The Birches Assisted Living

As far as we know, from what our mother has seen and heard, there is/was a Covid-19 outbreak at the Birches. She said several of her friends got Covid-19. The Birches told us after Thanksgiving that members tested positive for Covid-19. Before Christmas they told us that testing continues. My mother told us, on January 1, that testing will be done again. It would be nice to be kept abreast of what is happening where our mother lives. The web page provided us no information. The facility that was our second choice has a link to their Covid Updates web page. The top of their page says ‘CORONAVIRUS UPDATES – 12.30.22’. Then for Thanksgiving, we were given this present. ‘Effective January 1, 2023, your Monthly Residency Fee will increase by $150.00. Or another $1800. Does that mean we won’t get a rent increase? We wish they would have told us this before we signed on the dotted line.

Wordsmithed for my mother and her friends. As Thanksgiving is coming, we reflect on the past and think of our family and our friends. Those that are still here and those that have left our community. Spending nine months in a building with the same people creates a special bond. We depend on each other and thank each other for looking after everyone in our new family. As Christmas is coming, we think of ways to thank those who have meant much to us during the year. To the front desk: THANK YOU You are the heart of The Birches. We pester you day and night with our happiness and our sorrows, we request things of you that you cannot do, and we blame you when they are not done. You see us every day, you know when we are doing well and when we are doing poorly. Most importantly, when we are doing poorly, you get us help. THANK YOU. To [name removed] and the Activities Team: THANK YOU We experienced the worst in the first few months of the pandemic. The paper on the back of our doors, said DO NOT LEAVE. Unless you are in that room, unable to come and go, you do not know what it is like. One learns what the term stir crazy really means. When the restrictions were lifted, the Activities Team continuously tried to offer things to keep us busy. They did a great job. Our favorite was Concerts in the Parking Lot. It sounds silly, but they were FANTASTIC. Thank you. The Birches Bus Road Trips were a nice, safe way to get out of the building. Thank you. To Chef [name removed] and the Kitchen and Dining Room Team: THANK YOU Talk about a person who brings fun and caring to the Birches, that would be Chef [name removed]. Whether Chef [name removed] is barbequing something special on the outside grill or serving us breakfast early on a Sunday morning, he puts a smile on our faces. THANK YOU. Despite all the turnover to his staff, from losing long term servers who knew what we wanted before we sat down and having them replaced with high schoolers, he made us feel special. If you have a special need or a special request, he does his best to make it happen. Since his arrival he was always trying new things on us and we were so happy when he finally re-vamped the whole menu. Plus, we now have many al a carte items we can order, like the fish of the day, all day breakfast, hamburgers, and more. And do not forget the dining room staff and the cooks. We are a hard group to please and not always the nicest. Thank you for your patience and effort in doing all you do.

Thank you for setting up the outdoor visits. They have been wonderful for our family. A BIG SHOUTOUT to [name removed] and the ACTIVITIES staff. I was hoping for a Birches Resident and Family 4th of July barbecue that would be the opening day for families to get back together. But that was not to be. However, I was able to talk with some of the Birches families over the holiday. It was nice to touch base and get caught up. We all miss our loved ones so desperately. One of the families mentioned a new Housekeeping Policy. Your weekly updates during the pandemic have been great and I told them I did not remember seeing a Housekeeping Policy update. They sent me a picture of the policy and told me to ask my mother. I asked her and she said her apartment has been cleaned maybe twice in the past month or so. That means her toilet has been cleaned maybe twice in the past month or so. DISGUSTING! The new policy says: Greetings Good Residents of the Birches! Some News! I am sure everyone is aware we are once again short a housekeeper. … [name removed] has suggested she alternate between the second and third floors on a weekly basis. I think this is a great idea. … We hope to have another housekeeper soon. … Thank you for your generous patience and if there are any questions I can answer, please let me know. [name removed] From Maintenance [name removed], I have a question for you. Did [name removed] tell me that my mother’s apartment may or may not be cleaned each week? I think she said apartments are cleaned weekly.

It is a friendly family atmosphere. The staff really gets to know the residents on a personal level. Rooms sizes are great. Memory care residents have access to all areas of the community. They have outdoor gardens. They have lots of activities. They decorated for every holiday. A very homey community. The staff gets to know the families as well. At the end of live they were very helpful with resources.

April 2020 My mother called me last night and told me that her second favorite nurse, Nurse [name removed], no longer works at the Birches. There is no way Nurse [name removed] would have left her residents in a PANDEMIC. There is no way she would have left without saying goodbye. My mother said Nurse [name removed] said ‘See you tomorrow’ the last time she saw her on Thursday. No one at the Birches knows my mother as well as Nurse [name removed] does. I knew that if Nurse [name removed] had any concerns regarding my mother’s health, she would contact me immediately. I was confident in the quality of care that my mother was receiving when Nurse [name removed] was working. When my mother asked the staff where Nurse [name removed] was, she was told that no one knew anything. That does not sound like she left on her own. That sounds like she was FIRED. Finally, on Wednesday [date removed] , my mother was told that Nurse [name removed] no longer works at the Birches. On April [date removed] we received coronavirus update e-mails, but there was no mention of Nurse [name removed] leaving. I would have put the loss of Nurse [name removed] as the biggest concern. The thought of coronavirus in nursing homes is scary and now without Nurse [name removed] there to protect my mother and the other residents, I am scared for them all. Most nursing homes are looking to add staff, not remove them. I now fear for my mother’s LIFE. What else has been going on while we have been locked out. February 2020 My mother loves Nurse [name removed] and she wanted me to submit this. I would like to recognize my favorite nurse at the birches, Nurse [name removed]. She just lost her father, who was in a facility in Florida for many years. So she can empathize with us and our families. This is my way of telling her that the residents at the birches love her. She puts the residents first. She is not just a pill pusher who is in and out of our apartments in a minute or two. She’ll talk with you, hug you, get you a coffee and roll in the morning if you need it. She is more than a nurse, she’s family. And she’ll tell you what pills you’re taking, and she doesn’t drop any on the floor. Nurse [name removed], we are so sorry for your loss, but your father is happy knowing that you make our lives a little better every time we see you. And if we’re lucky, that’s several times a day. Hmmm. Well, actually I’d like to see you more, but less often with pills in your hand. December 2020 The full-time assisted living nurses are wonderful. It is as if they are a member of my family looking after me. They try to make sure I’m ok and they can tell when something is off. I hope they stay at the Birches forever. They are the most important staff members at the Birches. If they’re not here I don’t know if I would stay or go.

How long would you go without WiFi? At the Birches, it could be a day, a week, or more. Our WiFi went down on Sunday. Did anyone come in to fix it? No. Still down on Monday. Did anyone come in to fix it. Don’t know. Management took off for the holiday. Now it is Tuesday, and it is still down. If your WiFi was down, what would you do? How long would you go without WiFi? Would you pay for no service? Over the Christmas and New Year holiday it was up and down and down all day on New Year’s Day when I wanted to skype with family. Do you know what they said for two weeks? It is a Comcast problem. Turns out the birches needed to replace a part. Guess what, it gets better. The Birches employees still have access to the internet on their computers. News alert. It is the residents who pay the bills.

What makes the Birches stand out against other communities? The Residents and their Families. With Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s, we get to meet so many residents and their families. Everyone is no nice. We share stories, good and bad, we laugh and we cry. It is a shame that these family gatherings (holiday lunch or brunch) are so few and far between, and to put it mildly, so expensive given what we’re paying in rent. So, we've come up with an idea. For Memorial Day, 4th of July, and Labor Day have a FREE barbecue for families. All you need is burgers, brats, hot dogs, and chicken. A BIG SHOUTOUT to the FRONT DESK staff and the DINING ROOM and KITCHEN staff. Everyone agreed the brunch was GREAT and they are GREAT. Additionally most families agreed, we don’t know management. Management is not here on weekends or evenings or on the holidays. We'd like management to know us and for us to know management.

Another week has passed and again no cleaning of our apartment. Mom talked to a fellow resident who said she always places a piece of paper on the floor to see if it gets picked up. It rarely does. With Christmas and New Years over the next two weeks, it will be interesting to see what happens. We will keep you updated. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.

My mother spent the last month secretly trying to find out the favorite restaurants of certain staff members. Once she had the information, she sent me on a shopping mission. Get gift cards for 5 restaurants. I did our shopping and last week I started our giving. First stop, the front desk. As I attempted to give our gift, I was told. Thank you, but I need to let you know that staff can accept small gifts, but gift cards will be given to management and they will use them to purchase something for everyone. She chose the specific staff members to give gifts to, because of what they’ve done for her, not because they work at the Birches. Now we have 5 restaurant gift cards, for restaurants we don’t frequent. If the Birches has this policy, perhaps they should have told the residents and their families prior to Thanksgiving. My mother was told by other residents that they give gift cards and there is an envelope for the dining room and kitchen staff at the front desk. The Birches sent out a survey last month and the first question was: Does the Birches feel like home? The answer is NO! It is funny, that as I am writing this, I came across an advertisement for the Birches in the Chicago Tribune. An advertisement I had seen not long ago. I now have a few comments on the advertisement. “Included in monthly rent” are: “Chauffer and courtesy car” – Be sure to get the specifics on how far and what days and times this is available. The lease states “transportation to appointments within a 5-mile radius on a first-come first-served basis.” Unless it is the Amita Health Center in Hinsdale which Google Maps says is 3.7 miles away. They said NO without even verifying the mileage. Just so you know, Hinsdale Hospital is 2.9 miles away, LaGrange Hospital is 4.1 miles away, Good Samaritan Hospital is 5.3 miles, and Elmhurst Hospital is 7.7 miles away. “Weekly housekeeping” – Be sure to get a definition of weekly and a definition housekeeping. The lease states “Weekly housekeeping of Resident’s apartment. This thirty-minute cleaning includes vacuuming and dusting; sweeping and wet mopping of floors; kitchen counters, sink, kitchen appliances; bathroom fixtures, vanity, and shower.” I know her apartment doesn’t get cleaned weekly, but I’ll have to ask her to start timing the cleanings.

The full-time assisted living nurses are wonderful. It is as if they are a member of my family looking after me. They try to make sure I’m ok and they can tell when something is off. I hope they stay at the Birches forever. They are the most important staff members at the Birches. If they’re not here I don’t know if I would stay or go.

My previous review had the nurses names as ‘Name Removed’. So here is a rewrite of my review. The full time assisted living nurses are wonderful. It is as if they are a member of our families looking after us. They make sure we’re ok and they can tell when something is off. We hope they stay at the Birches forever. The Birches needs to make sure they stay for a long time.

Nurse [name removed], Nurse [name removed], and Nurse [name removed] are wonderful. We talk about our families. It is as if they are a member or our families and we know theirs. They make sure we’re ok and they can tell when something is off. We hope they stay at the Birches forever.

Move in fee too high. The place was dark.

While we were looking for a location for our love one, we really did our homework on the different properties in the area. I have working in HR and healthcare for a number of years and I can say that everything here is going very well. This facility had some extra touches that set them apart from the others. It’s a smaller privately owned place and their food is homemade, except for their desserts since they do not have a pastry chef. For their food they have 3 choices for lunch and dinner and pretty anything at breakfast. They are very aware of the slice cutting because it takes affect to how others eat their food if they have trouble chewing. I also like how they have a tab of where she is. My only frustration, and it is very minimal, is that they have a washer and dryer (2 of each) on each floor. This is obviously not enough for all the tenants and sometimes you have someone’s clothes in there for 2 hours and you don’t want to touch anyone’s clothes. What also nice about this location is that they have a 1 car garage attached to the building that you can pull into to unload, load, drop off, or for in climate weather reasons. No one can stay in the garage, but I think it’s a nice touch. The facility is very clean which is very important to me, there are no strange odors, and it’s in a convenient location near my house.

The Birches was by far the best of the four facilities we visited. Not only did it look nice, we got the sense the people there truly cared about what they were doing and that it was more than just a job. We were utterly impressed by everything. Everyone we met was friendly, professional and caring. The staff took the time to listen to our needs and determine if their facility was the right one for my mom. The studio apartment we saw was perfect. It contained a kitchenette, a roomy living/sleeping area, and a spacious bathroom/shower with the required ADA fixtures. They had a wide range of activities for the residents to take part it in and the dining area looked better than those found in most hotels. We spoke with a number of the residents and they all spoke highly of the staff. After we decided on The Birches, the entire process went very smoothly. The contract was very straight forward and easy to understand and the staff immediately put my mom at ease when they met for her health evaluation. My mom has been there for about a month and all goes well. She has an emergency pager in case she needs help and the staff checks in on her regularly. The meals look good, taste delicious and care is taken to ensure they are nutritious and properly proportioned. The cable television provides a wide variety of programs and her room receives a proper cleaning once a week, all included in the monthly rent. We are very happy with our decision and you would be hard-pressed to find a facility better than this one. Highly recommended.

This place has been nothing but wonderful to my father and I could not have picked a better living environment for him. They are attentive to all of his needs and make sure provide him with nothing but the best care. They are constantly finding ways to make life easier for him and proactive on issues he may have. The thing he is most impressed with is the meals. My dad has an option to choose an alternate meal if he is not liking what they serve and loves the hot breakfast they serve every morning. I highly recommend this place to anyone.

The Birches is a privately owned facility and their staff is OUTSTANDING!! From the front office friendly faces to the Director of Nursing, the Director of Encore, the activity directors, the aides, CNAs, RNAs, on-site physician, maintenance and restaurant employees...they are all TOP NOTCH. We couldn't have picked a better place for our loved one. Without question we know they are well-loved and well-cared for here. The gardens make for beautiful "changes of scenery", the activities are various, interesting and personal to the interests of the residents. There is happy hour, entertainment, monthly festivals, walking clubs, Rosary groups, bridge, beehives, gardening groups, crafts, prayer services, rides to church and stores and always something going on. It is a beautiful facility that feels like "home". Smiles, hugs and concern EVERYWHERE!! In the western suburbs we researched and visited several of the newer, larger, more "upscale" facilities that appeared to have outstanding offerings. However, it is the small, friendly, family-oriented and personal touches that drew us in to the Birches. The Birches has very low staff turnover because their employees like to work there - and it shows!! They all know our "aging parent story" and the "medical issues" and couldn't be more gracious and caring. They know us by name, always cheerful greetings when we arrive and constantly recognize their residents with smiles, greetings, hand-holding or other personal recognition. We experienced first hand The Birches' ability to help the family members transition through the phases of dealing with moving a parent from independent to assisted living, then to memory care, as professional, personal and graciously supportive in all ways.

The Birches Assisted Living was a wonderful place, it was our second choice. The thing we did not like was that they wanted to charge $8.50 per 15 minutes of care needed. It would have made it too hard to budget. Other than that, it was a very nice place.

The Birches is a wonderful place to live. They have so many interesting activities and the food is outstanding. The staff really cares. When you become part of the family, everyone knows your name.

The Birches is a wonderful place to live. Its not too big and all of the staff from the front desk, to the wonderful ladies in the dining room to the cleaning lady and the medical staff and the maintenance team are all special, caring people. Mom has been living here for over 4 years and she loves it and so do we. We know she is well taken care of in her beautiful apartment. She has made many new friends and participated in the many daily activities. The dining room provides exceptional cuisine and the choices are endless. Don't forget the desert tray at lunch and dinner... and then there's the holiday buffets which rival any major upscale restaurant around... Everyone who works here really helps to make newcomers feel welcome.