Sacred Heart Villa Senior Living

Ray C

We took my mother to the Sacred Heart Villa. It is a Catholic facility, and it is more what she was interested in. She has been in lockdown for two weeks because of COVID, so we haven't been able to visit. I can't visit until this coming Friday. I just talk to her once in a while, and she seems to be OK, but she has been locked in her room. It is hard to tell what the place is like right now until they let her out. Everybody is very friendly, just like most places we have visited. It is more geared toward the Catholic faith. They have Mass every day and they do rosaries; that's why we chose this place over one of the other ones. It is a lot larger -- not that it is better -- but there are a lot of floors, and you have to use elevators to get around. She is still fairly mobile. They don't charge extra for different levels of care. It is "one price fits all" when you go in there. It is up on the hill and they have about forty acres of property up there, so there is a lot of wildlife like deer, birds, and squirrels, so it is nice. They bring their meals and everything to their rooms, and they have been helping my mom around. Of course, they bathe her and everything else. The staff members are a little light on the weekend because they're short on the weekends, but during the week, they seem to be OK. They're pretty compassionate about things. I guess that's what they pride themselves on, and that was kind of the reason we went there. My mother is a very fussy eater, but so far she likes the food. She said they actually give her too much. She seems to be very happy with the food. They have a pretty varied menu, and if they don't like something on the menu, they will make them something different. It is a multilevel so it is not all on one floor, but if she needs help getting around, they will actually put her in a wheelchair and take her places. So from that standpoint, it has been great. Even though it is assisted living, they are probably giving a lot more assistance than they would normally do in assisted living facilities. They have quite a few activities, like the typical stuff that seniors enjoy. They do all kinds of games and bingo. They said once this COVID restriction is off, they would take them out for rides in the country in their van, they can go to casinos, and they can go to the dinner theater up in Lancaster. They do quite a bit, but right now because of the restrictions, they are kind of limited. They keep them pretty busy. Plus they have all these other things, like they have the hairdresser that comes in weekly, and they have their own beauty salon, a library, and a TV room. It is a very nice place. The rooms are fairly large compared to other places, which is always good. It is a fairly large facility. They have nuns living in part of it, and they only have forty residents. It is very quiet.