"This is a skilled nursing facility in Iowa County, about 50-55 minutes southwest of Madison. It's an older, one-story brick building, and well located in Mineral Point, about two blocks from the main street. They have a few positive things going for them, including good community involvement (one nice thing they do is invite the whole town to an ice cream social each year) and a good activities program. But overall, they're really struggling. They've had quite a bit of staff turnover--and they had a poor recent state survey, with 29 deficiencies. (The average is 8.) "

"I've both visited and referred clients to Our House, which is a 16-bed community-based residential facility (what most people think of as assisted living). It's on the edge of town, which makes it convenient to families who live in Platteville, and--because it's in a rural area--it's comforting to residents who have always lived in the country. Pros: - It's a relatively new, well-maintained building, with a nice layout. There's a community room in the middle, with the residents' rooms around the perimeter of the square. - The care staff is very good. The director, an RN, has been there a long time--a real plus. And all of the staff receive a lot of continuing education. - A psychiatrist makes regular rounds. - They have a good activities program, with lots of variety. Cons: - They only take early stage dementia residents, so it's likely that anyone with dementia will have to leave once the disease progresses. - They're usually full, so there's limited availability to new residents. "

"If I had a problem there was always someone close and able to help. The therapists did a great job. The building is clean and linens were taken care of everyday. The food was excellent. Overall it was a good decision to come here."

"We just spent a week in Platteville. I think the staff is wonderful, caring, and attentive at Gray’s Nursing Home. My mother likes it there. She’s settled in and likes the food. I think it's a good fit for her. It is a smaller nursing home with about 20 residents, which I think is a real plus. It’s an old facility, but it’s remodeled, homey, and comfortable. They have a patio. She has a private room which she wanted with a nice bed. They have hanging geranium pots outside her window. "

"I found this place to be a caring place with a good environment. Even though I would probably not consider it for lack of activities. I am looking for a place that offers cleanliness, helpful staff and a good deal of activities including meals. This place was in my opinion, adequate but not for my parents. I will say that the staff seemed interested in the well being of the tenants though. I visited this facility because one of the guests at the restaurant that I work is a resident there. He seemed very happy there. The cost was very low and that surprised me. I will continue to seek out assisted living facilities for them. There is no urgency at this time but I feel that the time will be coming soon that they have to consider a facility due to their medical needs. One of my parents has diabetes and the other has arthritis which is getting progressively worse. I did like this facility becaus eit is close to the hospital and clinic. There are a couple of restaurants in town and I'm told a bus picks the tenants up certain days of the week and takes them shopping. The town is also pretty safe. I did not like the fact that this facility is on a sort of hill though. "

"I toured Park Place Assisted Living last June. I liked the memory care unit, but they have no nursing, so he would have to leave the facility and go somewhere else. It was spotless, very secure, they had locked doors, locked rooms if necessary. They showed us menus, and they had choices of entrees for each meal. They had an area where they could go to get snacks and beverages. It seemed to me like their staff to resident ratio was very good. They had a room where there's actual exercise equipment that was easy enough for elderly people to operate. They have these big foam dice, they were playing a number game, but one would roll the dice, and pass the dice to another person. They had some memory games that they were playing. They had an area where they could go outside, they had flowers and they could help with the planting of the flowers in the Spring, watering them, and taking care of them over the summer."

"We went to Galena Stauss Nursing Home because Dad decided he needed nursing care instead of assisted living. We were with several members of the staff today, and they sat down and talked to him like he was their friend. It was very clean. He has a room with a window and a lot of natural lighting. We're hoping that he'd be quite satisfied in there. "

"I ended up moving into Prestwick Senior Living, a 55-plus community. The property manager, Teresa, reached out to me and scheduled a tour. I drove down and viewed the property, and then I came back and signed the lease. I chose it because of affordability and the location. I did want to stay within the State of Illinois, and also because it's a very nice, clean, quiet, safe community. I was impressed with the property manager after just talking with her on the phone initially when she called me. She was very warm and welcoming. She was really the one who convinced me to move here. I just felt like the management team would be very caring and supportive of the residents after speaking with her. It also includes assigned parking spaces. They have ample parking. You don't have to be concerned about finding a place to park. I have ample space. It's around the same amount of square footage as my previous home. They also have a lounge for the residents. There are on-site coin laundry facilities. They have occasional activities for the residents, like bingo. They do not serve food here."

"We got everything moved to Grandview Estates, but my mom would not sign the papers and refused to go. We had the initial meeting with the director of assisted living, and she was a very nice young girl. We found out that this is actually her first time and she didn't know how to handle it, to calm things down and to make it work. As we pursued getting Mom moved back home, they told us we could leave her belongings for a month because Mom paid a deposit. Now, we are going through many phone calls to get our deposit back. They might be shorthanded and there's not enough people working there. I just saw in the newspaper that they are advertising for all kinds of open positions there, so they had a change going on. I would certainly send people there and recommend it to them. It's not a very large place, and we liked it a lot. It's an older place, but it's very nice. We were very happy when we found it and the price was right, too. The people we met were very nice, accommodating, and friendly."

"This is a skilled nursing facility with two dementia units. They keep the dementia units small for better care. I've made referrals there and visited a number of times. And I've been impressed with the quality of care. There's little turnover among the staff, and they're very committed to the patients. It's actually run by the Iowa County government. Other pluses: They're very timely in the referral process, they have psych rounds, and in the most recent state survey, they got 0 deficiencies (the state average is 8). That was wonderful. It's an older building, recently remodeled. They built on to add rehab beds. It's not the best facility, but they're doing what they can with an older building. They have 85 beds in all. It's also somewhat isolated, about 45 minutes from Madison, in the middle of the country. It can hard to find, but a lot of people from that area find the rural setting peaceful and homey. I haven't eaten the food, but it's known to be very good. And they have a very full activities program, with lots of community involvement. They host a hot air balloon fest each year. "

"We will be moving my mom into Sienna Crest. The community is very nice, bright, clean, and well cared for. It is also quiet, which is what I'm looking for. The rooms are nice. They're not very big, but they don't need to be. It is a nice community all the way around. The people are friendly. It looks like the people are well cared for as well. I only met two staff members, and they were very nice too. I am looking mainly for a place where Mom is going to receive care and three meals a day, and they have that. You can see that they do a pretty good job there."

"This is a skilled nursing facility that's connected to the hospital in Dodgeville. The staff and management team have been there a long time, and they do a good job. In the most recent state survey, they had only 5 deficiencies (the state average is 8). The facility itself was built in 2002, I think, and was designed to feel like four small households under one roof. There are 44 beds in all. One section is set up just for rehab, which is nice, since everyone in that ""household"" shares the same goal of getting better and returning home. They also have a skywalk that connects the nursing home to the hospital. It looks like ""Main Street."" It has a barber shop and other shops and has a very homey feel. The food is very good, and they have a good activities program, with lots of community involvement. The only downsides are that there's no memory unit, and they're often full--so it's hard to get in. "

"I have enjoyed the time I visit this facility and see the staff interaction with the seniors there. The staff are caring and enjoy their jobs. The therapy is the best and have great results. "

"It was a surprise because I know they had apartments, and I thought they had assisted living, but they don't have assisted living within the nursing home. The people in the Doll Apartments had access to the staff in the nursing home. They provide one meal in the community room at noon, they have people come and check on you morning and night, they make sure that you take your medicine, and they have weekly cleaning for you. They have laundry available to you, but you do your own. I think they do your bulky beds and stuff like that. They have both one- and two-bedroom apartments with full kitchens, and the price is great. You can have pets. It's a cost, but I guess my cats worth it. They also have carport parking so that your car is under a roof and sheltered, but not a full garage. You can make appointments at the nursing home for haircuts, manicures, and pedicures, and if you have to go in for surgery you can use respite care and still maintain your apartment. I am on their waiting list and there's no cost for the waiting list. The staff was very familiar with things and very friendly."