Magnolias of Lancaster

Donna

Magnolias of Lancaster is very attentive and very caring. The facility itself is very clean, and all the staff, no matter who you talk to, whether it'd be housekeeping or somebody in the kitchen staff, are all there to help. Recently, they did an activity that involved butterflies from larvae and they had a release. Then they studied the butterflies. They also do little baking activities with the residents helping out, arts and crafts activities (which are very simple, but they're very engaging), and some kind of a program that's on the large TV in which they can program it where they can do crossword puzzles or name that tune or just some games. My mother has dementia and they're by her side constantly. Lisa is new and has been there three months and she's done some changes. I complimented her a couple of times. She's got music in and she puts pictures up about what they were having for breakfast, lunch, and supper. It's a smaller facility with 38 residents and there are four different wings with the residents, but if you get down in one area, it's very cold. Then if you get down on the other one, it's humid and stuffy. It's not central air or anything and I think it is because in the wellness center, they have a little air conditioning and when you first come in, they have a community room and there was no air conditioning in there. Those poor ladies had their offices there. It is so hot and humid in some areas.

Lyle

Magnolias of Lancaster appears to give better care for less price. I was very impressed with the facility. It's open, yet you can have a private area. The facility was very well laid out with larger sleeping quarters than the facility where Mom is now. The layout of the building with the courtyard was done very well, so you don't feel confined. It had little areas where people can have a private conversation without being in the living room area, plus they have a giant living room area. Heather, who showed me around the facility, was very accommodating and answered every question I had, very upfront with fees, costs, and so forth, which was quite refreshing being able to deal with numbers so I could make an informed decision. Overall, it was a very good experience. They're all very friendly and very knowledgeable. I met more than just Heather, the person that gave me the tour. I met some of the people that work there and I was very impressed. I only looked at the menu at the point of what they were eating, so I did not get an opportunity to try any of the food.

Dennis

We visited Magnolias of Lancaster, and we met with Heather. She was the head of our tour, and must be the manager or something. So, she talked with us first about the facility, and did a great job explaining everything, then took us around to see one of the rooms, and took us around to see everything that the facility has. It seemed like a very clean place. We have seen residents, and they seem like they were happy there. Other than that, we just like the cleanliness, and Heather was very nice taking us around. They have two different types of rooms. They have a single room, that was just your personal room yourself. It has a little single bed, and a dresser which comes with a couple of pieces of furniture. So, you don't have to worry about like bringing a bed, mattress, and all that. It has its private bathroom. They have shared rooms, but we were not able to see one of them. I'm thinking that they were all occupied. This shared room is the same as the single room, but they do share a bathroom, and it's broken off. The beds are the same size as the private room, so each person still has enough space for privacy. You're allowed to bring a TV if you want, they don't provide TVs in the rooms. Everything seemed to go pretty well. They were doing some activities when we were there. They are doing some music, and then some fun things for those residents. They were hitting the balloon back and forth to each other, and stuff like that. They discuss the food and everything. They have it all figured out, and they provide three meals a day, snacks, and stuff like that.

Marlon

My dad is at Magnolias of Lancaster. It's going well. The place is very good for dementia. The staff seems to be good. I'm there for every dinner and their food is OK. The dining area is very clean and very nice. I'm not there during the day, but I have seen my dad doing some painting and some crafts. The place is very open so he can wheel himself around the whole area with no problem. He is not confined to a room or to one single space. The staff is very good too. I like them.

Provider Response

Pamela

Magnolias of Lancaster seems to be well run. Part of the problem is that there's just a revolving door where my mother is, and nobody seems to know her. They're understaffed and the people don't stay very long. The location is good for me, and I think very highly of the director there. The price is a little lower than we expected.

Suzie S

Magnolias is a top notch personal care facility. Because my father had problematic, obsessive behaviors, I have had the chance to observe a lot of personal care situations. The staff at Magnolias was the absolute best! I have never seen a resident spoken to in a cross or exasperated manner (something that is all too common with dementia patients), staff was very attentive to residents--if they were messy in any way, the staff noticed and remedied it. I was so surprised when they offered to trim my father's overgrown fingernails within 20 minutes of his arrival. His beard was always neatly trimmed, his room was clean, and he was well-groomed. Because my father likes coffee so much, the staff always had some ready for him. I had to write a personal story for my father before he entered, and every staff member I met told me they had read his story and mentioned some detail of it. This made me feel secure that they would "understand" his dementia personality and indeed I observed staff members relating to him on his terms at all time. My father had to leave Magolias because his personal journey with dementia created an obsessive desire to escape coupled with an equally strong fear of escaping. In short, Magnolias simply had too many doors and windows for him and I had to find him a small, restrictive environment that resembled a hospital setting in order for him to calm some of his anxiety. He will never be "happy", but he is less anxious now. But the difference in staff attention where he now makes me so sad that he couldn't stay at Magnolias. We are going to hire a personal aide for him at the new place just to make sure his needs are met and it does frustrate me that the staff at Magnolias met his needs (and made it look fun and easy!) but at most other personal care homes like the one he is at now, that is not the case at all. I would highly recommend checking out Magnolias to see if it would be a good fit for your loved one who is dealing with dementia--an incredibly difficult disease. I would like to add that the Magnolia staff has training in working with dementia patients. And even though every place I dealt with said that about their caretakers, at Magnolias I believed they really did because every interaction with residents was what I could say was the "right" way to treat a person with dementia.