy because the smallest unit I saw was two beds in a very small room. So, it was definitely confined.

We visited Sterling House, and it was very nice. It was closer to our other relatives. The staff was fine. I thought my sister would have been fine there. However, my she liked to walk outside, and it had no place to walk outside.

Sterling House was very clean. They had just redone it. The rooms and walls are newly painted and they had redone the floors, too. However, to me it was cold because it didn't have a whole lot of furniture and decorations.

My aunt resided at Sterling House of Merrimac and the facility is very nice. From what I recall, the staff are very attentive and the place was very clean. It was very modern looking. Everything was just very impressive. She had a studio apartment with a little kitchen and it was very nice.

My father is at the Sterling House. I live here in Jacksonville and I needed to be near him that's why I placed him there. This is an assisted living facility. I am a nurse and I would prefer that there was a better nursing care there. They have LPNs who are petty good but there is only one RN who is over everything. They got problems with messages getting lost from 3-11 shift to the morning shift because they don't have anybody to give report to during the night and there is no nurse on duty at nighttime. The second thing that I think is problematic is the aides that they have. They missed a lot on little things in caring for my father. If I didn't go there every single day to see him, a lot of things that I have insisted on would not get done. Overall, their staff is fairly good but I just have to be there daily to check on those little things, e.g. changing sheets, feeding my father, etc. They do need to educate their aides more in terms of caring for their patients. They also need an RN that goes around making sure that these aides are taking care of their patients properly. They need someone to oversee the little things. Their activity director there is good but activities are dumbed down. They are not age appropriate for their residents. They have people there who may be 96 years old but don't want to color. They also don't offer card games. They play bingo and that's it. There is a lot of rooms for improvement in terms of the activities they offer. I also think they could improve on with regard to food. Aside from them not getting big portions, residents would have mashed potatoes five to six times a week. For what we're paying there in a year, food should be better.

I have a friend that recently moved in the Sterling House and I am very impressed with it's cleanliness. We visited that person regularly. It is a little expensive and their rooms are quite small, but my friend likes this facility very much. Also their staff seems very competent and very nice. They really could improve on the sizes of their rooms and also maybe make living their more affordable.

I have never wanted my grandparents to have to live at a senior living center, due to the fact that I am a nurse and would love to care for them myself. However, it is just not possible at the time and I feel that we couldn't have picked a better place. Not only is the environment beautiful, but the staff is so pleasant and welcoming, but also the staff treats everyone like they are individuals and truly listen to the problems the residents have. The rooms are always clean and in the times that I have been present the staff responds to the residents in a timly manner and do not leave them waiting all day to receive help. My grandparents and I also feel that the food they offer is top of the line, among many other services they provide. They even off nutritious snacks throughout the day, where as other facilities sometimes did not and also did not offer very tasty food. I am very pleased that we choose this as their new home and I plan on visiting as much as I can.