SONOMA HOUSE ASSISTED LIVING & ALZHEIMER'S CARE

My parents have been residents of Sonoma House since November 2022. While my mother was not in need of memory care, my father was so they made the decision to both reside in one of the memory care centers. The moved from Wisconsin and were both well into their 90s. While the transition was difficult, the leadership at Sonoma helped us overcome every single obstacle. In June of 2023, my mother passed away and Sonoma was able to manage all of her end of life. They helped us select a hospice when it was time, and she was able to be in her own bed by her husband’s side, as she had been for the last 74 years. The staff in house 1 was so caring and helpful to us that our entire family now has a tight bond and considers them part of the family. As you can imagine, after 74 years of marriage the transition for my father was more than difficult. His condition complicates the situation, but Sonoma House continues to support him and us. Sonoma has provided us with support by helping us get involved in support groups, keeping us up to date on my father’s day-to-day activities and challenges and comforts him during the challenging times. Moving your loved one to an elder-care facility is always a challenge. The challenges are unique for each family and they change on a daily basis. Finding a team of leaders that will put your needs and desires ahead of their own and has the experience to navigate these challenges is key. I fully endorse Sonoma House and can assure you that their leaders will work through all the challenges you face.

We had a wonderful experience with Sonoma House. It is different than most other assisted living facilities in that there are seven individual houses on the property with a maximum of 16 residents per house. There is a large open kitchen in the middle of each house along with a living and dining room plus a secure outside patio to enjoy. The residents’ rooms are private, each with their own bath and shower. Both the common areas and residents’ rooms were always very well-kept and clean. There are scheduled activities daily as well as monthly outings, and staff encourages each resident to get out of their room and participate. One of the reasons we chose this facility over others is so our father wouldn’t be just a number and get lost among a sea of people, and he never did. Everyone knew who he was, and knew who we were as his family when we came to visit. The staff was great and extremely proactive in their communication with the family, and genuinely seemed to care about my dad’s health and wellbeing. He had a fall when they took the residents out to see a play; he was fine, but they called to let me know what had happened before they even got back to the facility. Dara and Debora are wonderful and were always there to help with any questions or concerns I had. My dad was there from May through October 2023 when his health condition improved so much that he was able to return to living independently at home. While he is happy to be back at home, he greatly misses the friendships he made while there and plans to return to visit. We never would have made it this far without the love and care that Sonoma House provided.

My wife was in Sonoma House memory care until mid-April 2023. I finally decided to move her to another facility as, in my opinion, the quality of her care declined significantly, especially after January 2023. Also, in December, she fell in her room and was not discovered for some time. She had hit her head on something and had lost a fair amount of blood, and had to go to the ER. The facility was not using the bed alarm that was supplied by hospice. As of the time I moved her out in April 2023, they still were not regularly using the bed alarm to my knowledge. Turnover of caregivers is a big problem at Sonoma House. Apparently the new caregivers are not given much information regarding the individual issues with the residents. At least it seemed that way with my wife. I was continually having to relate my wife's issues to new caregivers. Turnover of facility nurses was also a problem while my wife was there. The one that was assigned to my wife's house at the time I took her out was not very good, in my opinion. She did not communicate well with me or my wife's hospice nurse. This could be a problem for the families of those residents that are not able to continually monitor the care of their loved ones. One of my wife's issues was being able to feed herself adequately. Sonoma House did not seem to have any way to address this issue, so I had to provide (at my additional cost) high calorie nutritional drinks to make sure she would get enough calories. She lost about 40 pounds the first 3-4 months after going into Sonoma House. She was overweight when she went in, so fortunately this was caught before it got dangerous. I should have recognized it sooner, but Sonoma House was not very helpful in this matter. After being somewhat stable for a few months, she lost another five pound the last month she was in the facility. I did find out about that until I decided to move her to another facility. Again, this could be a problem for families of residents that can not closely monitor the care of their loved ones. I also had issues with the office at Sonoma House. Every month I had to call in to get them to send the latest invoice to my long term care provider. Every month. I was never very satisfied with the overall cleanliness of the facility. My wife's room and bathroom would go without adequate cleaning often. The overall appearance of the common area is a bit shabby. The front door lock needed repair for some time before it broke completely one night as I was leaving. The outside area that was available to the residents was not maintained for most of the time my wife was there. My advice is to look for other alternatives. Find a facility that has separate cleaning and cooking staff, so that the caregivers can better watch the residents instead of doing other duties. Ask about how your loved one's care is communicated on a regular basis. I eventually concluded that Sonoma House was the not the right place for my wife. I now have her in a facility where I get daily updates on her condition, and she is doing much better with the time she has left.