Providence Place

Providence Place is a loving place. We are so glad we were able to move my husband to Providence Place! He has been there a year. Previously, he spent 2 years at Ivy Park at Cathedral Hill. They are very different. Providence Place is a small facility that focuses on excellent care, among other important things. Ivy Park, by contrast, is corporate, and spends money on marketing and open houses. Providence Place (PP) spends money on the residents -- on excellent and loving care, tasty food, and staff who are loyal and remain with PP for years. Staff turnover at PP is very low! At Ivy Park, however, staff turnover was frequent! We never knew who would be my husband’s caregiver that day. Consistency of care is important in noticing subtle, but important, changes in residents. This can affect their condition. My husband’s main caregivers at PP, Pia and Saul, are outstanding – loving, respectful, caring, patient, and kind. Catherine, the manager, is on top of everything, knows each resident and is very responsive. Often, she sends photos of my husband doing something that day. Twice a week a guitarist comes and plays live music, and an activity director comes 5 times a week to do activities with the residents, such as “bowling,” balloon tossing, and coloring. In addition, the residents are bathed every day! This is amazing to me, especially because my husband is wheelchair-bound, but as Catherine says, “The residents feel better this way.” It is true. Also, their teeth are brushed! This was not done at Ivy Park and there they were bathed only 2-3 times a week. My husband is a vegetarian and that is no problem at PP. The food is high-quality, tasty and varied. At Ivy Park, it was so difficult for him to receive adequate nutrition; the staff there took away the main course (non-veg) and gave him only the vegetables – no protein! My husband declined. He also became very dehydrated. At Providence Place, however, he is stable and doing well. We are so glad that he is at PP where we feel like we don’t have to oversee things. We trust the staff to do their jobs. It is a big relief!

It's been a little over a year since we made the tough decision to move my mother from a home care environment to a care facility that could better meet the needs of my mother's very advanced dementia -- I say tough because we've all heard about horrible stories related to elder care facilities. Providence Place, however, worked out to be the best decision we could have ever made. The facility is ideally suited for late-state dementia cases. Its caregivers are experienced, caring, and tuned in to the unique challenges that come with dementia's cruel toll on the mind and body. I especially like Providence Place's pricing model in that they don't gouge you with added costs for every little thing; their pricing is clear and upfront. The caregiver to resident ratio is good; it feels like one big family. Fresh meals are provided daily, music and light exercise therapy are woven into the weekly routine, and opportunities given to residents to enjoy the fresh air outside. It's never easy seeing the irreversible march of this horrible disease on loved ones. But knowing my mom and the other residents at Providence are getting great care, is so comforting. And a special thanks to Catherine, the Health and Wellness Director at Providence. She is so empathetic and understanding of the situation. As to mom, she seems to enjoy the added stimulation of being around other people. Onward!

My grandmother lived here for about 15 months. She's was very well taken care of by the caretakers there. My dad chose this place over others because when he first met with them, instead of just talking about the facilities, they focused on talking about how they'd care for my grandmother. And I think they lived up to that. Catherine was our main point person, whom we were able to contact via text message anytime, any day. We'd frequently get pictures and videos of my grandma and all the activities they were having her do (arts and crafts, listening to music, physical therapy, movement, eating, etc.). It was always so nice to get those updates and see grandma's smiling face. They were always so nice to me every time I visited as well. They'd set up a private room for us to hang out. I always brought my grandma food and they knew it, so they'd set me up with a table and plates/bowls/utensils/etc to make sure we had everything we needed. My grandma celebrated her 100th birthday there and even though this happened semi during covid times, they allowed us to have a small get together to celebrate her with her close family and friends. They helped us set up and even decorated the room for us and bought my grandma cute little things to wear like a tiara and glasses that said "100" on them. Though it was hard to take my grandma away from her own home, I'm very glad she ended up here at Providence where I know she was taken care of even better than we could. Thank you everyone at Providence for making my grandma's last years of life comfortable. I really appreciate you.