Carmel Hills

We found Carmel Hills for Mom. It has been a very good experience, primarily because I am now close enough to visit her every day. They are able, with the hoyer lift, to get her out of bed and into a geri chair, so she isn't just lying around the bed all day. They have worked with us to try to figure out what is best suited for her in this setting and this situation. We've needed to puree her food, and they're willing to work with us. I've been very pleased. She seems to be settling in and the staff has worked hard to try to learn how to pronounce her name, so she can respond to the correct pronunciation, and I appreciate that. Carmel Hills is an older facility, and the part of the facility that she's currently in is more of the hospital style facility with a nurse's desk. There are three halls that are pretty short, and they don't have a lot of people there. She has a roommate, and her room looks somewhat like a hospital room, but they have a bathroom to themselves. You can decorate it, and I've been really impressed with how some people have decorated theirs. She moved from memory care to this facility, which is not all memory care, but it is for people who need 24/7 care, so it's still a locked facility. She has to have assistance with everything. There's a number of people in the facility who are still ambulatory and active, and so I will see them in the gathering room, and they're doing some activities. The activity person actually goes into Mom's room and sets aside time to try to engage her to do some hand exercises. Mom is in the end stages of Alzheimer's, and sometimes she is nonresponsive at all, and that person always plays music to Mom. They work so hard to try to figure out what will work for her. I've fed her a number of times myself and the food looked pretty good to me. They're in the process of renovating right now. I have seen her engage with the rest of the community. The pricing compared to others is very good. We could not have put her in the place if they did not have the current price that they have. Compared to everybody else in the community, they're at least $3,000 cheaper.

Suzanna and the staff showed our family what it's like to be cared for by the best. A big thank you to everyone at Carmel Hills.

My grandmother was there. We visited many times and were always impressed by the staff, facility and care. It also had wonderful food. Being around others of like faith was a special privilege also.

We liked Carmel Hills. It was a big and busy place. However, we didn't want to be tied into their three-meal a day plan.