22 Independent Living Communities in Baldwin County, Alabama

Woodie

The Brennity at Daphne is a nice and clean building. Housekeeping is nice. The staff seemed friendly and nice. On mom's first day there, they had somebody playing the piano and singing. But at their first opportunity, they tried to ship my mom to hospital. They gave her sleeping medicine so she'll sleep at night because they want people not to walk around and be any trouble. A week before that, I spent all night at the hospital because they claimed my mom had distressed breathing, but in the hospital they did all the tests and sent her back because there was nothing wrong. She was sleeping. The first week there, they sent my mom to the hospital because she had an infection. When she got back out, four days later I spent all night at the hospital because they said that my mom didn't seem like she was getting enough oxygen. I have an oximeter at my house and I put it on her finger, and her oxygen level was nearly as high as mine. Whoever's the nurse needs to care a little bit more.

Susan

We really liked The Brennity at Fairhope. They even had us for lunch and they had very good food. The people that work there were very nice and so were the people who live there. It's a very clean and nice area. We toured some of the places there and the cottages. It was a delightful place.

Audrey

The Brennity at Daphne is sort of an upscale assisted living community. It's very well-decorated, clean, and it smelled good. The food is pretty good. It's where my mom ended up going so I have eaten there several times now. It kind of fluctuates. Sometimes it's really good, but other times it's not. Someone comes in to do their hair twice a month, they have art classes, they have arts and crafts every day, and game times every day where they play bingo and card games. Every month they have a theme. Last month it was Olympics, so they did a lot of different activities that they could win medals for. It was really cute. They would also take the residents on appointments and to outings. When I was down there the last time that big Powerball lottery was going on, so they just took a busload of residents and went and bought lottery tickets. They keep them busy, and they also have dances and music weekly, church services, and a ton of stuff to do.

John

Robertsdale Healthcare Center was constantly understaffed and there were issues about medication not being quite right. I was real concerned about my mom there. She had a stroke and she was in their rehab until she wasn't improving or getting worse and they released her to the nursing home part. Her room was fairly nice. The staff was the problem. Several of the nurses and assistants that I met took their job seriously and seemed genuinely concerned about the patients. There were some others who were not reading what they were supposed to be doing. My mom was on a thickened liquid and had to have the pills crushed or mixed with something. There were some days when the nurse didn't grind up the pill like she was supposed to and then gave Mom a cup of regular water. Her roommate was supposed to be on oxygen and about half of the time I would have to turn on her oxygen machine because nobody checked and made sure she had it turned back on or not. Other nurses were real attentive, but on the weekends, they seemed to always be understaffed. The building was real nice and fairly clean most of the time, and it's large. I ate there one time and the food was good. Some days it didn't look very appetizing, so I didn't try the food those days.

D.B.

My mother is in Homestead Village of Fairhope's independent living side in a two-bedroom, two-bathroom, about 1100 sq. ft. apartment with full-size appliances in the kitchen. She can cook or there's a meal plan and a dining room. There's a pool, a gym, and covered front porches with big rocking chairs. There's 14 people in her building, and everyone at 4:00 goes out into the porch. We highly recommend it. It's very well-managed, the grounds are absolutely gorgeous, and they're friendly. They have housekeepers come every two weeks, and they are very lovely, very sweet, and very caring, but they are allowed only one hour and 15 minutes per apartment. I think the food is bland and boring. My mother doesn't like the food in the meal plan, but some of the residents like it. The CEO announced there will be a lot of changes and upgrades, like wood floors. They have one hot meal a day at lunch for the independent living, but they will have a full menu in the pub and a new chef. They have a birthday social every month, but there's no music, and no staff to lead the activities. You can have pets. I think it's well worth the cost of under $2,400, including an increase in August.