The Emeralds at Faribault

Margie

My mother-in-law was at The Emeralds at Faribault for physical therapy. I liked the two staff members there the most. They told us what was going on. What I liked least about it was the food. My mother-in-law hated it. She said most of the meat was just hard and it was too hard for her to eat. So she told them, "Don't even bring the meat anymore. Just bring the rest of it." and she just said there was no taste to the food. She can't walk, but she's an avid reader and a Jeopardy person. There's a hospital right across the street. The facility was clean. It just was very dingy. The room size was pretty small, but it was enough.

SouthDakota T

St. Lucas took care of my grandma and great-aunt til they both passed. Now my Aunt is there. The staff is wonderful and caring. Food seemed good when I was there. Rooms weren't big but they were clean. Took them to get their hair done.

NJM

I have a close relative Living there the past 6 months(I don't wish to reveal in case they could figure this out) The young care assistants seem to be quite nice and willing to help. I was SHOCKED at the state of the rooms--what a dump!! Small, thin mattresses on the beds,and in much Need of a renovation.(A sibling of mine put her at this place as I live far away. But what REALLY irritates me is, there is NO communication!!When she was still in assisted living,at a different facility in another town,if she even fell,I got an Email informing me. Since this relative has been at St. Lucas,she has been hospitalised TWICE and I was NOT informed,ALTHOUGH shortly after she was moved to St. Lucas,I sent a letter with ALL of my contact informationand I stated in the letter I wished to be informed of any worrying change in her health. Then,after the 20 hour journey to get to Faribaultfrom where I live, I talked to the unit coordinator(Peggy) and complained that I had not been informed and I want this to change! Yet another severe decline, and AGAIN NO Information!! This is unacceptable!!

Dianne26

My husband was only there at St Lucas Care Center for under a month, but he had the best physical therapy and occupational therapy that we had in any of the nursing homes he been at. This is about the fourth one that he has been in at various times in the last few years. They are really good there, and he said it is the best one he's been in. They got good food, and he likes the people that work there. They took real good care of him, and they are always working. At first, I thought it looked like an older nursing home, but we didn't have any trouble getting him checked in, and the physical therapist took him right away for evaluation. I met their social worker, and we really liked her too. For activities, they had bingo. He didn't have to do anything but what activities he wanted to do, they have it every day. Out of the four that we been in, they are the best. They give really good care, and they were all very nice and concerned. They all did their jobs;all he had to do is ask, and he had help. They were very efficient.

Daughter in law one

My mothe in law had a serious stroke and was in the rehabilitation facility at St Lucas and after she did not progress in either speech or physical therapy we transferred her to the memory care section. She has been treated well, the staff is caring and kind. The facility has always seemed clean, I have not detected the odor associated with many other care facilities. The only complaint we have is that she is always cold, and they do not provide enough extra blankets. Blankets we have provided seem to get lost in the laundry despite being marked with her name.

Gina Nisbit

My grandfather has been there for less than 48 hours, and he's there to recuperate from a hip surgery. In the first 24 hours, we were told he was too much trouble for the short term care staff, and needed to be moved to the long term/memory care area so they could keep a better eye on him. Ok. I can deal with that, but less than 12 hours after he was transferred to the long term care floor, he fell trying to get out of his bed which he wasn't supposed to do, and was supposed to be watched for, and we had warned them multiple times that this was going to be a problem. This morning the staff called to ask us if there was any way we could come down and sit with him all day every day during his recuperation to keep him busy so he would be less of a problem for them. We told them we would visit him daily, but we would not be able to spend 18 hours a day with him, and they were going to have to find a way to do the job they were being paid to do. Then during our visit with him this afternoon, a staff member told us that they've learned that Grandpa likes to hold hands with people and that they've already learned that they need to get out of his room before he does that or they'll have to talk to him. Really??? REALLY??? What the hell is wrong with holding his hand for a few minutes and talking to him to offer him some comfort??? We didn't want him in St. Lucas in the first place, and only have him there long enough for a room to open up for him at another facility. The hospital said that his insurance wouldn't let him stay at the hospital, so unless we could afford to privately pay to keep him in the hospital until the right place could take him, we would have no choice but to place him at St. Lucas for a few days.