Heritage Woods of McHenry

Mike

Heritage Woods of McHenry is close by, it's very well taken care of, and they seem to care about their people. They have staff on hand to help as needed. There are plenty of different choices for food. My dad would be able to bring his own furniture and things there that are his own. It just seemed like it would be the perfect fit for him. They have activities and they take people to shop once a week. They showed us all different things that they had a whole list of. I saw all the events that they had planned too. We saw their assisted living and if some places have an odor, Heritage was not like that at all. I was not able to taste the food but I was able to see the menu and how they changed daily. If you don't care for it, they had a dozen different things that you could choose from to have personally made for you. They said you could even order out if you wanted to have that done.

lougordon1306

My father lived here for over a year between 2020 and 2021. The one thing this place has going for it? It's cheap. That's it. It costs less to have someone in memory care here than basically any other place in the area. If you want cheap (in terms of memory care places), this is your place. If cheap is not your only criteria, please read on as I go over my dad's experience. It is Important to note that my dad moved into memory care only a few months into the pandemic, so once he was moved in, we were NOT ABLE TO VISIT in person for about 8 months. We talked to him/face-timed/met him at the window so we could see him any possible way while in quarantine. But most of the issues I will describe were not visible until we could see him in person. Now that we are not new to the memory care madness, we can look back and say that he never should have lived here. *The person in charge here seems to be doing multiple jobs so you will have a hard time getting any focus or attention from her. She says ALL the right things to you in the moment, but in the end seems to be a very deceptive person who does not follow through with what she has promised. She will not be honest with you, so be careful with what you hear vs. what she does. *The Nurses and CNAs also seem to be responsible for many jobs, such as cleaning/laundry. Their sole focus is not on your loved one's health and well-being and it SHOWS! Because of the apparent ‘short staffed’ approach here, they had very little patience for my dad or us and really showed almost no respect to any of us. *If your loved one becomes too much for them, they will not discuss it with you, instead they will just send him to the hospital constantly. No, you will not have a say in this ever. They will always find a way to justify it and they will NOT be kind about the situation. My dad's stay here ended with them sending him to 4 DIFFERENT hospitals in the span of a week. *And on top of that then, when they decided he was not welcome back (we already had begun looking for new places), their director could not bother to tell us this herself. She had the current hospital call us to say he was only welcome back if we spent like $12,000 dollars more a month to hire a personal caretaker for him. *If they do not send your loved one to the hospital constantly, they will use medication to 'control' them instead. They had my dad so severely over medicated that he was not himself. This was despite our feedback and when he left here, he immediately got onto a greatly reduced medication plan and has been happier and healthier since day 1. *Rooms are not cleaned in any normal timeframe or really at all. Carpets are filthy, garbage is not removed regularly and because of this the rooms smell. *Laundry is a nightmare here. We had to buy and rebuy constant clothes/sheets/mattress protectors as his stuff was ALWAYS lost. Every single item is labeled multiple times, this makes no difference. And because they so often loose items, he was often wearing other people's clothes or sitting/sleeping on a mattress with NO SHEETS and NO MATTRESS protector. If your loved one is incontinent, this is BEYOND disgusting! *Similarly, since you must provide your own supplies (depends, wipes, etc.), be prepared to constantly buy and rebuy these things. They will lose them; they will use them for other residents. You will ALWAYS be rebuying these items so you will spend a fortune on them. *The food they provide is not made on site, it is made elsewhere and brought here. It is not high quality and my dad often complained that every meal tasted the same. *Anytime you want to get information, you will be passed off. Front desk will pass you to a host of others or tell you she will call back and not do so, director will tell you to call corporate, CNA's will tell you to call the nurses, nurses will tell you to call the director. It's an endless nightmare of not getting honest answers.

Annemarie

I went to see Heritage Woods of McHenry. I would describe it as, "This is the place for Mom." It's homey, it's like home, and the residents were keeping their distance but out talking, laughing, and having a good time. In fact, during my tour, I asked the staff if we could stop for a second because I was listening to people talking and enjoying themselves. With all the other ones I visited, there were people out but it didn't seem like they were connected with each other. I really like this place, and I'm hoping my mom can get in. I asked only for a studio apartment for my mother because it will force her to get out and go and meet people. If she had a one-bedroom apartment, I know she wouldn't come out. It was very clean, there was a lot of light coming in from the big window that was in the apartment. It is an older building but it's very well-maintained, I didn't see anything broken, or dirty, or old. It has lots of those bars that you need for the seniors, lots of those bars were also in the bathroom, which I appreciate because I had to put those in my house for her, and she uses them all the time. The only one drawback is when it is not a handicap studio, there is not a linen closet. They have an activity director, and that day I went for the tour she was doing a virtual trip to England. She was setting it up for high tea and she was going to have a bit of games and a videos for information about England, what goes on over there, and what it looks like. She's got puzzles too. She goes around and talks to people and plays games with them. They have bingo, but there were also tons of puzzles, and tons of art type things where you learn to paint. There's also knitting and crocheting. You just name it and it was there. Their library is unbelievable, I've never seen so many books, and they're very well taken care of. They also have a big laundry room with four washers, four dryers, and an ironing board. The staff was so friendly to all of the residents when I saw them, even including the cleaning ones. They go to the room and clean, and I saw residents stop and the workers' smiles on their faces are very happy while saying good morning. I think the workers there are happy doing what they're doing.

Linda

Heritage Woods of McHenry was a great place. I was happy with the staff, the residents, and the food.

davet0901

My mom is always missing her new stuff we buy for her. Management always says they will look into it but nothing is ever returned. Not happy at all.

Paula R

I have been a resident of Heritage Woods of McHenry for two months. It is a wonderful place to live with wonderful staff and outstanding residents. From the moment i arrived I felt that I have come home. Paula R