Hartwell Place

Mark3

I toured Hartwell Place. It's an older building. It's been turned into a senior care memory center. I think that they've done a good job with it in the sense of making it secure. I think they've adapted it quite well to how it's used. The rooms are very clean and very appropriate. I wouldn't be against my spouse staying there. I'm impressed. I think the people are fine. Everybody is friendly. This is accessible for people who don't have transportation. I was with the manager and she did a very good job. She's very experienced and very focused on what's important, which is the residents. I had a chance to look at their focus on community, which was good. They utilize care very well. The residents seemed happy.

Provider Response

Williams

I like Hartwell Place. I liked that it was in proximity to where I lived. It was close enough for me to get there easily. The facility was very clean. It seemed to be very well maintained, especially since it was an older place. The room was small, but I did like the size of the facility. I saw two rooms, and the room that I thought might work out was the larger of the two, but it was still on the smaller side. It was very cozy, though. The staff was very friendly. The ladies that I spoke with seemed very friendly and approachable. They had a couple of common areas, but there weren't so many amenities. It was more just a meeting space. There was no exercise facility, which I would have liked. They have elevators. They don't have a pool. You could either eat in your room, but they try to have everyone eat together. I saw people socializing. They were doing an exercise class, but everyone was seated.

Provider Response

Ricardo

I went to visit Hartwell Place. Patients can't get out of the building. They need to have a pass or something, so it's secure. The people there were very nice. Some of them were speaking Spanish, which is nice. It was very clean. The furniture was old. The staff members were very nice. I'm very pleased with them. People had to take their temperature and they had to wear masks. Overall, I was pleased.

Margaret254633

Hartwell Place was a very nice place, but they were in the middle of renovating it. It was a smaller, very cozy community. Since it's a total memory care facility, the residents were allowed to walk around with all the doors secured. Everything was secured, so nobody would wander off. They had a lot of cameras to keep an eye on the residents. They had three different sizes for the bedrooms and allowed their residents to bring in their own furniture. They were very accommodating. All the residents seemed to be very content.

commercesd

An acquaintance of mine asked me to help search for an assisted living facility in the Chicago area that specializes in people who have Alzheimer's. I found the Hartwell House on Paulina Street on the North Side, since we live in the area and it was easy for us to get to. The location is accessible from Lake Shore Drive easily and there is mass transit, too. We were a little concerned with what we'd find at the facility, given that they specialize in Alzheimer's and residents with dementia. We were pleasantly surprised to find that the environment was friendly, nicely decorated and very pleasant to be in. My friend liked the vintage vibe - she prefers this over a state of the art high-rise building. The meals featured lots of nice alternatives and could meet any dietary need. We liked that residents can choose what they would like to eat. There is a Catholic Church nearby, which is also nice for my friend, who enjoys going to church regularly. She also liked the type of community there, which seemed much more personal than other places we'd visited. It could be that since they specialize in Alzheimer's patients, the staff needs to be much more in-tune with the residents. The residents go on regular outings as they desire, however, if they choose to stay in the staff checks on them regularly. We enjoyed the nice courtyard and noticed that they have regular barbeques as weather permits. We saw some other fancier places, but this facility focuses on the care of its residents first and foremost, which is the most important thing for us.

arjayeph

Upon first encountering The Hartwell, one is more likely to be disappointed than impressed. A relatively small, vintage building (resident capacity is 29) tucked away on a sedate Andersonville sidestreet, the awning above the door is all that separates it from the other small apartment buildings and homes that surround it. However, as the cliche goes, looks can be deceiving- as The Hartwell is a genuine gem as a small, memory-care-dedicated assisited living facility. Though a converted convent built well over 50 years ago (St. Gregory's Catholic Church and school are 100 yards away,) the interior has been tastefully renovated for its purpose as an assisted-living facility. However, if you're looking for luxurious furnishings or high-end amenities, this place is not for you. The Hartwell's environment is unique from any other facility we explored in our search for a place to accommodate our mother through the remaining stages of her Alzheimer's. Though other small facilities might have a similarly "homey" atmosphere, the Hartwell's is genuinely communal, almost familial, and this makes all the difference. Being memory-care specific, every aspect of Hartwell is oriented to accommodating those suffering from some level of dementia: meals (notably more appealing than any other place we visited) are served ala carte to allow residents to choose their meals as appropriate; activities are designed to be sufficiently engaging without being overly challenging; outings are thematic, local, and unthreatening to the confused; though a secure facility, the building encloses a charming courtyard featuring comfortable furniture, several gardening plots, and regular cook-outs. Other aspects notwithstanding, it is the Hartwell House's staff that is its greatest asset. Without exception, all of the caregivers have demonstrated a genuine compassion and empathy for the residents under their care. They know the patients intimately and adapt their caregiving to the needs of each individual. The entire facility focuses on encouraging interaction and participation. Residents opting to remain in their rooms during the day are checked at half-hour intervals and continually encouraged to participate in activities; everyone is invited to, and escorted to meals as necessary. Overnight, each floor has its own caregiver who checks on everyone no less than twice an hour. The overall physical environment is distinctly unimpressive; the individual rooms, which vary in size and price, are nothing beyond functional and pleasant. If amenities and a lavish environment are your measures of quality, there are definitely nicer places to be had in this price range; however, if quality of care is your guideline, then Hartwell House is a relative bargain. A final plus Of Hartwell House is that it is part of the Chicagland Methodist Senior Services network; as such, there is an affiliated full-nursing facility only a few blocks away if a resident should require escalated care. Also, the organization has several programs in place that can assure that a resident will continue to receive necessary care within their system even if one's financial resources are exhausted.