Monticello West

Mom is on a "between" floor in Monticello West because she's not fully ambulatory, but she's not in the memory care unit. If I ask them to clean her carpet or do things, they do it. The take care of her needs, meals, and laundry. She's in her own private room, which she loves. I never had any issues and things seem to be going fine. They seem to be pretty much the same with consistency every day which is a good thing. Mom gets her showers when she's supposed to and seems to be fine. The downstairs where the main dining room is is really lovely and decorated seasonally. The people on Mom's floor have their own dining room because these folks aren't that ambulatory. It's a public facility but it's not dirty. Instead, everything is really pleasant and cheerful. The staff on Mom's floor is probably the least consistent; on other floors, it's the same staff and her floor tends to rotate staff too often so they don't get to know the residents like they should. Old people tend to get confused and don't want to have to keep telling people where their stuff is. The food is one thing that Mom complains about since it's not that good.

Monticello West is kept very nicely. Their staff seemed to really care for their residents. My grandmother is really not in the stage where she has the energy to do much of anything, but they do offer lots of activities. The food generally is good. I've seen them play bingo and go to church every Sunday. I have also seen them do chair exercises.

I am in Monticello West, and it is well-organized. The lady who runs it and the people who work here are very nice. They all work together. I am very comfortable, big room. I have a kitchenette, a bathroom, and a large bedroom with furniture. They serve the food in my room, and it is very good. The facility is very clean, and they have people clean it all the time.

My mother in-law has lived at Monticello West for almost 1.5 years and we have been extremely happy with the services and care she has recieved. My mother in-law was living at another local facility and we were very dissatisfied with the care she received. She was not treated with dignity and respect and often had trouble getting the assistance she needed from the aides. This has been the complete opposite at Monticello West. All of the employees, which many of them have been working at this facility for many years are very caring and accomidating. One of the reasons we selected Monticello West was due to the staffing ratios and the fact that there is a nurse on every shift. Please make sure you really look at the staffing ratios when looking at facilities. These vary greatly from facility to facility. Many communities only have a nurse 8-10 hours a day and all other times they are "on-call". This is not the case at Monticello West. They have a nurse in the facility 24 hours a day to ensure the residents are taken care of. This gave us peace of mind knowing that in an emergency, a nurse would be available. I would highly recommend visiting Monticello West if you are looking for an assisted living facility as it really is a great place that truly cares about the seniors that live there. Thank you

My parents have been at Monticello West for just over 2 years now. I am NOT IMPRESSED. It was an amazing sales pitch that we received. "There is no cooking in the individual apartments on this level". "No meals are brought to the apartments, unless special circumstances require, such as illness or bedridden". If no cooking is allowed why did my parent's apartment have a stove and oven. "We'll just disconnect it" was the response to my query. No meals brought into the apartments from the dining room? Bull! My father orders trays brought up regularly for my mother who just refuses to go out. No medical reasons, just doesn't want to. My 82 year old mother has early Alzheimer's and dementia and is a Brittle Diabetic. So she can be quite stubborn at times when she wants. This was the reason for making the decision to move them to an ASSISTED LIVING FACILITY. It became evident, after my mother broke her hip for the second time, that my father could no longer care for her on his own. He has his own health issues as well. I questioned the staff as to general hygiene assistance. "We have ways of encouraging the more stubborn residents". Mom gets a shower maybe twice a week. Her hair only gets shampooed when she is forced to go to the beauty salon on the 2nd floor, maybe once every 2 months, because they won't shampoo it in the shower (mother throws a tantrum when they try). She wears dentures and they are rarely taken care of. Where is the "encouragement" they spoke of? Where is the "care and concern for every individual"? I have monitored the response time for the staff. At one time my mother was suffering from an extreme bout of dementia that lasted nearly 2 months. I was basically living with them for days at a time to care for her because the facility was just not providing the care needed. One evening I had fallen asleep in the chair in the den and heard my mother cry out. I found her on the floor in the bedroom. I pulled the emergency cord to summon an aide to help me get her off the floor. Let me add that she had soiled herself, and the floor, in the process. After 20 MINUTES I finally woke my father up (who is deaf and never heard any commotion) to help me get her off of the floor and into the bathroom to clean her up. Twice my mother's blood sugar levels had plummeted so low that she was in danger of coma. Twice an ambulance was called and paramedics were able to revive her. The staff DID NOT see to it that she even ate at all. The "nurse" has a glucose injection that could have been used and prevented having to call the paramedics. It was NEVER USED! As such, my father has had to pay, out of pocket, for ambulance and paramedic services. My mother's insurance DOES NOT COVER these services unless an overnight stay in the hospital immediately follows. Monticello West KNOWS THIS! As Monticello West states on their website "Licensed nurses on every shift enable Monticello West to provide the extra, professional level of services our residents so richly deserve." Let me correct that statement. THERE IS ONLY ONE, REPEAT, ONE NURSE ON DUTY AT ANY GIVEN TIME FOR THE ENTIRE FACILITY! My sister and I have discussed simply moving them into a regular apartment complex and caring for them ourselves. It would save my father thousands of dollars and my mother would receive the personalized care that was promised and that she deserves. I could go on and on. Don't make decisions based upon what the directors tell you. Talk to the other residents. Talk to the families of the residents. DON'T WALK ... RUN. RUN AS FAST AND AS FAR AS YOU CAN!

My Dad moved into this community about 8 months ago and we have nothing but amazing things to say about the care and attention my Dad receives on a daily basis by the amazing care givers. The executive director & managers at this community are extremely accommodating and always take the time to speak to me about my Dad and make sure everything is going well. We get numerous emails from the Executive Director throughout the month keeping us in the loop as to what is going on in the community and we appreciate this with our busy schedules. All of the employees are extremely friendly and accommodating to my Dad's needs which at times can be overwhelming. The life enrichment program keeps my Dad busy throughout the day and there is always something going on. We especially enjoy the Around the World in 80 Day program where the Life Enrichment Director has been profiling a different country every week with a discussion about the country along with food and drink from that part of the world. I have to say I know food can be a topic of conversation at many assisted living communities but the food at Monticello West is very good. We join Dad at the community 3-4 times a week for dinner and we are yet to have anything that has been disappointing to us. The Chef is very accommodating to our requests and truly wants all of the residents to feel like they are eating a meal at a restaurant. The menus that this community puts on for holidays like Father's Day, Easter & Thanksgiving have been amazing and we are now looking forward to our Christmas party. If you are considering an assisted living community in the Highland Park/Park Cities area please stop by Monticello West to visit this amazing community.

Monticello West seem nice. The rooms are quite small, but I knew my dad would want a bigger room. The people there seem happy and the common areas were very nice. It was a pretty place, but I knew quite early that it would not be a good place for my dad, primarily because it didn't meet my needs and what we're looking for. I didn't see anything that I thought was problematic. I think a lot of people are very happy there. I would recommend them.

For Years my Grandmother had been extremely self-reliant, but as she got to around 90 years old, she became lost in her own home and sometimes disoriented around others. Finally the time came when it was clear she could not live on her own. My Father and his sisters checked all around Dallas and decided upon Monticello West assisted living in Dallas, TX on McKinney Ave. The place was beyond wonderful and the attendants and staff all seemed to take great pride in their jobs and truly cared for the residents. They made sure she had her favorite foods, magazines, etc, all of the things that meant "Home" to her. She had her own little apartment that really looked as if her living room had transported across town to this facility. She was happy and most importantly she was under the close watch of the attendants and the rest of the staff there. I have nothing but good things to say about the staff and management at Monticello West in Dallas, TX. If another member of my family needed assisted living arrangements in later years I would not think twice about having them live at Monticello West.