MONARCH AT CEDAR PARK

My wife has spent two months in the memory care wing of The Monarch at Cedar Park, and we could not be more impressed. The Monarch provides an open, airy environment for its residents and visitors. The rooms are comfortable, and the residents are encouraged and assisted in adapting them to their own style and needs. The available healthcare services rival any that we have encountered. The residents are offered group activities tailored to their interests and capabilities. Many facilities may offer some or all of the foregoing features. But, what sets The Monarch apart is its exceptional staff and management. I do not know how The Monarch is able to gather so many loving, caring, capable people for its team. Without exception, staff and management are amazing—individually and collectively. My wife has been embraced by the team, and she has blossomed. We give The Monarch at Cedar Park our highest recommendation. Mike and Deb

My mother lived here for three years and passed away in October 2025. Several caregivers were truly kind, compassionate, and formed meaningful relationships with her, and our Hospice Team was amazing, providing the support the facility could not. Unfortunately, management was unstable, changing every 4–6 months, and staffing was often inadequate. After renovations, rates increased sharply, burdening families. The most serious issue: near the end of her life I discovered the facility cannot administer prescribed narcotics—they have no full-time RN, only med techs who can give basic medications, and only when certain executive staff are on-site. We were never told they couldn’t provide proper end-of-life care. Families need to ask about RN availability, medication administration, and the level of care provided, especially for end-of-life support. Transparency here is essential.

Our loved one, who has dementia, stayed at the Monarch's memory care facility in Cedar Park from March to late June 2025. While a few staff members - especially a standout hospice nurse - showed genuine care, the overall experience was disappointing. Major concerns included a serious breakdown in communication between hospice and facility staff, leading to improper medication management. This may have contributed to increased agitation in our family member, and at least one experienced staff member was let go during the incident. Worse, our loved one was abruptly discharged with no written notice, no explanation, and no ownership taken for the medication issues. We were left without support during a critical time. Only after repeated requests did we (days later) receive written information. Unless this facility improves transparency, medical coordination, and discharge practices, I would caution others to ask tough questions - or look elsewhere.

I would not recommend this for your loved one. My mother was there for 1 year. They charged up levels of care without cause—all to make money. I put in numerous inquiries. No one could tell me why my mother needed additional care when an assessment was never done in the first place. My mother DID NOT decline or require any assistance during her 12 months. We were never notified of a problem-just bill increases. In May 2023, my son and I were approached by a staff member who had taken naked and exclamatory photos of a dying patient without the families permission. She proceeded to show my 15yr old son. I filed a complaint with the management. The employee in question was terminated. I moved my mother to a different facility weeks later. They are still billing me for increased charges of 6k with NO explanation.

We moved my mom to Poets Walk in mid September. Since then, there has been a drastic drop in employees. Those who are left are doing their best to keep the residents taken care of and most of them are working above and beyond. Unfortunately, the level of quality care has dropped drastically and the residents are most often found sitting in mass staring at the tv or sleeping. Very little engagement because they simply don’t have any activity coordinators on staff currently. The doors to the gardens are locked every time I go (because they “forget” to unlock them) which is incredibly frustrating because it was one of the big reasons we chose Poets Walk as my mom loves to sit outside. That should be a simple fix but it keeps happening. The saving grace of the experience my mom is having is her main care partner who just joined the staff, the staff nurse and the family/resident engagement coordinator. Unfortunately, there are 45+ residents and many times, the ratio of staff to residents is terrible. Especially on the weekends. Representatives from corporate are actively trying to “right the ship” and find employees, but for now, they do not have the ability to care adequately for the mind, body and spirits of their residents and should not be moving anyone else in until they get the situation under control. It is heartbreaking to see the residents “sleeping in their chairs” and not receiving the memory care that was promised by the sales team.