Falling twice, breaking first the tibia and then the femur has been an experience I wish on no one…read more After the second break 9 weeks after the first the plan was to replace my knee to fix the femur. It's been two weeks of waiting at Rehab and they have been amazing! Everyone was helpful and caring. Please do not hesitate to come to this facility!

My in-laws "purchased" a 2 bedroom apartment. They were required to give a deposit of 80% of the…read morevalue of the unit. This is greater that $100,000. The contract says that Oakwood keeps the deposit for as long as it takes to sell the unit again. My family has been waiting more than a year for the return of the deposit. They built new units over there and had no incentive to sell existing units. If you know you will need this money to pay for nursing care following independent living, think twice about signing that contract. Even sleazy landlords are required to pay deposits within a reasonable amount of time and with interest.

Years ago a loved one was in the skilled nursing section of Capitol Lakes. I was struggling to…read morelower him into his wheelchair while a nursing assistant who was in the room did not lift a finger to help me. He slid to the floor. Another time I visited and my loved one was sitting in his wheelchair in a puddle of pee which had pooled on the floor. Another time I was berated by a staff member because she couldn't find his shoes, which were in his closet, like I told her. I also got accused of stealing food from the kitchen, which turned out to be unfounded. I tripped and fell coming out of the elevator because it wasn't level with the floor. Hopefully the place has improved.

Our family moved my parents into Capitol Lakes in October of 2009. Out of all tre retirement…read morefacilities located in Madison, Capitol Lakes was chosen for a host of reasons, and after almost 10 years, we are all happy with Capitol Lakes. First and foremost is the location, only 2 blocks from the square. Secondly, Capitol Lakes has multiple levels of care, including Senior Housing, Assisted Living and a Nursing Home that includes Dementia Care. In Senior Housing, all unites have a full kitchen. There are also 3 restaurants. Including The Seasons, The Cafe and The Lunchbox. There are Heated garages and large, walk-in storage lockers. There is a large health facility with 2 swimming pools, a hot tub andhigh end exercise equipment. There is an on-site beauty salon. They also provide classes, lectures and programs on a daily basis. Everyone shopping for retirement residences must take a look at Capitol Lakes!

My husband has Alzheimers and has been at Karmenta for about 31/2 years. He was sent there from the…read moreVA hospital after a fall. The first thing I remember was waiting for a bed. At first I was peeved cuz they knew we were coming. Turned out the wait was because they had sent a man to Janesville to pick up a special mattress for him as he had a sore on his backside. Janesville was the nearest place to get what was needed for his comfort. Also that first night I found myself surrounded by caring people who understood what we were going thru. Most of those people are still there. The director who was there at the time has now been replaced by Glen. I have to be honest and say that he and I had a few troubles in the beginning, but it was more a lack of communication than anything else. Most recently Glen is responsible for providing my husband with a special wheelchair that keeps his feet up. This was done because my husband does not willing bend his knees. I couldn't be more grateful. Every 6 mos or so I attend a 'care meeting' with his head nurse, and social worker to make sure I am happy with the care he is getting. I feel safe in saying he is getting the best care available outside of private pay, which would be impossible for us. LuAnne R.

Nurse refused to provide my post op pain meds, filed complaint and had the director come talk to me…read moreabout opiod use. Saw the Cnas repeatedly abused, the Director Glen is an arrogant you know what. Loved my main nurse Shirley but that place should be shut down

My brother had colon cancer. 15 inches were removed. 18 of 26 lymph nodes that were removed had…read morecancer. He underwent 2 rounds of chemo. Then they stopped for about a year. He moved from appleton to mauston. I bugged him to get checked out to see if cancer had returned. We had UW -Health docs. The oncologists were great. The cancer had spread to lymph nodes . More chemo, then a brief pause between rounds. Meanwhile he gets pneumonia and gets an antibiotic from mile bluff medical ctr. The leftover chemo in his system reacts with antibiotic as best they can tell. Shuts down his his kidneys and liver. He is unresponsive for 24 hours. The hospital puts him on comfort care as they expect him to pass within a day or two. He wakes up. Makes a miraculous recovery that stuns the UW liver and kidney docs. He spent a month in hospital and couple months in rehab. His kidney and liver numbers improve to near normal but liver and kidney docs warn full recovery of those organs could take months or years. He finally goes home. MRI says cancer has moved into lungs but still very small. We see oncologist who is hopeful he can still be okay for awhile but recommends we activate hospice for when the time comes. Unfortunately, we did not understand what that means SO LISTEN CAREFULLY BEFORE YOU PUT SOMEONE IN HOSPICE THAT ISNT IN IMMEDIATE THREAT OF DYING! My brother had gone home from rehab. Was getting stronger, walking more. We had plans. He wanted to go to waterpark, boating, and work on a bus he was converting to a camper. But hospice took over his medical care. CONPLETELY! Two hospice docs that had never seen my brother started deciding what his medicines were going forward. My brother has had problems with blood clots in his legs. They tried to take him off blood thinner. I said NO WAY and explained he would get blood clot. They changed other meds. Their goal was different than ours. Ours was to continue to get him stronger so he could have some quality time. Agrace's goal was to make him comfortable prior to dying. They took him off NORCO for pain and put him on 15mg morphine twice a day which basically knocked him out sleeping too much. I complained. They said cut pills in half and take as needed so he takes 7.5 every 4-6 hours. In a 2 week period he went downhill rapidly, his previously damaged kidneys and liver shut down. He gained 20 pounds of fluid in less than two weeks. I talked to the nurse that had been seeing him a few times per week about his liver and kidney damage from a few months earlier. "Oh we didn't know about that". Really? His extensive medical records weren't transferred to you or your two docs didn't bother to read them. SO KNOW THAT THEIR GOAL IS TO EASE THEM TOWARDS DEATH NOT KEEP THEM ALIVE. They canceled his liver doctor appointment that he had. They don't want him seeing any other doctors. They don't want any blood work done. It's just make sure they have no pain even if that is causing them to die early. I blame myself because I didn't know that that's what being in hospice meant the liver doctor said it would make things easier when the time came because he was already would already be enrolled and somebody would be checking on them on a weekly basis. He didn't say that they would completely take over his care not wanting to see other doctors not want to do any Bloodwork and would switch them to morphine which I believe shut down his already damaged liver and kidneys that hadn't fully recovered even though the numbers looked good full recovery was supposed to take six months to a year or more. He had time left. The cancer was not wildly out of control at that point but the morphine I think ended his life. Would I put him on hospice again knowing what I know? NO FUCKING WAY! His nurse was nice. I think she was a good nurse and she was obviously sad that he passed. So that's my good comment about AGRACE. The bad - two doctors who made decisions about my brothers care without knowing or understanding his complete medical history from the previous few months since last October when he went into the hospital, having reacted from the antibiotic and the chemo. Two doctors who never ever met him or saw him made his decisions. Understand that if you put somebody in hospice, you lose a lot of control over what happens to the person. And I say that because I made his medical appointments for his liver doctor, his oncologist, his primary care doctor they canceled his liver doctor appointment. I'm sure they would've canceled others if they had been on the schedule. Don't put somebody in hospice until they are close to death.

These people are the most unbelievable, compassionate, caring giving people I have ever met. They…read morejust helped my mom through her final weeks at her memory care, and they are better by far than the help she had there and the other homes nothing about her memory care because they are one of the best but none of them have the love and compassion of the Agrace team. They also admitted my dad into their facility in Fitchburg his last week and the care and bed side manner again was unbelievable. I don't know how these people do it. They are the strongest and caring individuals. I can't say enough. Thanks, you to the Agrace team you're the best Sincerely, Dustin Pauls

Toured Vista West on the first day they were open. It's a beautiful building. I love the location…read morebut it's city living and maybe not for everyone. I liked many things about it but I wish the apartments were a little bigger with a den or offer 3 bedrooms. I've toured other CCRC's and wish I could combine bits and pieces of each to make it perfect for me. A pool with a shelf would be fantastic and a stadium seating theater room. Another ccrc that I toured had a long counter with coffee machine that made any kind of coffee you'd like. tea, popcorn, soda machine, fresh fruit and soft serve ice cream machine open all day at no additional cost. That was a nice touch. I might move in one day if I don't find anything better. I liked that it's not a buy-in life lease as I don't like that model of senior living. I've heard that 55 plus places in Madison have a 3 year waiting list! I'll keep touring and researching. I like to be prepared.

Actually, I took a tour today (of their independent living apartments for seniors); I'm about to…read moreretire. The staff person was very nice, the artwork in the common areas is very tasteful, the place overall appears to be very well built, and much of it is lovely. The units all have generous closet space, lots of outlets. Cable TV and phone are included in the [not inexpensive] monthly rent. And, to their great credit, they don't charge a huge "endowment" fee up front, as many similar facilities do. But for all the monthly rent, and after as long as I've lived and as hard as I've worked, I want this, my last move, to be into a real HOME . . . not just someplace for me to be warehoused -- and definitely not into some dime a dozen place like those modern "luxury" apartments built to lure yuppies into "urban" living. I have no use for those "creative" marketers who slap names on things which bear no relation to reality: you know, names like "Forest ____" (when there is no forest), or "___ Glen" (when there is no glen), or "Willow ___" (when there are no willows). In other words, the only "vistas" to be seen from most of the windows or balconies at "Vista West" are views of parking lots, streets, businesses and office buildings. Yuk. Not at any price, thank you.

My father was at St. Mary's for about five years in the Dementia/Alzheimer wing. Unfortunately,…read moremost times I visited he was improperly dressed with only a t-shirt even though he had a closet filled with sweaters and long-sleeved shirts. Activities were horrible and demeaning. My father would be alone most times or stuck in front of a soap opera. We encouraged the staff to please take my father to all the activities even though he'd say no thank you. We had opera CD's and a CD player for him to listen to and no one ever turned it on for him. He just languished away with hardly any attention from the staff. One good comment is that the food was good. Be sure to advocate for your loved one.

I chose SMCC for my 2-week rehab. after surgeries following a bicycle (me) vs. pickup truck…read moreaccident. I could not be happier with that decision. The facilities are exceptional, and the care I received and the staff were even better. Going from one facility (hospital trauma unit) to another (rehab.), you never know for sure if t's a positive or negative move until the decision and transfer is done. This was a very positive change for me. My therapists (OT/PT) were outstanding. The nursing staff was caring and accommodating to my individual needs. Staff coordination with my insurance was thoughtful and thorough. I had regular visits from administrative staff to be sure that my needs were being met by regular staff, and that any questions I might have had were answered. I found the atmosphere nurturing, encouraging, personal, and I connected with many of the staff one-on-one, especially those I interacted with routinely. I can fully recommend this facility and its care as five-star in every way.