My family and I recently had a loved one spend a couple weeks at the Western Home both at Windhaven and the Deery Suites. The care they provided both physically and emotionally to both our mom and family was above and beyond anything we've ever experienced. Everyone from the CNA's, to the RN's, to the entertainment, transportation, kitchen staff and everyone in between, was kind and genuinely concerned about our mom's well being. They knocked before entering, spoke to her and explained everything they were doing. They always asked if there was anything any of us needed. All questions asked by both her and us were answered quickly and to our satisfaction. As her level of care increased Deery Suites staff were able to seamlessly provide and keep up with the demands of her situation. I was there during all 3 shifts, and witnessed excellent communication between different shifts. They all get along and work together. It was wonderful how they all work as one unit. It was a huge relief knowing when we couldn't be there that she was treated by kind caring professionals. She stated at every visit how well she was treated. In addition the rooms and halls were surprisingly quiet. If you've ever been to some nursing and even hospital facilities, you know how loud and distracting they can be. This was a welcome relief! I would not hesitate to recommend the Western Home and especially the Deery Suites for professional, exceptional care. read more

Our parent was in independent living elsewhere, he now needed to go to assisted living after a fall. The Western home on South main was beautiful, the tour was all positive, we were even told our father could smoke outside and the staff would be more then happy to assist with this as he'd been a 50+ year smoker and did not have many things in his life left he enjoyed. Things changed quickly after we paid the fee and had him all signed up, the cigarette breaks did not transpire along with other issues and people were not quite as friendly as when we took the tour. And it wasn't long then they stated he no longer qualified for assisted (he became to much work) and would need to go to the dementia/Alzheimer unit. We were again assured this would be the best fit, and our options were this or the nursing home (as we already paid a fee so he could move into other areas of the Western home before someone just off the street.) Very disappointed in the majority of the staff in that area. Some of the aides and nurses were just plain unfriendly and rude, kitchen help was very unwilling to work with us on his food choices, though we were told there was flexibility and don't believe there was much time taken to get our parent to eat and enjoy his food. Their choices always seem to be what was most convenient for them not our loved one, even though we were the ones paying their salaries, they work for our loved ones, but it was treated like the patients were working for them. They rarely seemed to try and initiate him going to activities (the activity director was very nice but she needed the help of others to do her job). I would regularly find him in his room with no one engaging him to visit, take a walk etc etc. We spoke to the "Mayor" Diana I believe her name was and I found her cold, defensive and a lack of motivation, taking no responsibility for her staffs actions. Found my father in dirty and wet depends to often. Always losing his glasses or dentures or something, so then he didn't have glasses to wear, even had someone elses on one time, probably gave him a nice headache and then he'd be agitated and became a problem and it would be his fault. I asked them about his hard and bloated stomach, they did little of nothing until one day he must have been in such pain, he began to dig at himself and had feces smeared all over and they took him to the emergency room, the doctor was not happy with his condition we were told by a someone there. When he was sent back to the WH, I stopped in on an off time to see him as he had gotten back that afternoon. I walked in to find a woman lying on the floor, she had fallen out of her wheelchair and no one around, I went and got them. I then went into my fathers room, he was in his recliner with a sheet hanging over him, naked from the waist down, the sheet could have fallen off so easily. His window was open as the room still smelled of feces, it was chilly outside and the breeze was coming in, he was shivering and his bare feet stuck out and were ice cold. This man just was released from the hospital and this is how he was treated. After that incident that he ended up in the ER in our opinion form neglect the Mayor was somewhat apologetic. I attempted to speak to the Man in charge of operations, I got his secretary or someone else instead, I explained my concerns, she seemed alarmed, he never called me. I called and left a message and never heard a word. It wasn't long after that they said he could not stay there either (he again had become to much work) and he needed to go to the nursing home they have but he needed to leave. I did a tour of the nursing home, the woman who was to meet me to do this was not there at the time set. So they said I could look around. I was not impressed, it was like an old hospital, small rooms, just cold and uncaring feeling and this building was not pretty like the others. No one smiled or was friendly. I'm sure many are overworked and underpaid. We decided that even though we paid the large initiation fee for all the perks that were always short lived or never transpired and that he needed to go elsewhere asap, we got him out of the WH all together. Pretty on the outside was the WH ugly on the inside. And that they lead you to believe this is some kind of Christian type setting is another smoke and mirrors. I called it to an employees face a bait and switch operation. My main regret is we didn't get him out sooner as he really went down hill fast there and the small % of caring employees can not make up for all the others. I spoke to another person who's parent was treated the same way there, hope they got their father in a better place. Bottom line these types of issues fall on the shoulders of those in charge. The manager never did call me. Be a voice for your loved ones, without you they have no one. read more

Western Home Communities - Western Home 11th St. - Skilled Nursing Near Me - Cedar Falls, Iowa

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My father was in the downtown "Martin Health Center" part of the Western Home Communities. We had visited the nice, new facilities on South Main, and he had decided to go there when an assisted living room became available. But he had a hospitalization and needed a few weeks of rehab, so the Martin Heath Center was the only option available to him. He received TERRIBLE care at the Martin Center. Highlights: left in room for 1 1/2 hours upon move-in with no call light or water to drink. I finally asked an RN if we could get some water, and she was very rude and told me to get my own (I had no idea where to even go to get cups). The staff was dismissive of needs. I once found my father shaking in his chair because he was afraid he was going to soil his pants. He had the call light on for well over 20 minutes, as he needed assistance to get to the bathroom, with no response. I was as mad as a hornet and went storming out to the nurse's desk to find at least four nurses sitting and doing paperwork and ignoring my dad's light. One morning, I walked in to find my dad in tears, as the orderly had put Depends on him the night before, even though my dad had never worn nor needed Depends. He had told the orderly he didn't want them, but the orderly said he "had" to put them on. My dad was embarrassed and humiliated. On another occasion, an aide helped my dad walk into the bathroom, only to leave him standing in the middle of the room. She turned around and left. He could not reach the toilet or the bar on the wall to steady himself. I could see this all very clearly in the bathroom mirror. Yes, I was there and would have been glad to help him (and at that point did), but didn't he deserve a little respect and dignity rather than have his daughter help him in the bathroom? Sometimes my father never received a food tray. "Oh," the staff would say, "we must have lost your slip." The food was horrible to begin with, but to not get any at all...even more often, he got items he had not ordered. He was looking very much forward to apple crisp one night, for example, but they had "run out" and brought him something else instead. His room was not very clean, and in fact we found old food underneath the easy chair when he moved in. Often, my father told me he had his light on at night because he needed help to the bathroom, and nobody would answer it for a long time, but he could hear the aides talking on their cell phones in the hall way. One nurse tried to give my dad another patient's meds; thankfully, my dad was mentally alert enough to know they weren't his, but that is not true of many of the patients in that facility. Plus the nurse argued with him over it. So glad he kept insisting they were the wrong meds. I could go on and on about the terrible care he received there...little things, like his TV didn't work correctly, which seem little until one realizes that is the only way he had to entertain himself unless I was visiting him. Like the first reviewer wrote, the upper-echelon staff was always nicey-nicey to our faces and apologized for poor care and borderline abuse (the Depends being forced on my dad), but no changes were really made. We even met the CEO Kris Hansen when we toured the new South Main facilities. He chummed it up with my dad over football and made him feel right at home. But when I got fed up with the poor care my dad had received over several weeks and decided to call Mr. Hansen's office, he never returned my call. They will make you feel much-loved and wanted and accepted until you are in their clutches. Then they treat you and your loved one like dirt. We finally moved my father to a skilled nursing facility in a small town closer to our own home. Although it was nowhere near as "fancy" as the Western Home Community's (expensive) new facilities on South Main, my dad was treated with kindness and respect at all times. He never had to wait for more than a few minutes for help if he put his light on. He never went without a meal (though I must admit the food was still not great). The staff was simply excellent and worked hard to make my dad's stay there enjoyable. If you care about your loved one, keep looking. Anything would be better than what my daddy (and I) endured at the Western Home's Martin Center. read more

downtown locations - martin health center is horrible. I will never ever have my mom at this location again. The staff and nurses was so rude to her. she cried so much and was scared to ask the rude staff for help. My mom call light would be on for sometimes 30 to 1 hour before a response. I am her daughter and decided to sneak in and stay overnight and my mom was right, the staff is rude, the place is dirty, her call light was on that day for 40 minutes...I timed it and decided to go get staff and they claim they didn't hear it or something. Never ever again! They rate 0 is the worst. They may have a new facility but the same RUDE staff and nurses are still there. SMH read more