The Bridge at Ooltewah

Carole

The people at The Bridge at Ooltewah were very friendly. The staff who gave us the tour was very, very good. The facility was very clean. The room that we saw had a microwave and a sink in the kitchenette. Their head cook was like a maitre d'. When the residents went to eat, it was like they were going to a restaurant. I don't know if you have to dress up or if you could just go as you were. Some of the residents were dressed up. We didn't know if that was their normal attire or not. There was one gentleman in a suit. One lady had on a dress, heels, necklaces, and all kinds of jewelry. It was more like a hotel or a resort. They had an indoor courtyard that had a water feature going over some rocks. They had a lot of flowers. They had a lot of trees and greenery outside.

Barbara

I went and toured The Bridge At Ooltewah. It's pretty. It's pleasing to the eyes. It's decorated well. The apartments were very nice. I just have a problem with downsizing, but that's me, and it's not the facility. They have a lot of nice options. They have a two-bedroom, a one-bedroom, and a one-bedroom deluxe. There are different sizes. It's pretty roomy for assisted living. I like the layout a lot. The person who assisted us was fabulous. She listened and she had all the materials. She greeted me with a pamphlet while everybody else I had to ask for one. The pamphlet had their floor plans, their meals, and their different activities. She was there and she was waiting for me. She was great about being able to answer my questions, and she was very thorough. I didn't get to experience the food. I was more interested in seeing the layout. But the staff gave me a sample of their menu. They have a great variety of food. They have a lot of standbys that you could get every day if you wanted. To keep the residents busy, they have a game room, they have play cards and they have different board games. They have a popcorn machine, so they have popcorn available in the activities room, which was hilarious. It's the best one I went to. The staff introduced me to one of the housekeeping people and she said, 'This is a great place, and we love our people.' Everybody was just smiling and happy. I like that they have a lot of sitting areas. Besides an outdoor courtyard, the big game room, and the activities room, they have these little alcoves where you have an area to sit and go to and visit. It's very clean, too. It doesn't smell like you do in nursing homes. It's good.

Elaine

The Bridge at Ooltewah seemed to be a very friendly community. The rooms were a good size. My mother-in-law will stay in a one-bedroom and everything seems to be very neat and clean. It has a kitchen area with a freezer top, a microwave, and a sink. They don't allow you to cook there, but you still have a kitchen where you can take care of a few things or take food back. It's all tiled floors and there's a window where you can look out into a courtyard. It's a good size. It was Kristen that gave us the tour and she did a great job showing us several different types of rooms, and the cafeteria, took us around, and introduced us to people. They gave us a list of what they had them laying out for everybody. They are going to have a shirt day and a silly hat day coming up in September as well as trips. Then they gave my mother-in-law choices and asked her what she likes to do.

Reviewer#AT0131

I went to The Bridge at Ooltewah. It was extremely nice. The staff was very, very knowledgeable. I didn't have to ask questions. She fed me all the questions before I even started to ask. She was very nice and friendly. The rooms were extremely clean, looked like new carpet, and the walls were perfect. The cabinets were clean. They looked like good cabinets. They had microwaves, more counter space. It was just very clean. The dining area was very, very clean. All the tables were set, all the chairs were distributed around the tables, there was room to walk. The dishes were already on the tables. It was beautiful. It was gorgeous. There were no stains on the walls, the door handles were clean, and the floors were clean, no markings on the baseboards. It was just beautiful, beautifully kept. They had a salon, a huge laundry room, the one-bedrooms had windows looking out into the hallway, and looking outside. They were bright and airy. I saw the staff, I walked around with the salesperson or the general manager, but I also saw other staff helping the older people. They were giving them ice cream, they were making sure they were OK. Everything about that community was just top notch.

Alicia

My father-in-law is at The Bridge at Ooltewah. He's got his own apartment over there. It's very, very nice. It's upscale living. My father-in-law loves the food. They do a very good job with the food. The apartments are very, very nice. This is an upscale living center. It's decorated nicely. The nurses there are nice to him. He's about 93, so he gets around on his walker. They have some activities, but a lot of them are not as active. He's active. He delivers the mail and does stuff like that. The food is exceptional there. They have board games and card games. I don't believe they have a lot of involvement from what I hear. They have Bible school study, they have games, they have ice cream day, and they have social time there. It's like you're going into a resort. Everybody is just nice there and has been very helpful. My father-in-law got COVID, and they were very helpful. They made sure that he got the antibodies. I'm not exactly sure how much that one is, but the value is there. They have workout centers, they have TV rooms, and everything is decorated to the nines. Their security on their staff is high. When you come in, you log in, and you have to get your temperature taken. It's the whole nine yards. It's a three-level facility; it's a very nice facility. However, I think when you got people in their own apartments, they are just not as active. They seem to stay in their room a lot and they don't get out as much. I think being in an apartment by themselves, they don't feel the need for social interaction to get out as much.

Mary

My mother was a resident at The Bridge at Ooltewah. It is a lovely community, and overall the care was good. It was clean and bright, and it's still fairly new compared to some in town. There are lots of windows. There was a lot going on in the community when she first moved in; COVID kind of threw everybody. It changed a whole lot of what can be offered and done at these facilities, but her apartment was always clean and comfortable. They responded to most requests pretty promptly early on in the pandemic, but we were all learning, so I'm going to cut them a little bit of slack. I felt like there was a lot of denial about COVID at the very beginning in general with that facility and the management company. It got better as time went on. The staff were very, very personable. My mom made good friends with some of the staff. She enjoyed talking to them; some of the younger ones would come hang out with her a little bit when they could. There was one nurse in particular, Lisa, who was on top of the infection in my mom's leg, and that probably saved her life. Overall, I'd give them good marks. There were some frustrating times for us as a family, especially during COVID. It’s been a learning experience for everybody, but I would have liked them to have been a little bit more proactive at the beginning. But most people got through it OK. They kept the community relatively safe. It was fun, they tried to do a little Christmas program, and they gave prizes. They tried to keep the residents engaged, whether it was decorating their door or dressing up for your favorite football team or something. They did several things throughout the year that kind of kept the residents interested, especially during COVID, giving them something to look forward to. It was a lovely facility, and sometimes that just means a lot. You walk in and things are clean, well maintained, and updated. It kind of makes you feel better, even if it's just an appearance that makes you feel like the care is going to be good there. They said they lose their chefs; they tend to get the least expensive amount of meat, and they cut costs on food. So, by the end the food wasn't stellar. But part of me feels like I'm judging during COVID, which changed the way a lot of places did things. She lived in her apartment for a year without really getting out and seeing anybody, but then there was nothing there that they offered her as far as her interests go. She's trying to find a community where there are people who want to have stimulating conversations or have a book club where you read books and discuss them. Their book club at the Bridge ended up being someone reading to them and not a whole lot of discussion about the books; it lost my mother's interest. In general, they are way too expensive.