Robin Way

Our Care Staff

For starters, we employ a mix of caregivers and CNA’s (as far as our care staff goes). The CNA’s are licensed through the state of WI (we do confirm this on the registry upon hire). Caregivers do not have a license but are required to take the 4 state mandated classes provided by us in order to be employed by us. Those courses include Standard Precautions, First Aid, Fire Safety and Medication Management. All 4 courses do require them to pass a test based on the knowledge they have learned in the course. In addition the Med Management class requires additional hands on training from our staff (it is resident specific) as well as RN oversight of a med pass prior to being able to pass meds on their own. In addition, we require all staff members to complete 13 hours of continued education throughout the year.

Safety and Well-being

Safety is always at the forefront of our minds, we have a lot of different policies, procedures and equipment in place for many different situations. For example, our doors are all locked from the outside in and alarmed from the inside out. We use a pendant call system that tracks the response times of the staff. We have monthly and quarterly drills (elopement, fire, weather, etc.). As far as well-being, we have two nurses on staff that work 7 days a week (alternating weekends), and offer monthly wellness checks and some on-demand services as well (like first aid). Our location allows for a very quick response time from the Pleasant Prairie fire department as well as being located less than 5 mins from two different hospitals.

Management and Social Life

Our management staff is mostly responsible for aiding the residents in their transition but we do also have a plethora of residents who are kind and accommodating for new residents. We do provide social transportation (we have our own bus) for outings and special events. We do not provide medical transportation but can help someone get established and use Car-A-Van. Meals and snacks are provided to our residents, everyone has a similar version of the same breakfast, then after breakfast menu is taken for lunch and supper. We offer two entrees for lunch and supper and have “always available” options as well. Residents also can have whatever they shop for in their apartments as each has their own full kitchen. We do have some residents that still cook in their apartment as well as order take out occasionally.

Communication and Feedback

If a resident has a complaint we do have a specific hotline for issues or complaints, however, our executive director and all management really, have an open door policy. We WANT to know if there are issues so we can correct them immediately. I like to explain to people that living in a community setting has to be a partnership between the resident, us and their family. Communication is key and we cannot encourage it enough! Communication is vital for all of us, typically we communicate with families via phone/text, email or in person depending on the families preferences and availability. That communication can come from any of the management team or even our caregivers (some of our staff develop close relationships with families and both feel comfortable communicating with each other regularly about their loved one). In addition, we hold two daily stand up meeting to communicate with each other, and our staff and managers all carry walkie-talkies and pagers so that we are all in constant communication with each other. Residents are also free to communicate with their friends and families as they would at any other time. Most residents have their own phone lines or cell phones, send and receive mail (every apartment has its own private mailbox) and are free to come and go as they please (we do ask that they sign in and out).

Respite Stays and Vaccinations

We do offer respite stays, we have a two-week minimum, the cost is $156/day +care fees. The respites are based on availability. Because we rarely have an apartment open we do not do them often and do not have any respite furniture available for use currently. Our lease can be severed with a 30 day written notice at any time so no one is locked into anything long term. We are pet friendly and yes you can receive Covid and flu vaccinations right here. We generally have two clinics available for these vaccines.

Aging in Place

Aging in place is something we really pride ourselves on, that being said, this is a blended community. We have people here who are completely independent, still drive, it truly is an apartment for them. On the other end we do have people at the end of their receiving hospice services. The average resident in somewhere in between. There are a few exceptions to aging in place. We are not a memory care specific community, so if exit seeking becomes an issue we may have to help a family transition their loved one to a secure community. We also have some restrictions (based on our license) on the amount of direct nursing care someone can receive in an assisted living community. They are evaluated on a case by case basis.

Waitlist Information

We have had a waitlist for over 2 years. The typical wait time for a one bedroom can be 10 months to a year (we only have 5 of them). The typical wait time for a studio is currently around 90 days (I have seen it as long as 6/7 months). We currently have two people on the WL for Studios and a couple on the WL for a one-bedroom.