"I'm in Afton Care Center. The appearance is good, and the staff is good. I'm happy. The dining area is good. Everything is fine. They do activities like they go to movies, they have exercise clubs, and they have a TV room and things like that. My room is nice. The facility is nice and clean as well. The food is good."

"Mom moved into Azria Health Winterset a couple of months ago. It is a very nice and clean apartment setup. They serve two meals a day for the residents. They have call buttons in the bathroom and in the bedroom. If something happens, the workers come from the nursing home, which is attached to a breezeway. The apartment has a very nice small kitchen. There is a nice dining room and living room area. There is a cable hookup. There is a very large bedroom, a very large walk-in closet, and a very nice walk-in shower. The staff is very caring and extraordinarily polite. For $3 a meal, I can go and eat with my mom at any time. They serve a lot of pasta and macaroni. They do little parties for them in the community room with cake and ice cream. There is a jukebox, puzzles, and games. There is also a piano there. The laundry and the mail are right there in the hallway. The residents can do their own laundry and get their mail in and out. I would like to see actual outside programs come in. They used to, but everything stopped with COVID."

To learn more about this provider's license and review other available state reports, please visit: Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals Health Facility Database

"This past weekend my mother-in-law visited us. On our weekend schedule were a number of visits to area assisted living facilities as she has stated an interest in moving closer to us, but is in need of assistance. On our list of visits was the New Homestead and Homestead Acres in Guthrie Center, Iowa. One of the nicest things is the fact that it is really more of an apartment with a staff, than it is a nursing home with options. The facility offers partial meal service and on-call staff (they are available and there, but they aren't checking people every 15 minutes, unless it's asked for). The apartments can be completely self-furnished, which is nice for busybodies. There is rehab facilities very close by (it's part of the same complex) and is available for residents. Overall, it was a nice facility that is very close to ideal for what we were looking for. This complex offers assisted living, independent living and nursing home care. We focused on the independent and assisted living site. "

Panora Specialty Care, located in Panora, IA, offers a variety of care options, including Memory Care and Assisted Living. The community provides a selection of apartments tailored to meet diverse lifestyle needs, with many featuring essentials such as living rooms and kitchenettes. The community is equipped with numerous amenities designed to enhance residents' quality of life. Outdoor common areas offer opportunities to enjoy nature, and pets are welcome, providing companionship and joy. Organized activities and programs aim to keep residents active and engaged, while provided meals eliminate the need for cooking. Regular social events foster a sense of community. Internet access via WiFi ensures that residents can stay connected with loved ones. A communal dining area provides a friendly space for meals, and there are options for physical activities like yoga and stretching. Facilitated field trips and outings encourage exploration of the local area. Shared common areas are available for socializing or relaxation. Panora Specialty Care also offers various convenient services. General transportation services assist residents in getting to appointments or running errands. Housekeeping services help maintain clean and comfortable living spaces, allowing residents to focus on enjoying their time and participating in available activities and programs.To learn more about this provider's license and review other available state reports, please visit: Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals Health Facility Database

"I spent time myself at Atlantic Specialty Care because I broke both feet and I checked myself out early because of the way I was being treated. I wouldn't put a dog in there. The food was good, they were sufficient. I was sitting on a bedpan for 45 minutes after I rang the bell. I had a friend that sat at the same table I did and they came in and they were giving her shots in the middle of the night. She finally woke up, and they'd woken her up twice, and they were gonna give her another one. She says, "I don't get shots," and they said, "Aren't you so and so?" She says, "No, I'm so and so. That lady's next door." That lady is deceased now, I don't know what happened to her. They were always too busy, they were shorthanded. One night they had one nurse that was doing medication for all five wings and she was hollering at the clients there. They said, "I haven't had my medicine," and she said, "What the hell do you expect me to do> I'm the only one here. I'll get to you when I get to you." When I first got there they did not have my medicine there. They had a complication when one of the workers that does that stuff quit, so nobody ordered my medicine, and I didn't get anything for pain. They offered me Tylenol, extra strength Tylenol. I said I take Tylenol three times a day on a regular basis. She said, "We didn't have that stuff. They didn't send everything," and I can't believe the medical center, because that's where I came from, the ICU unit. When I got there the bed was so bad I had them keep bringing pillows so I could put them under me. I know the administrator there because I'm a person of American Legion and we have taken items from there for Christmas, every other year, for veterans or spouses of veterans. So I asked her to come and look at that bed. I said, "You lay down in it," but she said, "No, I can see," so she replaced the mattress. The state came in there and were there for a month doing things because I gave them some different rooms to check, 'cause I thought it was inappropriate for 16-year-olds to be dealing with male clients that would be exposed. I couldn't believe that when she told me that both of them are 16-year-olds. I said, "Both of you don't have somebody that goes with you?" and she said, "No, they trained us for two days." When I left I told the administrator, "Number one, you need to retrain all of your staff, including your nurses on how they should treat the people to make sure that they're in the right room and people don't have to wait and wait. There's a lady down the hall that just hollered and hollered, 'I need off the bedpan. Take me off the bedpan.'""

"I liked Heritage House, Atlantic. It was seven floors and each floor was laid out differently. The choices of the rooms would be based on which floor you were on, because each floor had different layouts. They had studios, one-bedrooms, and larger one-bedrooms. They have an exercise room with all the machines, a jetted hot tub, a community room that family and residents can use, and a salon set up. I just didn't find the staff as friendly as the other place I went to. I liked the facility, but as far as help, I didn't feel like they gave me everything I was looking for."

"We toured Exira Care Center. They were very informative. They answered questions. They were very patient with my mother, which is always important. It was a very good experience. They had a very nice open family area to gather. They offered an emergency alert system, which I thought was very, very nice for the apartments where they could access and get help. The apartments were clean and a nice size for two people. It's very clean, very friendly, and very warm."

"My mother is at The Lakeside Village. It's a very nice facility. It's beautifully situated on Lake Panorama. She started at independent care, went to assisted living, and now is in memory care and the staff has been wonderful. The food, for the most part, is nutritious and tasty. If they don't like what's on the menu, there are alternatives. She's been very happy with her meals. They try to accommodate the residents and their taste. They have an exercise program and they do bingo, they do wi-fi things, and they have card games. They have a bus, so they take them to different activities and on scenic tours. They have bingo for both the assisted side and the memory care side. They have activity directors that schedule things with the residents. During COVID, it was kind of quiet, but now they're getting back into the normal swing of things. Value for money is excellent. Every resident has a different complaint, but staffing is always a problem. In any facility, there's a staffing shortage, even in the hospitals, but overall, they do a good job. It's a small town community, so everybody cares for each other."

"My dad is in Vintage Park Apartments. The staff is absolutely unbelievably terrific. We had a choice of another place nearer my sister, but the staff was the deciding point because they were exceptional. Everything is provided, and the eating area is very convenient for him; it’s easy for him to get in and out. In another location, he would have to go through double doors without any electronic automated door. Very good activities, activity director, and lots of things for the residents to do. They go to a theater in a small town nearby. They have field trips, picnics, and activities of all kinds in the facility itself. They get together and get input from the residents in what they would like to do. They have a pool table, a piano, different lounge areas, a theater room, and a big library. It’s exceptional. "

"Two weeks ago, my grandpa had a mild heart attack. He spent three days in the hospital and got cleared to go home, but while he was there it was suggested he go into a residential facility so he could be monitored. He is 87 and doesn't like to use "new-busy body stuff(aka-technology). He refused a first response transmitter and a cell phone with one touch emergency calling. I offered to cover half the cost of in-home nursing care, but he said he would rather "save" me the money and live at a facility. I scheduled walk throughs in a couple of places, one day was in Watertown, SD where he was and the second, per his request, was near my home in Atlantic, IA. We walked through a facility near him where he had a good friend and if he had stayed there he would have picked there. However, when we came up, we walked through a couple of nursing homes, then we went to Park Place. Really, Park Place is more like apartments with an RA(like from college), they check up on you and make sure you and your room are ok. He liked the independence of his own room and his own property(you rent a room rather than pay the facility and get assigned one. They are near a park as well as having a nice commons room with tons of stuff, like a nice TV, a couple of computers, tables for cards and a bus daily to the YMCA. He ultimately decided on Park Place, because it wasn't too invasive, but he had the security of having people around. Because of this he accepted a little alert pendant that beeps when you push it to call for help. Now my kids can visit grandpa and my grandpa is closer to me which is what he wanted.The staff was nice, but as I said, they are more supervisors and RA's then in touch nurses. They all are nurses, but they also have a Doctor on call 24 hours a day in case of emergency. He moved in Wednesday of last week after all of the paperwork went through. We talk daily and he seems to be liking it, he enjoys not having to deal with "meddlers" all the time and likes his privacy. He knows he has people around so he won't get lonely. He seems happy after a week. "