We toured Emerald Crest of Burnsville. Their program sounded good. When I was visiting, I saw residents doing some activities over there, like some group activities, but that's it. It's only memory care, so they don't have assisted living. The upkeep is great. I was there in winter, and I know that they have a huge space outside. It's like a fenced kind of like part of the forest, and they have lots of pine trees. The outside part looked beautiful. The room was smaller than the other facility. However, I didn't see an empty room because they didn't have any to show me. The room they showed me, somebody lived in there, so it's kind of hard to say. The facility is great and it's quiet. It's in a quiet part of the town. It looked good because I like the outside part of it. They have little ponds and benches, it looked like a nice park outside. The staff was awesome, too.

We moved my Mom to Emerald Crest when her needs increased. I must say right away that the care was above and beyond three other facilities she had been in. We did have a problem with a male caregiver handling her in a rough way but we instantly arranged for female caregivers only handling her from that day forward. The female caregivers treated her with respect and love like I never thought was possible. When we had interviewed the building, the director said she thought they could lower costs by $400.00 per month because my Mom would actually get better. She did improve but the costs never came down. They claimed the charges were initially $400.00 lower which simply wasn't true. Mom's needs changed in a few months. We brought in hospice and they were great! They were very good at communicating with us. They mentioned that the building was moving my Mom to another building for her level of need. Later on at a meeting this was discussed. We never received a call from Emerald Crest staff about the move. When the move did occur we were told it would be seamless and we didn't need to be there. They talked of how they take pictures and set up the room before the loved one goes in so as to not confuse them. I received a call they had moved her but that the room wasn't quite ready but that it would be ok. This concerned me greatly so my wife and I raced over to find the room in disarray no pictures hung, we had to situate the room ourselves, no pictures were taken by EC staff as was promised. Four hours later we were able to let my Mom in to her new surroundings. When we were shown this new room, initially we were told it would be less because it was a smaller room and the building didn't have a sunroom. I was very frustrated with being told one thing and then Emerald Crest not following through so i called Julie in upper management. My Mom died the next day. I have never received a call back from Julie. Sadly my point in all of this is to say that if your loved one goes to this facility you really need to get everything in writing evidently. The management seems to be more concerned with the bottom line than anything else. I also want to emphasize how great the female caregivers were. As a family we are very thankful for them.

My mother moved into Emerald Crest. It is a memory care community separated by early, moderate, and late stage dementia, so people are with their own people at their same stage. She has her own private room and receives really good care. The staff is fantastic and knows everybody. As soon as you need them, they are there to help. They facilitate programming and take care of the people. They’re wonderful. My mother’s studio room is nice and includes her own bath, shower, and a walk-in closet. It also has a sink and countertop. My mother brought in her own furniture. The amenities are really nice. They have a common center like a living room, a dining room, and a sunroom where you can go and put together puzzles and meet with your family. They also have a beauty shop on-site. The meals are included in the rent. The facility is very nice.

The woman we met in Emerald Crest really knew what she was doing. She knew all the residents and staff. It was set up a little differently, and we liked it. It’s set up more like a house, and it was specifically for memory care. It has 12 separate apartment/rooms that were around the outside circle of the kitchen, living room, and dining room areas. It felt more like a home than an institution. We were very impressed that they separated the residents based on level of acuity. The houses are set up the same, so it was familiar to the residents.