The residence is very nice. The director is very personable but cannot staff to meet needs and this fact is not shared before residents move in. Once moved in there is absolutely no communication. Staffing is lacking. Communication is extremely poor. Residents in memory care have a low quality of life. I would definitely not recommend this facility. My father was in another home for over 2 years and moved due to expense. This one is priced correctly but extremely lacking in meeting residents needs.

My husband was at Bickford of Gurnee for two weeks in the memory care and so I'm familiar with them and that's one of the ones that I'm considering. When he was released from the hospital, they sent him there. They would accept him because he was having memory problems at the time, so that's where he went for two weeks after the hospital stay. He had been in bed for two-and-a-half months, most of the time even tied to the bed. When we went there, he was completely free to move about and use the bathroom and go to dining. He hadn't had anything but mashed up foods, so it was quite a shock to go there. The people were very good with him. By the time he left there, he was able to come home and function pretty normally. I ate there a couple of times and the food was average, not exceptional. His room was pretty small, but it was clean. He had a single bed, so it's a very small room. Every afternoon, they had some games and things, but my husband didn't participate in anything. They had TV, and they had a nice little courtyard, but he wouldn't go out in it. It would have been a safe place. It's a beautiful building. The other part, where it's not memory care, was very, very nice and the residents seemed to be happy sitting out, but back in memory care, it was very different. Because I was only there two weeks, they charged me a lot. That wasn't paid for by Medicare, so it was very expensive. It's hard to judge because if we were there as a full-time resident, it would've been cheaper. They charged me extra because we were just there two weeks. The residents that were there full time were participating in things, but my husband didn't want to participate. They always welcomed me to come there to visit and always offered me to stay for a meal. When I asked for help with things, like the maintenance or something, they came right away, so all those things were good.

Bickford of Gurnee was very nice. They're all memory care I think, and it's a newer community with an interesting background. We were well received. It wasn't mealtime, but they brought out a good dessert for us. We saw a group activity going on, they also told us about some of the other activities they do with small groups. They had an activity room, so my wife played the piano and got an ovation, so she was happy. They also had nice grounds. I liked the style and the interior decoration. It's a newer community, so the rooms were nice.