The Willows

I highly recommend the Willows.

The Willows in Oxford FL is a great assisted living. The building has an open feeling with two story entrance and cafeteria. Clean and well maintained but the best part is the staff, everyone from the nurses to cafeteria staff is fantastic. They got to know my father-in-law and actually cared. He told us how good they were taking care of him and was happy. That in & of itself was a miracle, he distrusted everyone. Unfortunately his stay was cut short, his health deteriorated.

The staff are all very friendly and helpful. The facility is very clean and well maintained. The only issues are that they wake up the residents who go to bed early at 9:30 pm to bathe them, and then make them sign a form stating that they refused being bathed. Many things on the menu in the dining facility are too tough to chew for elderly people who struggle with denture issues.

The facility is very clean and well taken care of. They have a very good maintenance crew. It is open and airy and beautiful. Many of the residents sit in the lobby and enjoy seeing people come and go. The receptionists are very friendly and very accommodating. My mom says the food is very good. She likes the fact that they serve breakfast out at any of the meals if that's what you prefer. The nurses respond quickly when their personal emergency buttons are pushed. They also keep the family informed if there are any health issues or falls so communication is very good! Recently, they hired a new activity director and I have seen a lot more activities offered. Overall, mom and family are very happy with The Willows and their staff.

The only good thing about The Willows was the move-in. Notes in the bathroom, told people not to throw diapers in the basket, but left no instructions where to put diapers. The sales staff was exceptionally friendly and accommodating. The administrator never met the resident, even after being encouraged to do so by me who was the residence advocate. the quality of care was abominable. The head of nursing made multiple promises and did not keep them. The meds were screwed up continually. They committed to helping with showers and never kept the scheduled time. The activities existed on a board, but basically never really happened. The person that was responsible for doing the activities was also the driver that was taking people to doctors and appointments and the weekly runs to Walmart and restaurants. Movies were listed and never shown. Crafts were listed and no one was ever in the room. With regard to friendliness, the residence were basically very unhappy. Many of them just sat in the public spaces, falling asleep. A small number would speak to you when you walk by, but mostly they behaved in a catatonic way we should've been aware that something was wrong when we saw that. The food was acceptable, but certainly could've been better. The dining room had one excellent waitress who really seemed to care about the resident needed some services and during the initial visit, they were determined. When asked what we were going to be paying for them it was totally unclear. They said they were going to provide three services that would help the resident be eligible for her long-term care. And they did provide on occasion some of those services. The plan of care was written, which included them, but when the billing came, it didn't charge for them. The managing nurse seem to think that the resident did not need long-term care and so she just didn't provide it. But when the long-term care nurse came to assess the resident, she met all the markers for long-term care. I contacted the administrator to please Rebill for services rendered, she pushed me off to the accounting department who made excuses that he was new and he didn't know anything about it. I asked to have a meeting with the administrator and she scheduled the meeting, but never showed up. That was the second time that it happened to me when I had a meeting scheduled with her. The Willows would not be a place that I would send even my hated mother-in-law if I had such a thing. They were incompetent beyond belief With all sorts of promises and no delivery. I even contacted their national headquarters who acted as if they cared, but really put it back in the administrators lap. They just didn't give a damn. in the meantime the patient had to pay out of her own pocket for what could have been paid by her long-term care policy who were extremely cooperative and would've done anything to help Make that happen.