My mom has been at The Laurel for about 3 months. We researched other memory care facilities and…read moreThe Laurel has by far exceeded my expectations. The building floor plan is set up for the dementia Alzheimer mindset. Many walk, but they can't get lost, because all paths lead to the main common area. This gives residents comfort. I am glad this is a care facility that does not use agencies. Each staff member treats residents for where they are at in the disease process. I normally have all guards up, but when I walk in there, they are genuine, and make you feel like you are part of their family. This has brought great comfort to my father, me, and my sister for the care of our mother. We learned so much from the director, asst director, front receptionist, and if you do not know what the definition of empathy is, go observe The Laurel's staff. The staff gives it their all and by watching them, it has made it easier for my family to accept the disease my mom is going through and how to find her in her world and be a part of her life in this horrible disease. They have functional and non-functional activities, and the patience the staff has, is beyond. We all sleep well at night knowing she is in the best care possible. Everyday is different with Alz/Dementia, and they tweak everything to each resident's day. Who are my favorites, every single worker there is, they go with the flow and monitor each resident behaviors and health, and address any issues fast. Everything they do, they try, if it doesn't work they try something else, and they let me know, and I am able to participate to help. They keep the family notified. The facility is so clean, cozy, and most importantly simple and safe! Because sundowning is a big part of their day, they have a psych that works with this part of the disease to find the right meds. I used to come in with my head down, bc I knew how mom was at home, but they do not judge, and they honestly look at the good parts. They have support groups there that help the families cope and accept what is ahead. Because my mom is high functioning, they use her strengths and she helps others which gives her self-esteem and a sense of purpose, and all staff works with my mom to keep her busy, satisfied, and I am not gonna lie, mom has her rough days, but every staff member makes her feel she is loved and needed. The Laurel has helped my family deal, accept, and participate in mom's care with the best guidance. As the disease is awful and accelerates, we sometimes are upset this happened to her, and question faith at times, but then I am reminded of the Laurel and its staff, and believe that was God intervening got her there. Honorable mentions, Teri, Rochelle, Abbie, Cayla, Lisette, Eric, George, Liz, Tracy, and every single staff I did not mention. Thank you Laurel, thank you!!!!

I love everything about The Laurel of Vernon Hills Memory Care, except for one thing…read more Let me start by saying that this was the fourth care community for mom. She was in an assisted living home in Florida in 2016 and I moved her back to the Chicago area in 2018 to another assisted living home. Two years in, Covid hit and she as well as all the others who were living in care homes were very isolated, so my husband and I moved her to our home. She was with us for a year when it became clear that we were in over our heads. I moved her to what I thought was a lovely assisted living with higher functioning dementia residents but after six months, when it was obvious that she required more care, and they were planning to raise her rates twenty percent, it was time to move again. I could not trust that they wouldn't do that again in another six months, and I had to be careful with her resources. I knew I had to get it right as I never planned to move her again. So I visited six communities before I was lucky enough to find The Laurel. I loved the first phone call with Carol. She was so efficient, caring, down to earth and accommodating, I felt comfortable. When I first met with her, my heart melted when she told me my mom would be loved there. So true. I loved my first visit there seeing the beautiful décor and thoughtful display cases. It was a pleasure seeing residents engaged in activities with plenty of staff there for assistance. I loved that when I arrived with my mom, there was the adorable Amy to greet her and just take over while my family and I moved her things to her room. I loved that Darresha, from housekeeping was in her room to label and hang up all her clothes. And that her pictures were hung were hung by Eric, all so helpful for families under the stress of moving day. I loved that she was busy with activities and was never left in her room to sit and do nothing. I loved that whenever I visited her, she would say how lucky she was to live there because everyone was so nice. And we have Julie Stoneburner, Executive Director, to thank for hiring only the best people. I loved the support groups that Carol organized, which is where I learned about Suncrest Hospice. I knew that when the time came, she would be in good hands. I am grateful for everything that the staff did for her up until her final moments. The only thing I didn't like were the curtains! That is the only thing I can think of to whine about. And I am laughing at myself while whining!

The new management is poor. They constantly lose staff. The food service is in disarray and many…read moretimes run out of food. There are some many kind and caring staff.

Hope it improved since January 2025 when several of the upper level mgmt left the facility. Staff…read moremorale and communication not very good Had to report multiple incidents to corporate. Someone did call to discuss, but was given token answers and nothing changed-just got worse. Okay for independent care if resident doesn't require a lot of care. Once additional care required, care quality very poor.**Activity program has always been very good. They get the one star-the rest get "0".

My mother had just passed and we were at her apartment going through things, organizing so that we…read morecould get everything cleared out as soon as possible. The manager was very rude, just plain nasty. She kept saying things like, I'm running a business here and asking questions and getting mad when we did not have the answers she wanted to hear. Ever time we did try to answer her she completely cut us off and barely gave us a chance to even talk. We told her that our mother had just passed and she did not care at all. Just a nasty nasty human being! I will not mention her name but the facility knows exactly who she is.

When there is no leadership/mgmt any place can go under especially when among staff they are the…read moreones who just don't care and not wanting to be responsible for their actions, then our parents become the victim of their negligent. VC of Vernon Hills have been under many different leadership/management and I have seen, heard, observed them all in the past 9 yrs my Dad being a resident @ this location. But this time is different. I am tried of the mgmt making so much excuses to attend to my Dad. Dementia, aggressive, refusal....Come on who are you kidding....how come they are staff that they love him, work with him, call him Papa and most importantly being patience with him and attend to him as they should. This mgmt like to try or evict elderly man who has bit hard time remembering some minor daily rotines, which is totally normal @ this age. My dad have been living there for years and because her staff doesn't want to put the effort into taking care of him now he is as fault. We were so happy for years and unfortunately I can not say this anymore. Under this leadership/mgmt everything is going under. I am very heartbroken and disappointed. If you are thinking about moving your parents, relative, friends to this facility, please do you homework!

The staff and community are great and in such a perfect location for access to everything you could…read morewant for both medical needs and shopping and entertainment. The building is well decorated and well maintained, and they have such a great and diverse community of residents that take pride in their community and add their own talents and interests to the mix. They regularly have live music performances, Art Instructors, Daily Fitness Instructors, and have new activities every month to keep things fresh, in addition to their routine happy hours and games! The continuum of care is great. A resident can move in as a completely independent resident and as their needs change, so can their care levels. So there's typically no need to remove your loved one from the community just because they are aging and changing.

Watched these people lose their minds about letting a guy delivering life saving oxygen come in the…read morefront door. Made whoever needed it wait while they forced him to go around the back. Wouldnt leave your loved ones here if theyre turning around emergency services like that.

I have partnered with Sedgebrook for a few years now and I am so happy to say they are some of the…read morebest people to work with. Very informative, patient and always there to support. I would definitely recommend their services over any other organization.

**BUYERS BEWARE** Do not sign a contract, or allow your elderly family members to sign a contract…read morewith Sedgebrook without having an attorney read the contract first. I'm not sure if people truly comprehend the details about refunds from Sedgebrook: there is absolutely no date whatsoever by which Sedgebrook has to return money to residents, families or estates. None. My late father vacated his apartment on December 4, 2021 and transferred to Sedgebrook's assisted living facility. For 4 1/2 years, Sedgebrook has withheld his deposit from our family. When we inquire about the deposit, we get the same tired excuse; the unit will sell when it sells. I'm a senior citizen with my own health issues. It is entirely possible that my family won't receive this refund in my lifetime. Before you or your loved one pays hundreds of thousands of dollars to Sedgebrook, do yourself or your loved one a favor: Have an attorney, or even a paralegal read the contract first, so you don't put yourself or your family in this regrettable situation. Also - not all retirement/independent living communities follow Sedgebrook's business model. Shop around. Following is a link to a story that NBC Chicago did about Sedgebrook: https://www.nbcchicago.com/consumer/proposed-law-aims-to-protect-families-owed-large-sums-of-money-from-retirement-communities/3161605/ I emailed the reporter about possibly doing a follow-up story. She responded that after three years, she still hears from families like ours. Good luck, and be well.

Very clean and less than 10 years old. Staff and residents always have smiles on their faces…read more Plenty of activities to do each day. 3 different levels of care from independent living to memory care and different types of rooms for each level of care.

Top notch care being provided, caregivers show compassion and empathy. Very thankful that our loved…read moreone is able to live their best life there!

I would recommend SM with some qualifications. The abode does not present as a typical nursing…read morehome. It is clean. The dining room is attractive and the meals tasteful. Concerns include staff shortages and poor communication at times. Add some maintence concerns at times. The caregiving staff dress as medical personnel which IMO conveys the wrong message for an independent/ assisted Community. Wouldn't the average tenant prefer to live in a non-medical environment? Spoke to management about a week ago about flag etiquette. Five days later the flag was flying at full-mast. This is inconsiderate and disrespectful to veterans, civilians, and our recently deceased President. Yes, I would recommend S.M. And would do so to family, friends, and myself.

This place is as good as it gets!! I feel like I have moved my aging father (86) in with my…read moreextended family. Denise and Tom were with us the entire time. When ever I had a question Denise always called me right back. Any problems I had she took control and got them resolved. This is the BEST decision I have made in the care of my father. Give Denise or Tom and call, set up a tour and I know you will feel the same way I do. I can now rest knowing that my dad is in a NICE HAPPY place. I also gained two friends out of it.

staff is great.....food is atrocious........I ended up buying food or having it delivered. it was…read morehighly salted, and most of the time I could not identify what it was. had to buy and store my own food in the refrigerator.

Wonderful people who are compassionate and helpful. Could not have asked for better care for my…read moremother.

Terrible CNAs only one was attentive Lazy could care less…read moreand rude Instead of assisting at mealtime My brother was there helping my mom and assisting another person at the table!!! I'm pretty sure he's not on the payroll I've done this job years ago so don't BS me I know the difference !!!! They are on cell phones !!!

I am in my second month of rehab here. Care is top notch except for the food. It is over salted and…read moreoverly peppered. It is overcooked. When I asked to speak to management I was shifted to a supervisor. I explained the problems. I have yet to get any response. Be prepared to to have outside food brought in. I have not had one single day in my nearly 2 months here, where every item served was properly done. No one seems to have any concern about the poor quality of food.

BEWARE!! Terrible management and unreliable staff. Feel free to contact me before you choose this…read moreagency. I have stories, emails and voice mails of unprofessionalism by both management and caregivers. Using this agency caused my family extreme stress - on top of the stress of caring for an elder needing 24/7 care. I would NEVER recommend this agency.

If I could give Right at Home zero stars, I would, and they would not even deserve that. Stay away…read morefrom this company, they will cause you and your loved one nothing but stress. My family used Right at Home in 2022. It has taken me until now to write a review because I just did not want to think about how bad their service was. We are in a much better place now, and I feel compelled to warn others. Right at Home was truly awful- no communication. I'm not sure how they even had clients. We had to call them to find out who was coming for my mom. I can't recall EVER receiving a phone call informing me, I always had to call them. Schedules that should have been known and planned for became unnecessary emergencies because of their poor communication. My mom very much liked one of their caregivers - she was wonderful - so we were tied to the agency. That it the only reason we stuck with them as long as we did. The caregiver was pregnant, and we had to tell them! They claimed they were unaware. Right at Home had zero communication with us regarding her replacement until WE asked them if they had a plan. Their staff made us feel like they were only concerned about the money. I truly felt like they would just throw whoever they could on the schedule and they did not have as many caregivers as they said they did when we signed up with them. Two of their caregivers abandoned my mom. I never heard an apology. When I contacted their owner, Matt, regarding an issue, I got no follow thru other than an email thanking me for my communication and a promise to be in touch. Never heard from the guy again. They simply placed whoever they could find with my mom, taking no consideration as to how she would react to the person. Just horrible service. If you are a caregiver - don't sign up with them. They will treat you like crap and lie to you. I absolutely DO NOT recommend Right at Home. We've since used a different agency - and I can confidently say that Right at Home does not deserve to be in business. Don't trust your loved one in their care.