The Gardens at Aldersgate

Sherry

My husband is at The Gardens at Aldersgate nursing facility in Topeka. He started in the recovery center, where he went directly from the hospital, and they were good. I didn't have any complaints about them. When he didn't need to be in the recovery center anymore, he went to the nursing home side of it. The nurses are very attentive and very good, so the nursing care is good. However, they have a terrible problem with our clothes. I've taken over 15 pairs of pants and probably as many shirts for my husband, and they keep disappearing. Supposedly, they label everything, but there's never more than two pairs of anything in his closet, and buying more clothes gets expensive after a while. He's also never had a working phone in his room. They can't seem to get the phone fixed. Other than that, they provide meals and have a nice dining room. It's a good space, and the chairs are easy to get in and out of. They also have coffee available there, and it's a place where residents can socialize if they choose. For activities, they have bingo and holiday dinners, as well a workout room that they could use.

Constance

I'm living at The Gardens at Aldersgate with my husband. When I came here, I had to be put in a wheelchair, and they had to use a Hoyer lift with me. I was in the physical therapy department, The Villages at Aldersgate, and my husband was as well, and everybody on that unit has a room of their own. I worked very hard in physical therapy, and now I'm able to walk, and I don't need a walker or a cane. I've done so well that I've achieved what's called independent status here. We were both tested by Aldersgate staff, and he was deemed to need a nursing home, and it was determined that I needed assisted living, and I said no, I'm not going anywhere without my husband, so we both came to the nursing home part. They have a lot of fun activities for us here every day. They have parties that are just really nice and they have at least one party a month. I think in October and December, we had three parties each. They meet you at the level you're at, and work with you at that level, and try to elevate it if possible. We've had really good experiences. I am not in need of disposable briefs myself. I just wear cotton panties, but for those that do, they are very conscientious about making sure that you don't smell diaper smells. Everything is very clean and tidy, and they check to see if people need to be changed. If they do, they take care of it immediately. They're good about that 24/7. They come in at night, and they check on those things. They're very courteous. Another nice benefit is that they provide transportation to all medical appointments at no extra charge. I'm on dialysis, so that's three times a week, and if I need any additional appointments, like my husband and I went out to a dentist, they provided transportation for that. They have wonderful services here, such as podiatry. They do a nice job sanding down my toenails and things of that nature. They have a beauty salon here, too, where I have my hair done or my fingernails polished. If we don't care for what's being served at a particular meal, there is always what's called an always available menu, and they will prepare anything on that in place of what's being served if we so choose. They're on top of everything with housekeeping, and they have laundry people working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They're very good and efficient at keeping our clothes stain-free and delivering them back to our rooms after about a three-day turnaround at the most. They're really good about keeping clean sheets on everybody's bed. They come in and they vacuum and dust. We each have our own restroom. There's no shower or tub in our room. They have a shower room that they will take us to, and we are scheduled for two showers a week, but if it needs to be more frequent, they can do that. We're very fortunate that the transportation is included in the rent. It's very affordable, and they've taken our insurance and made it most affordable for us to stay here. This is a good facility, and the other residents are quite friendly. We have what's called reserved seating in the dining room, where we sit at the same table, meal after meal, and get to know other neighbors at the table. When you come, you're gonna see a lot of smiles on most of the residents' faces. That was a big determining factor too, whether the other residents who were already here were happy or not. We don't wanna be around a bunch of people who aren't.