We went to Ernest P. Barka Assisted Living Facility and they do such a great job. They have fabulous reputation in the area. The food was great for the size of the organization. It's got to be 200 or more residents. It's extraordinary what a great job they do considering it's a county-owned facility. I visited them several times and they've improved. This was the location that we found for my mother a few years ago. They have three levels of rooms: private, semi-private, and suites. We were looking for a private room. We actually put our father on a waiting list. They had very good sized rooms and they've redone the whole place. Mother was a resident for five years before she passed.

My mom just moves in Ernest P. Barka Assisted Living Facility. It is super clean and not overly large. Also, it is part of a nursing home complex, and my mom is hospice eligible so at this point, if she needs to have more specialized nursing care, her address won't change. She can just seamlessly move into the nursing area and then come back to her assisted living apartment as she is able. I like that we don't have to transfer her. The rooms are very attractive, very updated, pleasant, bright with lots of windows, sunny, warm and not depressing at all. It is really quite lovely. The staff is really understanding and patient because my dad -- who is also involved in the process -- is an elderly man, and he tries their patience a couple of times, but they are always very understanding and accommodating. Also, there are a lot of things to learn about insurance benefits like when and what benefits kick in, and they are really patient in providing us the knowledge that we need to make an educated decision. There are activities, and my mom loves bingo. They do a small set up of bowling. They have people come in and play music on a beautiful piano, and she really enjoys that. Everything is going very well. They have been very accommodating in moving her in, getting televisions and a telephone hooked-up, and they just bend over backwards to make it as stress free as possible.

this place keeps getting high marks from the state of new hampshire. as a relative of a former resident i am at a loss to understand why. the food is godawful. rules are not followed. the place is awful.

My Grandmother has been living in this facility for about 2 years now. She really loves it there, myself and my family were pleastly suprised at this. Like any family making the adjustment was as difficult for us as it was for her. There is alot she gave up when moving there such as her car, her home, alot of her belongings and her cat, I know how hard this was for her, but once she got settled in and aquainted with the other residents she began to like it alot. When she lived on her own we all worried about her social life, she didn't have so many friends that were able to regularly get together. She would often have family around but come to find out that often isn't enough. Since she has been living in the Assisted living place shes become more active, with trips through the facility to go shopping, or to the movies ect. she has also become somewhat of a social butterfly, towards the end of her staying at home she began to mess up our names mixing me up with my uncles (by name only) we called these all Nanaisms, now she remembers alot more including introducing me to her new friends by name and remembering their stories ect. Nana also plays bingo regularly at the home, she really enjoys it, everytime I go her friends all say hes a good luck charm I want to sit next to him, its truely a beautiful thing to see her interact like this. The staff there are very helpful with medications and adjustments as well as locating her, sometimes I get nervous if I cant reach her on her private line I'll call the desk and they always say shes around here somewhere I'll go find her and have her call you, she always does. The building is very clean and well organized with alot of community kitchens and places to sit, talk, and or do puzzles. They have pet fish and places for the residents to put flowers and pictures. the rooms are big enough, my nana was lucky enough to get a private room, but started in a double. They have their own tvs and often get together to watch sports, or movies. As I said my entire family was nervous about putting our Nana in a "home" but with medical concerns she needed a place with medical facilities close by (attatched building) and we have all been pleasantly supprised, including Nana.