The Village at Skyline Pines

Michael Weber

From the first time my sister and I entered this facility, we knew it was where we wanted our mother to live! The staff was so patient and kind and spent a great deal of time with us touring us through the facility, introducing us to the administration, who also stopped what they were doing to sit and visit with us and answer any questions. Megan, the assistant administrator and Kelli, the administrator and a registered nurse (great combination) are such positive and warm people, we were immediately at ease and felt certain that this was where Mom belonged! The facility is state of the art, with beautifully appointed apartments, and an incredible dining room and dining room staff, including a professional chef, who all came out to meet us and answer our questions, this, before we even had Mom with us to see the facility! The views from this dining room are spectacular, particularly in the evenings, and the dining room is open for the residents/guests to visit to have coffee, etc., even when it isn't meal time. The views out the West side of the building where we chose to have our Mother live , are of the beautiful black hills, looking up toward Skyline Drive and the beautiful trees and wildlife! There are wild turkey and deer visible to her every day of the week, and when you are an animal lover, as she is, that is priceless! The true heroes in this story are the nurses, techs and aides who are the day-to-day care providers for the residents! Laurel, one of the RN's, did Mom's intake the day she moved in. Her level of patience, and the tenderness with which she treated our Mom will never be forgotten! In addition to making her feel so valued and special as a new resident, Laurel has contacted both my sisiter and I on several occasions to discuss Mom's situation, be it needing to change her bathing routine to include whirlpool bath options, which they provide, or asking how they could improve the dietary options or what they could serve her that we knew she would eat, because they were seeing a slight decline in her weight (2-4 lbs. over 3-4 months). The fact that they were aware of that was very impressive to me, having been a registered nurse for many years, several years ago. It's so obvious how Mom matters to these people! The techs that take care of her minute to minute needs call her "Miss Patty" and love to stop in to say hi! I visit Mom every evening and bring something for her to eat that I know she loves. These caregivers are no strangers to her room, and I've gotten to know many of them well! Mom had decided to get up and walk to the bathroom this particular evening without using her walker and without her help button around her neck. She fell next to her chair, and, thank God was not injured, but was scared and cold. I found her when I arrived and pushed her call light. Two of her favorites, Cynthia and Marita came right away, and they did a very thorough assesment of Mom's condition and checked all of her vitals, and her range of motions, etc. before asking me if I was comfortable with them getting her up from the floor or would I prefer they call 911. Mom was very quick to say she didn't need emergency assistance and I could see she was right, so they got her off the floor, wrapped her in warm blankets, and stayed in the room with us for 90 minutes, just visiting and having fun with us, until they were sure Mom was ok. The other staff members working that shift stayed in constant contact with these ladies to make sure all was well! My Mom is an accomplished pianist/organist, and she finally said to these ladies, "Well, girls, what are your favorite Christmas songs?" We were all shocked because she had just gotten up from the floor, but she asked me to help her to her piano, and she played their favorite Christmas songs, along with another 30 minutes of fun-loving music, to which they both sang along and the evening turned into one of Mom's best memories at The Village. There are so many deserving of our thanks.... Alisha, who just calls a spade a spade when Mom starts to get sassy, and Mom loves that she is so honest with her! And Syd, who comes in with a huge smile each time she visits and warms Mom's heart! (She also drove down to the bottom of the hill during one of our recent winter storms when I had gotten stuck right near the restaurant, to pick up the food that I was trying to take to Mom but couldn't get up the hill that night in my car! Syd drove right down with her 4wd SUV, and took Mom's food right to her room! She is in the most capable of hands at The Village at Skyline Pines, and I couldn't be happier for her or for my siblings and myself. It is an enormous consolation knowing, with no doubt, that our Mother, who has devoted her life to loving us, is being lovingly cared for also! Thank you to ALL of the staff at The Village at Skyline Pines Assisted Living! With gratitude and warmth, Michael Weber

Deana

My dad has moved into The Village at Skyline Pines. It's very clean, very well run, and very welcoming. They have a movie theater and a little store. They have kids come in and sing. You're as busy as you want to be because they have activities and stuff all the time. His room has a stove, a microwave, a little sink, and a little bit of cabinets. Their rooms are really nice. Every time anybody moves out or anything, they go in and paint. Everything is neat and tidy. They came and hung his TV and hung pictures on the wall. The food is good, and the staff are great. They check on him all the time. He has been very happy with everything. He hasn't had anybody that he didn't like. It's expensive, but it's not any worse than any place else, and it does everything he needs.

Marie

My mother moved into The Village at Skyline Pines last Thursday. We chose it for a variety of reasons. We ended up knowing a lot of the care providers, and they knew my mom. They welcomed her, and she has been so busy since she got there. She's just loving it. The atmosphere is very happy and very comfortable. The food is excellent. I have not tried the food, but my mom says it's really, really good, very fresh, and very tasty. I know that they played bingo last week on Thursday. This Friday they have a Mother's Day tea, and they're all wearing fancy hats. It's very clean, and I'm very pleased. The hallways are very clean. The rooms are very clean. The dining room is spotless. It's just so interesting to see her spend an hour to an hour and a half at mealtime talking with people and laughing. That's exactly what we wanted for her. The staff is very friendly, very helpful, and very kind. It's a good value. It's expensive, but the atmosphere, the food, and the nursing care is all worth it.

Richard

My wife moved into The Village at Skyline Pines and it's a pretty nice place. I like it. It was very clean and fairly new. They have a very nice and good staff, plus they're overstaffed. The food is good, and my wife seems to enjoy it. They have exercises and different things and little games that they play. They clean the house, do the laundry, and do a lot of other things. I think it's pretty decent. But there isn't any facility out there that doesn't want an arm and a leg. They are all very expensive. I think they're way too expensive as far as I'm concerned. But I do know that The Village is overstaffed, and they have a very good worker-client ratio, and that's what I'm concerned about.