White Oaks at Heritage Woods of Huntley

The one thing that would have changed everything for us is communication. We tried to be very clear about what kind of care my mom needed because of her dementia. And they assured us they could take care of her. But in the end, they couldn't. We were just not very knowledgeable about the level of her dementia, and I just wish at some point somebody would have said to us she needs more care than we can give. And instead, she fell 10 or 11 times while she was there. Those falls were a bad thing, but it's not like she was left alone and unattended for long periods of time. I just don't feel like they were clear with us on what they could handle and what they couldn't. I feel like it was half our fault and half their fault. I don't blame them completely. They kept saying everything is great, its great, it's fine. And it wasn't. I just wish they had told us sooner that this was not going to be a workable situation. We ended up bringing her home and acquiring 24-hour care. And there's no way they could have provided that for her. Some of the staff were so nice, and some were not. But most we dealt with were nice. The activities director was fabulous. She was just so up and happy and just the kind of person you would want to see around old people. She just had such a great vibe. The RNs on the other hand, had really bad communication. And it was during Covid so we couldn't go inside, so communication was more important than ever. They had the whole wrong med list, which was a mess. The community does have a cool communication tool like a portal where all four of us sisters could log into it and ask questions, and they would text back. The CNAs and and activities director were on the portal and responded back, but the medical side was where it was lacking. I think they were spread very thin. I wanted to like the place a lot. It was a cool set-up, and it had such great potential. But I think they were just very understaffed, which I'm sure is an industry-wide problem. I think given a different situation, if you have a parent who doesn't require so much care, its' a cool place and I would recommend it. It just wasn't the right fit for our mom.

The community does a great job of keeping me updated with any changes of my loved one. The community is very cordial when greeting you when they see you. They are willing to assist with in person visits outside, even though it is outside and cold. White Oaks has done a great job. My loved one seems to be happy. The staff makes my loved one relaxed and are very helpful.

The place seems a bit run down. Difficult to reach patient as phones not always answered. Follow through is not always kept as promised. Example is we purchased an immediate response fob that was found to be defective. The replacement did not work. We were told it was most likely due to the system needing replacement. It would seem that this would be a priority as the patients with fobs would need immediate help. So far after a month it has not been updated.