Fairwinds-West Hills Retirement Community

My mom has been here for 3 months so far and she loves it. The staff is caring and goes out of their way to ensue residents are well cared for. The food is decent and of good quality. Highly recommend this facility!

This is, by far, the most exceptional retirement community in town. We have toured and researched all properties in the San Fernando Valley and Simi Valley and Fairwinds stands out as the best… the warm front desk welcome, the delicious dining and friendly waiters, the knowledgable, caring, informed, kind staff, the beautiful grounds and clean property. Fairwinds has it all… Lisa and Rick are the loving face of this prestigious property and they will personally walk you through each step of a sometimes quite difficult journey with genuine care and sincere concern, impressive knowledge, and refreshing honest humor and continue to care for not only your loved one but for the entire family as well. My grandmother is a resident here now and she is happy and safe and warm. The fellow residents are all sweet and friendly and inviting to the new residents. Every staff member knows the residents by first name and genuinely cares for them all. When you must make the decision to move to an assisted retirement community… this is the very best choice.

My mother, a very strong-​minded and independent 95-​year old, chose to move in to Fairwinds seven years ago. Her one-​bedroom apartment is light, airy, cleaned once per week and furnished with her own furniture.
The first thing that impressed me when my mom moved in was the fact that she dressed up every day, wore her pearl earrings and necklace, and took pride in her personal appearance. Prior to her moving, and after my father’s passing, my mother lived alone and stayed in her nightgown all day, unmotivated to change her clothes.
Now my mom plays Bingo, Sudoku, attends the musical entertainment and the Happy Hour gatherings on Thursdays… and of course, has a standing weekly appointment to have her hair done.
When she is not engaged in activities, she spends her time crocheting in her apartment.
Two months ago, she agreed to have Fairwinds manage her medications and Daniel, Hilda and Monica have been more than accommodating in assuring us that their system is accurate, polite and caring. They even gave my mom, my brother and me a systems «tour» so we could see first-​hand how the medications were ordered, kept and administered.
My mom is constantly telling me that she’s so very happy there and that she’s glad my brother and I don’t have to worry about her.
We are very hands-​on with my mom, and we make sure that she gets plenty of love and attention. Fairwinds can only provide a safe environment, proper nutrition, varied entertainment, emergency medical care, and a staff of dedicated individuals that carry out a daily job that can prove difficult at times. I have never witnessed any staff member being unkind to a resident. I truly feel my mom is in the best place she could be and I am also aware that it is my responsibility to continue to support and cuddle my mother in ways that only a family member can provide.

My mother is am extremely independent 92 year young woman. She volunteers at West Hills hospital twice a week and attends church services every Sunday. She decided to move to Fairwinds in the fall of 2013. The burdens of living alone with the responsibility of the up keep of a home became too much for her. Since moving into Fairwinds she looks and acts 10 years younger. She has embraced the life at Fairwinds with open arms. She slowly has added activities to her daily routine. There are so many activities to choose from as well. There is always something to do at Fairwinds. She has met so many new friends! The staff is so warm and friendly.
I know my mother would say it was the best thing she could have ever done! I say she should have made the move 5 years ago!

As a 31-​year-​old grandson of a beautiful 95-​year old, precious, warm, strong, passionate, Spanish speaking grandmother, I could not be more happy to know she it in great hands at Fairwinds.
For the first part of my life, I was never with a babysitter… Never outside if the care of my own blood. My grandmother was exactly that. A SUPER MOTHER… A mother so great, that she requires the word «GRAND» in front of her.
I now see her requiring the type of growth, and assistance that I needed at a young age.
It’s amazing how frustrating it can be.
I wonder how frustrating I was?
She was always so happy to see me, and left me with a big wet kiss, and something to eat.
Today she is down the street, and I can go get one of those kisses whenever I want. I can also call to make sure she’s ok, and she doesn’t even have to know I’m worrying about her.
Best of all, since she’s been there, she’s gained weight and looks amazing…
And everytime I leave, I make sure to get my kiss and my snacks. Sometimes I wonder who has been taking care of whom, all along :)

What a blessing this place is! My mother moved here from another state not knowing anyone and has been so happy living at Fairwinds for the past year and a half. The staff has been WONDERFUL and her apartment is just perfect. She has lots of new friends and all kinds of entertainment to pass the days. I am lucky to have chosen such a loving and special place.

Couldn’t be happier with the professionalism and caring from the staff of Fairwinds. As a long distance caregiver for my 89 yr old mother, I found every one to be above and beyond helpful. Trying to transition my mom to a senior living facility after my dad passed was not an easy feat. Rick and Lisa quickly befriended her and made her seem welcome. She was allowed to join the community for meals before she even moved in. The staff was nice enough to introduce her around, let her get acquainted and more comfortable. They were excellent in communicating with me and getting her situated. My mother is very high maintenance and when she finally did move in, the caregivers went out of their way to please her. I knew she was happy when she commented, that she wished, she and my father would have come there years earlier. They both had always been loaners, so it was a pleasure to see her become active in exercise and yoga classes, participate in bingo and other games, plus enjoy movie nights and outings. She raved how they went all out for special events and entertainment.
Daniel, The Health and Wellness Director was always on top of getting my mother the care she needed as dementia and psychosis became an issue. I always felt comfort knowing she was watched over and in good hands. Most important, there was constant communication and genuine caring for her well being.
She eventually had to be transferred to a dementia/​memory care facility. Can’t thank Fairwinds enough for all their help through this difficult time.

We moved my aunt to this facility and could not be happier. She has made friends and really loves it. The facility is clean, the staff are so sweet. My aunt lived alone for a long time and has lost many of her friends. We feel that she is safe and well cared for here and has people around her who care for her and are her friends

I rarely give negative reviews on Unilocal,but I think people need to get educated about how this facility and others like it work. My mother has been there several years, and they of course provide adequate care as required by law. The people mean well for sure, but their staff turnover is unbelievably high. In the last year, the general manager, chef, dining room manager, and virtually all the CNA (care givers) have changed. Just when you get to know someone, they are gone, This is very tough for my mom, as the people are helping her with very private things (changing clothes, showers, etc.). It seems like every time I visit there is someone new walking in to her apartment to help her.
We were told when we moved in that if there were ever to be a rate increase, it would be 2% or 3% and would simply be to keep up with inflation. Well inflation is near zero, and yet they have just raised the rates on my mom by 7%. This, after negotiating her current rate just 8 months ago when my father passed away. She is disabled, losing her eye sight, and on a fixed income.
Fairwinds seems to be very concerned about cutting costs while giving a very different impression in their marketing materials. They work hard to attract new residents, touting a «resort» atmosphere, and Fairwinds recently completed what I’m sure was an expensive facelift on their entrance area. But once your parent lives there, they (and all such facilities) have the legal right to raise rates at any time with 60 days notice so beware if you are on a fixed income or trying to budget. In our case, the increase they informed us of 60 days ago is not the amount they actualy tried to implement. They made vague references to my mom’s «worsening condition» or «needing more care», when in fact, my mother does not need any more care and it was just an cost increase for her existing care. They nearly lost us her insurance claim because they delayed sending required paperwork, insisting the paperwork could not be sent until we signed off on the 15.5% rate increase. I since got them to bring it back down to a 7% increase which is what they did tell us about 60 days ago. That is much more than the possible «2% or 3%» increase they tell peopel about.
The place is not terrible as these places go of course. The people care, but I believe the quality there is declining. They have recently eliminated their computer class, limited the food on their menu, restricted residents’ ability to order food to take back to their rooms, restricted when residents can be served their meals, and I could go on. The food by the way I think is unusually bad but you should stop by for a meal and make your own decision.
For the moment my mother is still there because I think it is safe, and because change is so difficult for elderly people and I don’t want to stress her out.