The Willows Retirement & Assisted Living Blackfoot, ID

The Willows Retirement & Assisted Living is really accommodating in terms of the food. If somebody doesn't want what they have, and they ask for a chicken salad or something, they do it. The place was very clean, the staff was very nice, and everybody that passed us introduced themselves. The rooms were clean and nice. The one room we saw was not clean, but it was taped off and they were cleaning it. A lot of the rooms had been redone. I guess they're re-doing each room when someone leaves. It didn't have a bad smell. They have three different types of services and they accommodate different religions. They also have a theater room where they all share movies on movie nights. They have a group room where they can do activities and I like that; it's where they can congregate. The only thing was that I saw no one congregating, but maybe that was because of the time of day I visited.

We thought that the care and activity would be available more than it actually is. The continuing change in administration has been a constant problem. We have noticed two or three caregivers in the memory care area that actually did care. For them we were thankful. Memory Care is really understaffed at this time. The Willows may remedy this situation, who knows ? There is another new administration.

I have had several friends and relatives that have lived in The Willows. The employee turn over is alarming and was very discouraging for my mother-in-law. In the months that she lived there (under 18 months) there were 6 different Executive Directors, each with their own ideas and rules of running the place. This made adjusting to the new environment impossible at best. There was only one nurse that showed her true compassion the entire time she lived there. There was a Med Tech that denied to give her her blood pressure medication and refused to call the nursing staff for direction. They were highly understaffed! Several times my mother-in-law did not get showered--as was agreed in the Care Plan--because of this, and then developed painful sores that were difficult to heal. Only a few of the floor staff would wash her hands after toileting her or help her comb her hair in the mornings. She went for days without her call pendant and nobody even noticed. She did love the breakfast meals and lunch as well, but the dinner meals were terrible most of the time. The housekeeper was one of the sweetest people there and worked very hard-by herself- to clean the 60 rooms, hallways and common areas. We ended up moving her home to another assisted living facility in the area and she was much happier and had better care. It's highly unlikely our family would ever recommend this facility.

The Willows could be well kept, it's a little bit old facility so the carpets could be cleaned and I think it could be better staffed in the memory care. The food is excellent.