Walnut Woods

I want to provide some really great feedback and some really bad feedback. My mom was recently at Walnut Woods for a short time before we realized she needed the next level of care. She is now living at Chestnut Knoll. If it was up to her, she would have preferred to stay at Walnut Woods. Her apartment was beautiful and she had a great view. I want to call out three team members that went above and beyond for my mom and I while she was there. Amy, Edwin and Rhoda, these three staff members know how to interact with the residents and their families. Each one of these folks made the time to talk when we had questions and if they did not know the answer, they made the time to find out and get back to us. They were accommodating to our requests, and just generally super nice people. They also spoke to my mom directly when she was leaving, letting her know they were sad to see her go. I am glad you have people like them on your staff. Now the not so nice...when I realized that my Mom needed more care, I met with Tamika to let her know that I would be moving my mom out of WW. That conversation is one that I hope no other resident or their family member will ever have to endure. Immediately Tamika became defensive about the move and then proceeded to tell me several extremely dismaying reasons why I should not move my mom into Chestnut Knoll or any of "those places". She told me that my mom would go "downhill" if moved over there, and that "those places" don't really take care of the residents. She proceeded to elaborate with several examples of how the residents are not taken care of. The icing on that cake was her telling me that she moved her grandmother into a "place like that" and her grandmother was dead in 90 days. I can't express how horrible and unprofessional that conversation was, I left with a feeling that no one in my circumstance should have to feel. This is a woman representing your organization and considering Chestnut Knoll At Home staff are onsite at WW, I would think there is also a professional agreement between your two businesses. Please make sure to recognize your exceptional employees like Amy, Edwin and Rhoda and as for employees like Tamika, I can only hope that she can attend some training and learn some empathy skills.

My husband and I have been at Walnut Woods since Jan. Ashley, Marissa, Mary and Patsy all reached out to us and made sure we got settled in. All the staff are very friendly and always make sure we have what we need to be comfortable in our new surroundings. There are always activities to keep you very busy should you choose to participate. Over all, Walnut Woods is a lovely place to live.

Living in Walnut Woods is safe, clean, and a friendly place to live. The staff is very caring and helpful.

I am not a member of this community, but I do have a friend here and can provide you with some experience from a visitors perspective. The first people you met are the staff, Ashley and Merry, and they are incredibly friendly and helpful. My friends room wasn't ready for him so he was placed in another room for a short time. When his room was available, they had staff carefully move everything over and set it up. My friend was away, so I wanted to make certain everything was in place before he returned. I was impressed at how well they had things arranged. They even set up the channels on the TV. I didn't have to do anything. His room was quite beautiful and just the right size for him. At the first meal, my friend was introduced to a Walnut Woods Ambassador. He welcomed him and would take him on a tour of the facilities and guide him gently through how everything works. For example, you can always get a meal from a fridge near the dining hall if you miss a meal or are just hungry at night. An Activities Director also stopped by to welcome him and go through the activities of the week and how to get involved. The residents are friendly and helpful too. They would greet me, and we had some wonderful conversations. As I went to visit, I enjoyed watching them doing their activities; they were having fun. A retirement community takes some adjusting. A new environment, new people, a new schedule, and nothing familiar. Even with all the help provided, it is possible to still have some difficulties adjusting. My friend did. And that's where Walnut Woods shines. I was so impressed by how Ashley and Merry handled things. There was compassion, respect, and grace. They adjusted things to help him and went out of their way to make him feel comfortable. And that's what a retirement community should be. I found this to be an affordable, enjoyable community where people care and help each other.