Bickford - Crystal Lake Cottage

It is my life’s greatest regret that I chose this place as my mothers’ final residence. They lure you in with empty promises, it all sounds lovely until your loved one is in residence, then it’s a very different story. GET EVERYTHING IN WRITING!! The communication once all the forms are signed and the automatic payment is set up is an absolute joke. I have pages of emails that went unanswered (I live out of state). My sister called with questions and left multiple voicemails over 12 months, not one call was returned. Not one! It wasn’t until I copied every name I could find that I finally received a response to questions like How do I get my mom on the schedule to see the onsite doctor? Who can I talk to about her prescriptions? Her refrigerator is still not working 3 months later. Etc. When I asked very important questions in writing, then escalated my email after weeks of no response, I would get a phone call saying I should come in to discuss it. Never a written response. This happened multiple times. My final two emails asking how to close out my mom’s accounts, after months of no communication, also went unanswered. I had to call corporate to get a response. Julie is the most unprofessional person I have ever had the misfortune to interact with. There were 3 different Health & Wellness Directors in the 12 months that my mother lived there. That alone speaks volumes. Read the reviews on Indeed! I wish I had. For the most part, the medical staff was good. There were a few that were rude and borderline negligent toward my mom, and there were a few that were absolute gold and genuinely caring, but that just goes with the territory. My issue is when I tried to address some of my mom’s complaints or concerns, I was met with “I’m sure that’s not what happened”. Or “She must have misunderstood” or nonsense like that. I witnessed one event, and it wasn’t until I said Are you accusing her of lying? that she backed off the narrative that there’s no way anything my mother was saying happened. Beware! They will not believe your loved one. They will deny everything instead of simply addressing the issue. They’ll tell you their average response time is 6-8 mins from when the resident hits the button to call for help, that is not the reality at all. I witnessed multiple times where it was over 15 mins if not longer. Most times it was around 10-15 mins but there were far too many times when it wasn’t. There were 2 instances at night when there was no response at all until the next day. The bigger issue for me was when I tried to speak to Julie about the long wait times or lack of response entirely, her response was to tell me that my mom was the 2nd highest quantity of requests for help. And? She’s there because she needs help, and their response is to say it’s my mom’s fault because she asks too many times??? Absolutely unacceptable. She started exhibiting symptoms of a UTI including confusion & fatigue. UTI’s can be deadly for the elderly. They did a test and it took OVER A WEEK to get the results only to be told they were inconclusive. I called everyday for the results. And they eventually told me I could take her to the ER if I wanted. Otherwise just got a shrug. She eventually got treatment. That alone is negligence beyond comprehension. They’ll tell you housekeeping is included – not true. I had to clean every time I went to see her. When we moved my mom’s furniture, the extent to which they did not clean was gut wrenching. They left us with a full hamper of dirty laundry when she passed. Over a weeks’ worth. They didn’t even have the decency to spare us that even though she was still under their care and we continued to pay for weeks after her death. They didn’t call to offer condolences, but you better believe they called to find out when the apartment would be vacant. They did not return my calls when I asked when to expect the refund due to us 4 months after she passed. I could go on and on but just writing this breaks my heart. Don’t make the same mistake I did. A mistake that will haunt me for the rest of my life.

My 89 year old aunt was a resident at Bickford, recently residing in the memory care wing. She received great care from a loving staff. Unfortunately, she recently passed away. My aunt resided there for several years. I am very disappointed that Bickford had not sent any form of sympathy gesture or flowers to the wake.

I found the staff of Bickford in Crystal lake to be caring and knowledgeable. They cared about getting to know grandma and making sure she was comfortable and safe. The facility is clean and homey. The facility is located in a neighborhood and it is easy for us to get to to visit. It made the decision for our family easy.

The Health & Wellness Director is very attentive and is always available to answer questions day or night. The staff are very friendly and go out of their way to make the residents feel loved and cared for. The facility is very home like and clean.