Bickford of Crystal Lake

My family and I visited the facility for our grandmother since we run a few franchises and it's harder to provide for her care with such limited time. Yes it was a walk-in tour yet it doesn’t mean anything ! we were immediately concerned by several observations that raised serious red flags about cleanliness, professionalism, and overall standards of care. Upon arrival, a man on the bigger side hurried away from us while spraying air freshener. Despite this, there was a strong odor of cigarettes, body odor, and urine, masked with heavy fragrance. This created an unwelcoming and unhygienic first impression. Additionally, one caregiver appeared poorly groomed and dressed unprofessionally, no name-tag and lime green scrub wear, which did not reflect the level of care and dignity of this place that maybe once was great, let's not mention no greetings. While there were decorative elements meant to make the space appear appealing, they seemed to be used to distract from underlying issues. For example, a piano appeared to be placed to conceal a hole in the wall emitting a moldy, rotten smell. These are not just cosmetic issues but they raise legitimate health and safety concerns. Trisha, spent a significant amount of time discussing her personal life and previous employment rather than focusing on the facility, its services, or addressing concerns. While this was a walk-in tour, basic structure, transparency, and professionalism should still be expected. During the tour, a resident was wandering unsupervised, shouting profanity and striking the wall, which suggested inadequate monitoring and support. This same individual that was spraying air freshener was then later seen after the tour eating pizza by the main entrance as if they don't have a break room for that. Leaving me confused as to whether he was staff, a resident, or otherwise affiliated with the facility. I feel like I rather settle with a public aid facility! Save your bucks and time and carry a mask it stinks ! Sorry I never do this but you can’t do this to people !

WOW! What can I say…This Bickford Senior Living of Crystal Lake ROCKS! I needed to place my Mom ASAP on short notice into assisted living respite care in Illinois so I could coordinate her move down to where I reside in Missouri (8+ hours away). And they made it happen within 72 hours. I could never have asked for more caring and responsive individuals, trust me. Plus my Mom is LOVING the facility straight up, which is allowing me to focus on her placement here in Missouri! She has truly settled into the daily activities and care of the staff. Her peace of mind and daily care…I cannot ask for anything else! I would DEFINITELY place her here full-time if closer to me in Missouri. Thank you all at Crystal Lake Bickford Senior Living Caregivers. GOD BLESS!!! Sincerely, Janet Judkins

It is my life’s greatest regret that I chose this place as my mothers’ final residence. They lure you in with empty promises, it all sounds lovely until your loved one is in residence, then it’s a very different story. GET EVERYTHING IN WRITING!! But also, good luck with that, as the communication once all the forms are signed and the automatic payment is set up is an absolute joke. I have pages of emails that went unanswered (I live out of state). My sister called with questions and left multiple voicemails over 12 months, not one call was returned. Not one! It wasn’t until I copied every name I could find that I finally received a response to questions like How do I get my mom on the schedule to see the onsite doctor? Who can I talk to about her prescriptions? Her refrigerator is still not working… 3 months later. Etc. In hindsight, I am convinced the reason they never responded to my emails is, so I did not have their response in writing. When I asked very important questions in writing, then escalated my email after weeks of no response, I would get a phone call saying I should come in to discuss it. Never a written response. This happened multiple times. My final two emails asking how to close out my mom’s accounts, after months of no communication, also went unanswered. I had to call corporate to get a response. Julie is the most unprofessional person I have ever had the misfortune to interact with. There were 3 different Health & Wellness Directors in the 12 months that my mother lived there. That alone speaks volumes. Read the reviews on Indeed! I wish I had. For the most part, the medical staff was good. There were a few that were rude and borderline negligent toward my mom, and there were a few that were absolute gold and genuinely caring, but that just goes with the territory. My issue is when I tried to address some of my mom’s complaints or concerns, I was met with “I’m sure that’s not what happened”. Or “She must have misunderstood” or nonsense like that. I witnessed one event, and it wasn’t until I said Are you accusing her of lying? that she backed off the narrative that there’s no way anything my mother was saying happened. Beware! They will not believe your loved one. They will deny everything instead of simply addressing the issue. They’ll tell you their average response time is 6 mins from when the resident hits the button to call for help, that is not the reality at all. I witnessed multiple times where it was over 15 mins if not longer. Most times it was around 10-15 mins but there were far too many times when it wasn’t. There were 2 instances at night when there was no response at all until the next day. The bigger issue for me was when I tried to speak to Julie about my mom’s concerns about the long wait times or lack of response entirely, her response was to tell me that my mom was the 2nd highest quantity of requests for help. And? She’s there because she needs help, and their response to not keeping up their end of the very expensive bargain is to say it’s my mom’s fault because she asks too many times??? Absolutely unacceptable. They’ll tell you housekeeping is included – not true. I had to clean every time I went to see her. The hospice nurse even cleaned while she was there. When we moved my mom’s furniture, the extent to which they did not clean was gut wrenching. They did keep to the laundry schedule for the most part, but they left us with a full hamper of dirty laundry when she passed. Over a weeks’ worth. They didn’t even have the decency to spare us that even though she was still under their care and we continued to pay for weeks after her death. They didn’t call to offer condolences, but you better believe they called to find out when the apartment would be vacant. They did not return my calls when I asked when to expect the refund due to us 4 months after she passed. I could go on and on but just writing this breaks my heart. Don’t make the same mistake I did. A mistake that will haunt me for the rest of my life.

Great staff, excellent food, nice rooms. Would highly recommend Bickford of Crystal Lake.