The Osborn Rye, NY 2

The Osborn is very well known in this area. They have various stages of living for seniors including just regular residents all the way to Alzheimer's. I thought the physical facilities were exceptional, but the food was not good. The attention was OK, but not very good. The quality of the rooms was very good. They have professional staff on duty to cover everything, and the attention to routine was good. The senior staff was good, but I thought the regular staff that was there to take care of routine functions was just going through the motions. They had a lot of activities including entertainment, music, and visiting speakers. It’s among the better ones that I’ve seen.

I went to see The Osborn. It was beautiful and top notch. The woman who showed us around was lovely. The units are beautiful. They had independent homes and they had apartments. After you chose your unit, they would renovate it before you moved in. We didn't eat there, but their dining area was very clean and pretty. They had different options from formal to informal. They had a pretty art studio, a movie screening room, a pool, a fitness center and they had lots of clubs. I had nothing bad to say about them. It was just very expensive. However, I would recommend them to others.

At first glance, The Osborn is posh. The stately 1903 building, the manicured grounds, the friendly staff, all instill a sense of security. The facility also boasts a local library satellite location (as opposed to a small, sparse private library at other facilities). All contribute to a feeling that your loved one will be well cared for and happy--able to enjoy many of the pastimes they enjoy, in a vintage, country-club atmosphere. The assisted living apartments are old, but boast state-of-the-art monitoring, so that staff will know if your loved one's routine changes (in order to better monitor their health status). The building even boasts a satellite of WestMed, a local medical office. I was thrilled at this option, as it was very difficult to convince my grandmother to go out in cold or inclement weather. The attached nursing home is a bit different. I liked the idea of having an on-site, attached nursing facility with first preference when needed for rehab after hospitalization (With today's Medicare rules, this option is truly valuable. Medicare requires that any available bed be accepted--even if it's far away or in a less-than-acceptable facility). The nursing home, Osborn Pavilion, is two floors at the end of the building. The entrance is utilitarian--like an employee access to the building. The ground floor houses the rehab patients, and has direct access to the gardens and the medical offices. They also have their own dining room and recreational facilities; they are not often exposed to the general long-term care residents. An elevator accesses the second floor, where the long-term care patients reside. The layout is identical to the ground floor, but there are subtle differences that are not readily apparent on a tour. The main desk is the hub of activity, as in most long-term care facilities. All the residents have private rooms, with built in desk & bookshelves, closet & hospital bed. While you can opt to bring your own furiture, etc., there is precious little space for it.My grandmother was 100% deaf at the time of her stay at Osborn. As her hearing loss occurred after age 90, we communicated with her by using a white board. One of my biggest criticisms of this facility is the lack of empathy for her condition by the ancillary staff. Her primary nurses and helpers were always quite respectful and used her board to communicate important issues. But the lack of sensitivity to her deafness was truly mind boggling. She was taken to concerts, but not brought to art classes. If she mentioned that she enjoyed an activity, she was not brought back to it. Perhaps most frustrating was that there were no captions on the TV in the dayroom, where they were all expected to hang out. When I complained, the captions were turned on. The following week, the TV was replaced with an older model & I was told that it didn't have captioning. They also refused to modify their games (by using a board to post numbers in bingo, for example) so that the many residents with impaired hearing could play. When I complained, they were patronizing, saying they would remedy it, but nothing was done. And, as one of the most costly long-term care facilities, I believe there was no reason for it.Lastly, the food was mediocre. Long-term care, on the whole, doesn't boast the best food, (which they're quick to blame on dietary restrictions, etc.) but even the food in the assisted living dining room, The Grill Room, was run-of-the-mill. I looked at a lot of facilities, and this seemed like one of the top. And it's well rated, nationally, too. But the devil is in the details, and my best advice is to make sure you visit often, speak with families of other residents, and, if at all possible, employ your own aide (from the outside) to spend several hours per day with your loved one.I rated them 3 out of 6 because I feel that, given the high fee, they should provide a better overall experience to their long-term care residents.