The Alton Memory Care

My mom lived in The Alton for a year in her own room with her own bathroom. The staff was mostly good, some really caring and exceptional folks. However, others that worked there seemed overwhelmed and unwillling or incapable of motivating my mom to participate. Unfortunately, while my mom was there, they were perfectly willing to let her sleep most of the day and miss meals. She is hard to rouse sometimes, but still letting her miss multiple meals in a row is not healthy. If your relative is easy going (e.g. will do whatever staff tells them the first time) this might be the place for you. It certainly was not a good fit for my mom, however, and moving her to a smaller facility with more personal attention has been much better for her. In terms of COVID, their response to COVID was extremely cautious (probably a good thing) but also very restrictive. They couldn't facilitate enough visits due to the size of the facility versus the number of staff. My mom has improved quite a bit since leaving so I would not recommend the Alton very strongly.

My mom is living in The Alton. It makes a great impression. The staff is friendly. The maintenance is excellent. Nobody complains about the food. Everybody seems to like the food. The dining area is average. It is a nice building, and I think their program is kind of unique. They have a lot of activities for people who need memory care. I have to say some of the staff is probably what makes the place work the way it does. However, I see a huge need for improvement in that both of my parents are able to go in there after an assessment, but they cannot take care of my dad. Every time he tries to live there, he ends up leaving in an ambulance and going to the emergency room. So, I regret that my mother is there because I don't feel like I can move her although I may have to. They cannot live together because I made a wrong choice although they told me they can take care of my dad, but they can't. If their parent is very healthy and just needs memory care, I will recommend it. However, if they need anything more than that, I will advise them to be very careful.