Mountain Meadow Lodge

My family was skeptical working with Mountain Meadows to take care of my mother with late stage lung cancer. There were several negative reports from state inspectors, as well as some serious concerns from the Northern California gerontology community. Community Care Options recommended the new facility though, saying it’s owner was highly reviewed by them and had recently taken control of the facility. Sure enough the new owner, [Removed], explained that at the first of the year he had taken the facility over and had only had one incident for an expired aspirin bottle. This checked out, so did reports of the recent acquisition, so I booked a tour. It was clear change was in the air, the whole building was getting a facelift! [Removed], who manages the site directly, gave me a tour and explained construction crews were building what would be my mother’s room. She answered all my questions patiently and politely. Once we had examined other options I spoke with my mom and we decided this would be the best place for her. We both agreed that we were willing to deal with growing pains, as long as the people there “gave a shit” – and boy did they! Once we agreed to move in [Removed] came and met with my mother in the hospital. Other facilities wanted us to bring my mother, who had mobility issues, out of the hospital and to their property to do an examination; [Removed] was the only one to offer to come to the hospital. Moving in was quick, and easy, and the staff was responsive to Mom’s needs. During her stay there we had a couple of bumps, but [Removed] was always a text or phone call away and took constructive feedback INCREDIBLY well. Towards the end my mother had cognition issues, [Removed] were incredibly deft at coming up with novel solutions to help her. At one point my mother thought she was being fed only pancakes and potatoes for breakfast every morning, which her hospice staff, chaplain team, and nearby family said wasn’t true. So [Removed] printed out a weekly menu just for her, to help her remember what she had eaten and get excited for the next meal. [Removed]and her staff were supportive of what my mother needed. Whether it was helping family take her to a restaurant as a getaway, or helping her transition to a wheel chair from bed when she wanted (even though hospice said she shouldn’t) they were great. Some staff members, such as Trey deserve special mention. Trey would make it a point to make sure each resident looked as good as they felt, him and Mom made it a point to dress “in their Sundays” a few times a week, wearing their best and punctuating what could have been a boring week with some occasion. My mother passed at Mountain Meadows, which was expected. Everyone there were consummate professionals in dealing with that, and [Removed] handled the matter directly. The staff there dealt with constant visitors for my mom between hospice staff, chaplains, family, friends, and other sundry volunteers. They always welcomed drop-ins, which is the highest form of trust in themselves and their facility. When something did need to be fixed, they fixed it, and they went above and beyond making my mother feel more comfortable, as well as more human.

It is a very small community with only about 15 residents. When we came to tour the community we could just tell it was too small for what we were looking for so we did not stay long. It was a pretty nice and clean community just wasn't what we were looking for.