Brookdale South Bend

Sterling House of South Bend is very nice. One of the things I liked about it: it was a locked-down facility. It is one of the few facilities that had a lock down. So if you had a person who has a tendency to wander, you have to swipe a card to get in and out in these places. It was a bit smaller, which, in my mind, I like, and it was just nice. The first thing I noticed when I walked into a place is whether it smelled or not, and that place didn't. It was fresh and nice and clean.

I have come across Sterling House through the internet. I was very pleased with it. The marketing manager completed the tour with us and we had a chance to go around the facility. We met with some residents and some of the staff who work there. My father did talk to one of the residents and he felt pretty comfortable there. The room that we saw was a small efficiency room. I would recommend this place.

This is the second assisted living facility for my father who has Alzheimer's but is physically very healthy at 86 years old. The previous place was beautiful, like a resort, but much too big. Sterling House is like a house. It is very homey, with only 40 or so apartments. The residents eat in a dining room at small tables like a family would. And they all get one-on-one attentions because the staff/resident ratio is good. Recently, my brother passed away, and my father was too upset to come to the funeral, but the executive director brought a van with some of my dad's friends who are also residents to the funeral. My dad was able to bring his 2 fat, lazy cats with him, and his own furniture, so his apt. is a close to home as possible. But, more than the facility itself, the people are just wonderful!! The activities director and my dad have made a special friendship, so she comes and gets him to help her set up tables for events, or decorate, etc. It makes my dad feel useful, and gives him a feeling of being needed. Dad has been there for about 16 months now, and he is happy there and we don't have to worry about him. I don't know about every senior, but for my dad, Sterling House is the perfect place!

Good morning Angel, My husband John and I stopped by for our appointment last night at Sterling House. I was terribly disappointed. When we went to the front door, "someone" opened the door for us. She didn't smile, say Hi, ask who we were here to see, nothing. She just let us in then went back to clearing the tables from dinner. The dinner/cafeteria area is so small, cheap tables, no tablecloths, and very noisy. There were two staff members clearing off the tables asking the residents "Are you done". They looked and dressed like minimum wage, "I don't care if I keep this job or not" people. While we were waiting for someone to acknowledge us, my husband and I looked around the lobby area. Actually, there is no lobby. There were 7 or 8 elderly women sitting in a circle with their heads down. I did not see a smile on anyones face the whole time we were there. I told John that I am not getting a good feeling about this place. I need to leave. The carpets were stained. Chairs in the hallways were stained and looked like someone went to the bathroom on them. Wall paper was peeling off the walls. The courtyard cement was dirty and stained with, what looked like, cigarette ashes. I don't know that for sure, but it was black. Furniture around the area was folding chairs and folding tables. Once Polly arrived she escorted us into a little conference room that had sugar and creamers by the plant in the middle of the table. She was so "I know more than you" attitude and just gave me the creeps. When she finally stopped talking about her qualifications and everything she knows, I asked for a tour. She first showed us the room where physicians work when they visit the facility. OMG, dirty, cluttered, etc. I peeked across the hall to a room that looked like it was a file storage area. The door was wide open, files piled on the desk and very cluttered. The first room Polly showed us was so small and depressing. There was a name plate (which looked tacky) on the door and personal belongings in the room. I asked her if this was someones home. She said Yes. I asked why we were going in someones home. She said she has the families permission to show this room. I would have asked to see that paper work if I had thought about it earlier. I doubt that she would have been able to produce such a document. She then showed us another room that was terribly small as well and said the person in there was moving to Arizona. The carpets were extremely dirty. I thought they provide weekly housekeeping. It sure didn't look like that to me. The hallways were dirty, needed painting, window blinds were broken and hanging from the windows. She showed us a "treatment" room with a soaking bath in it. I walked in to check the cleanliness of the bath. The bath "tub" was OK but the toilet had a black ring around the water line like it hadn't been cleaned in months. There is NO WAY I would put my in-laws in this facility. The costs are crazy expensive for such a terrible place. She was proud of the fact that they put the independent, assisted living, dementia patients, and nursing home patients all in one facility to protect their "dignity".