Manorcare Health Services-Wilmette

Manor Care in Wilmette has been an absolute blessing for my Mother and myself. I would HIGHLY recommend this home to anyone looking for a qualitative experience where they will be cared for and treated with dignity and respect.
A bit of background — my mother has a list of illnesses, all working against her. She had breast cancer twice, a heart attack, and most recently, was diagnosed with Huntington’s Disease, which is a highly disabling movement disorder. She has had two hip replacements in the past (one on each hip) because of a birth defect. Before her initial replacements in 1998 and 2003, my mom had a major discrepancy with the length of her legs. Luckily, these two procedures corrected that.
Fast forward to 2015 — In March, I noticed that something wasn’t right with her right hip. We visited a new surgeon and her initial surgery was scheduled for early April. Now this was no simple hip replacement. She had such significant bone loss and a bone infection that was undetected which led her to Manor Care from May of 2015 through October of 2015, of which 4 of those months she only had an antibiotic spacer and NO hardware, leaving her bedridden. By August of 2015, she was finally able to go through her second procedure this year and have hardware placed. Finally, she was able to bear weight and become a bit more mobile.
For anyone who is not familiar with this laundry list of illnesses, let me say, it is VERY difficult to even attempt to walk with NO hip, let alone a movement disorder that makes you completely unstable. I was terrified of leaving her in any nursing home, because we have been through negative experiences in the past, but everyone at Manor Care of Wilmette treated her like she was their own parent. I have never experienced such care, love, and support from an entire staff.
Moving on to the facility and the staff:
1. The facility is clean and organized
2. There is always someone available for the patients, when they need something, whether that be a CNA or a nurse
3. The Physical Therapy department is WONDERFUL at making every effort and going above and beyond to help someone regain their independence and live their life to the fullest.
a. Veerle, the Director of PT, Elizabeth, and everyone else in PT that helped my mom were absolutely wonderful! They worked with her HD and not around it so that they were able to give her most of her independence back. They were all so heavily involved and knew everything about her like she was their own relative. My mother’s Neurologist was so impressed with her walking and her increase in strength, even though she was still using a walker!
4. The nurses are wonderful. They are some of the most caring, kind, compassionate healthcare professionals I have ever met.
a. Huge THANK YOU to Cherilynn, Jenny, Angelica, Patricia, Fatima, Margaret, and all of the other CNAs and nurses that did everything they could to make my mom’s stay as comfortable and as safe as possible. These ladies named above were so kind and they made my mom’s stay at Manor Care much more relaxing because she knew that the people taking care of her were caring professionals. I am so grateful and thankful for their patience with me and my innumerable phone calls. They were always available and always willing to answer my questions and get me the right answers. I was so impressed by their phone calls keeping me updated on what happened during each day and if there was anything that they thought I should know about. I truly felt like these individuals cared for my mom as if she was the only patient that they had.
5. The Business Manager, Kesha, made every effort to help us with all of our payment issues. Because my mom was in and out of hospitals and rehab centers for months, we completely chipped away at her skilled nursing facility days as well as her Medicare days. This was a huge financial burden on our family, but Kesha helped us all the way through it and allowed for us to work out a plan that allowed my mom to remain at Manor Care until her physical therapy was complete.
6. Rachel, Director of Social Services, was so wonderful and answered all of my questions and directed me toward some of the best after-​care options for my mom. Rachel worked so hard at getting me the right answers and finding resources and agencies that would help my mom even after she was home. All of Rachel’s promises were delivered and she helped us with every aspect of care. I truly felt that every time I spoke to Rachel she was focused on the best for my mom, regardless of what obstacles were ahead of us. She was aware of our financial situation and she pulled out every option to get us what we needed. Out of all of my years dealing with social workers, I have never met one that was so heavily involved and invested in the best for a patient.
All I can say is THANK YOU to everyone named and everyone not named, but who helped just as much and cared to the same degree. Your kindness will always be appreciate

UPDATE: This place is also crawling with the ghastly C.diff. infection. Many visitors have come out of this place after visiting loved ones, only to spend the next three weeks on the toilet, or writhing in pain from severe abdominal cramps. It’s unclear how closely the staff follows proper handwashing and disinfecting procedures. There’s also a lack of hot water in many of the restrooms. Seeing as a RESTAURANT won’t even open if they don’t have hot water, it’s unconscionable that a nursing home would. If you discover this, or any other improper behavior by the staff, PLEASE, call the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation.
Before you send your loved one here, be sure to ask about these vitally important issues. Your life, and that of your loved one, could depend on it!

I cannot say enough good things about this place! My grandpa had a stroke back in September, very severe. We was in the ICU for a month, then at another long term care facility, which was horrible. Then he was moved to Manor Care in Wilmette. At the time, he was still not breathing, eating or walking on his own. He was originally on the second floor, and most nurses there took excellent care of him (most, not all). After a month, he was moved to first floor, and it got even better.
First of all, he was offered a private room, which was incredible, considering that he only has public aid, and all other places that we went to had 3 or 4 people per room. It was always clean.
The physical therapy that he got there was incredible. In 2 months that he was there, they got him up and walking, even without a walker! They got him off of the million tubes that he had in his body. He just left a week ago, and it feels like he was reborn at the place.
I do not know what it is like for permanent residents there, probably not great, like at any other nursing home, but as a rehab facility, I think it is one of the best. Again, this is strictly judging by going to other places for an hour, but even that was enough to see the difference. It took them 2 months to transform a person who was almost a vegetable back to a pretty healthy and active individual. My whole family is extremely happy with the care he got there and we are grateful to everyone, especially the head of therapy — Veerla.

My family considered moving my wife’s uncle (who is currently at Cambridge Nursing and Rehab which has a two-​star rating) to this facility which has a four-​star rating. After meeting with the administrator, we were told that the director of nursing said the level of care is no better than at Cambridge. I admire their honesty; I gave them two stars based on their own assessment. ManorCare is considerably more expensive — so we are happy to be paying far less for the same level of care.