Meramec Bluffs

We were very impressed with Meramec Bluffs. They were very good, but they've got an 18-month waiting period and we are on a waiting list. We looked at the little bungalow, not the apartments. The staff was very good. They had several amenities, more than what we would probably use. We liked the facility real well.

My Dad needed an IV antibiotic and wound care. I drove him there arriving at 4 p.m. I live out of town but was at the facility almost all day on Tuesday and left Wednesday at noon. When I left I felt very uninformed as to whom I speak to about Dad's treatment etc. I did talk to the receptionist and received the name of the social worker and received a phone call on Thursday. Once I had contact with her everything smoothed out. I was impressed - Dad had a single room - nicely furnished. The staff was always busy and there were a few things I wasn't thrilled about but all in all if he had to go back to rehab I think he would choose Meramec Bluffs. He had plenty of food and has a good appetite so he was content. The kitchen staff knew him by name after the first day - I'm impressed. The chapel is beautiful. He was thankful that he could attend a church service on Sunday morning. I don't think that is where he would consider living full time - too far away from family and friends - but it's nice to know that Meramec Bluffs is there if he nees it.

Father was in rehab there. Very poor contact with family members. He was in there for 2 weeks with no one talking to us about how he was doing. Fell 4 times while there. Took at least 20 minutes or sometimes never for them to come after pushing nurse button. Finally had a meeting that we asked for and they told us he needed to go to skilled nursing and gave us one week. No help finding a place for him to go and my 85 year old mother had to end up taking him back home. VERY few friendly nurses. I would NOT recommend anyone to go here. Yes the place was nice to look at, but that was where is stopped. Care was not good.

REACH Rehab facility, looks and shows great, clean. But the care stops there, the staff not friendly or helpful. When my 94 year old grandmother pushed her help button it would take 30 plus minutes to get someone to respond, finally would take her to bathroom where they would leave her there for periods of time before coming back. Left there at 3am, she had to make her way back to bed herself. When medicine was being dispensed, nurse could not say what it was, she would have to check her records, asked her to do that, she was offended and did not return with any answers. Asked for print out of what she was receiving daily for meds, was not provided one till 3rd request, and then it only showed what medicines she could be taking, several listed 'as needed." Does that mean she took it today or not? Family never got to speak to actual dr even after requests were made. Requests also made to have nurse practitioner go through her records with us at final discharge consult, she did not show for meeting, or at final day of discharge. PT and OT personnel were very good, nice, helpful and friendly.

We had been to Meramec Bluffs. Besides that, we have friends that live there. We were on a waiting list with them for 5 years. It’s not the best location, but it was the first place we really became interested in because the Lutheran Senior Services in our area has the finest reputation as far as skilled care, so that really jumps it up to another notch. They’re ranked nationally in the top 10 for skilled care. It’s a large community. Their independent living community is enormous. They provide a lot of amenities -- i.e., a lot more indepth transportation, banks, beauty salons, and community grocery store. It just goes on and on; that’s why we were interested in it. All of their entire community is altogether. You can access each area of their community -- like going to the skilled care from the assisted living, you can walk inside to do that, and that has been a plus. The accommodations are very nice. They have also some villas that run around outside the big buildings. But the issue is, we’re in St. Louis, and in the winter, you don’t want to walk across from your villa to the main building to have your meal.

Everybody at Meramec Bluffs was very friendly and seemed nice, but they did seem understaffed. My dad was an extreme fall risk, and they couldn’t adequately address that, so he continued to have falls. Other than that, the therapy and food was OK for a regular diet, without a whole lot of special considerations.

My mom stayed at the Lutheran Senior Services (Meramec Bluffs) REACH program, and then she came home with us. It is a rehab and short-stay for disability and a very nice place to stay. They give you occupational and physical therapy. There are courtyards and a veranda, a computer room, two separate TV rooms, and a dining room. They can serve you in your room or you can eat in the dining room. There is a chapel that services all religions and tons of activities for assisted living as well as retirement people and independent living. The food is fine. If there is something that you don’t want that they’re fixing that day, you can have a second menu that comes from the retirement center, and you can order from that. They give you plenty, and my mom couldn’t eat it all. My mom was there for rehab, but they were caring for her wound because she had a wound VAC. The nurses were fantastic. They were a little short-staffed, but they were having a job fair.

My parents have been at Meramec Bluffs for about a year and four months now. I think it is good. However, my dad is not very happy with them keep raising the cost. Also he said they haven’t made a whole lot of friends there. I don’t think it is the right place for my mom because it is independent living and she has Alzheimer’s. I think she is in the wrong spot because everybody is really with it, and my mom is not. The staff is very nice. The apartment is very spacious and nice. It has two bedrooms and a little study area.