Bickford Cottage - St. Charles

Bickford as a company has a great reputation and this location is no exception! I love working with the team here. They are down to earth, approachable, and very supportive of families. If you're looking for assisted living and or memory care in the area, this is a wonderful community to consider!

I recently toured the community and found the environment to be quite nice. However, I did notice that the overall demeanor of the staff seemed noticeably low in morale compared to the other two communities I visited for my mother. Additionally, I had concerns regarding the Executive Director, Gina. During our conversation, her responses lacked clarity and seemed to reflect limited experience in operational leadership. Compared to the other communities, this left me questioning the strength of the leadership team and the level of support available to families and staff. While I don t mean to be harsh, I believe honest feedback is important when evaluating care options for a loved one when asked to leave a review. I hope this company can provide additional training to the Executive Director so she can better manage her team and provide a better environment for staff, families touring, and the residents that live there.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I cannot express enough gratitude for the exceptional care and support we've received at Bickford of St. Charles. From the moment we walked in, the warm and welcoming atmosphere put us at ease during a challenging time. The staff is truly amazing! Each team member shows genuine compassion and dedication, making it clear that they are committed to creating a nurturing environment for all residents. The personalized care my loved one has received has significantly improved their quality of life, and it brings us great comfort to know they are in such capable hands. The sense of community here is remarkable. Residents engage in various activities that foster friendships and a true sense of belonging. It’s heartwarming to see my loved one thrive in such a supportive environment. I also want to highlight the family advocate who guided us through the transition process. Her expertise and understanding made a daunting experience much smoother, answering all our questions and providing reassurance every step of the way. Overall, I highly recommend Bickford of St. Charles to anyone seeking an assisted living community. The combination of great care, exceptional staff, and a strong sense of community makes it a wonderful home for residents.

The Bickford is the place to select only if you do not want your loved one to thrive. This comes after two years of frustration watching our loved one become depressed in their care. In our opinion, the problems reside at both the corporate and local management level. There are several nurses on staff that are wonderful and caring. Unfortunately, it's not enough to help your loved one thrive. First, this place cannot keep aids and because of that, it affects not just the level of care, but also the safety and happiness of the residents. Our loved one often didn't receive scheduled showers, which is both a hygiene and mental wellness issue. Once our loved one got stuck in a hall bath for over an hour. This is despite pressing that watch they make all the residents pay for and wear. Second, the food quality is extremely poor. It's like nutrition is an afterthought. They will make it seem like the menu is awesome, but in reality it is not. They will tell you if a resident doesn't like what's on the menu, they can always order a sandwich. Ours would try to do that, but something as simple as a grilled cheese wouldn't be delivered causing our loved one to go without a meal that lunch. Once, our loved one ordered a piece of toast. They didn't even bring that out. The Director told us that the menu is controlled by corporate and local chefs hands are tied. Does that make the kitchen team not care? Perhaps. Often we took our loved one out to eat just so a proper meal could be had. It's just always someone blaming someone else for the numerous problems of this place. The Director is never around. She is very nice, but unfortunately, it doesn't appear she knows how to manage, or perhaps, corporate doesn't let her manage. We don't know. The staff is always talking about her never being around and because of a lack of oversight, nothing is getting resolved. Our biggest takeaway from our loved one, as well as the other residents, is that there is NOTHING TO DO. That's right. You pay $8,400 per month to watch your loved one become depressed and in turn, simply look forward to dying. We selected the Bickford because they sold us on their numerous activities and we wanted our loved one to have fun and companionship. But slowly over two years they ceased all activities. They rarely went on outings; they stopped exercises and they even stopped card games. The only thing left is bingo, which is put on by St. Patrick's Catholic Church every two weeks. Why did our rent go up over two years when all services, staff and food decreased? This is for a resident that has a one bedroom unit (we even did laundry) and requires very little assistance (help with meds, help with showers). Unfortunately for the residents that like to sit outside, they even took their seating away recently. WHY? This isn't a prison, but it feels like it. We want our loved ones to be happy and nourished and stimulated. Instead, all these poor residents are becoming depressed and unhappy. They only have TV to keep them company, and that's not healthy. In fact, the majority of the residents coming in lately are severely debilitated and cannot communicate. Our loved one's companions dwindled as they watched others smartly leave for other facilities and unable to communicate with new replacements. Isolated and unhappy. Moreover, Bickford simply doesn't care how you feel. Every month corporate asks you for feedback, to which they simply don't address if it's negative. So folks, if you want your loved one to become depressed, unhealthy and generally unwell, put them here. Within a few days of moving our loved one, smiles returned! Phew! We are so thankful to be done with the Bickford. We're putting this out there to warn anyone else so you do not buy into the picture perfect facility they will try to sell you on. It's far from that.

The place is beautiful, looks like a hotel and lots of activities planned. But there is nothing “assisted” about Bickford. My mom was there to recover from a broken hip because my dad was unable to help her at home. We asked them multiple times to make sure she got walked, asked them to elevate her feet and put on leg massagers to help get rid of edema, asked them to install the toilet seat lift we purchased, none of it was done. The worst was she also has cancer and the tumor was pressing on her bladder. They put her in diapers, which is fine, but then an open wound was created due to sitting in dirty and wet diapers. When we asked them to make sure she is clean and dry, there were numerous times we visited and she needed to be changed. (One of us visited daily) Honestly, all they do is wheel people to meals and then they’re left alone in their rooms. We moved my mom to a different place five days ago and her edema is already gone and they are actually caring for her feet with massages and lotion to get them healthy again. She’s not as depressed and they actually make her walk everywhere and do the things we ask. (You know, the things we are paying them to do) I understand there are a lot of people in some of these facilities, but when the care worker who saw my sister struggling in the hall after my mom pooped her pants responds that she “couldn’t help”, we knew Bickford was actually making my moms health deteriorate instead of improve. Do a lot of research and ask a lot of questions before leaving your loved one at Bickford St Charles.