Lantern Crest Senior Living

ISL is a rotten company who does not care about the employees or people living here. Ack.

There are two buildings for Lantern Crest: The Ridge and The Pointe. The Pointe opened in December 2015. It is for Independent Living and Assisted Living 55+ adults. The building is very nice and the apartments all have a full kitchen and a washer and dryer. There are no outside garden areas for residents to enjoy. There is a theater with big screen, English Tea Room, large game and arts and crafts rooms, library with computers available, an exercise room with TV, miniature golf, and a hair salon. Small pets are allowed. The staff is friendly and helpful. Pricing is above average.
The residents are also friendly and have organized numerous table games themselves. There are various exercise activities and outings planned by staff. The restaurant is large and nicely decorated; however, in my opinion, the food and service leave a lot to be desired. The wait time for food is unusually long; has been as long as 45 minutes. Much of the food is greasy and bland and there are a lot of cream sauces used. The presentation of the food is done nicely, but a disappointment for taste. Chicken is usually dry and meats are tough and overcooked. I hear numerous complaints from other residents but they do not like to write their complaints down for the Chef to consider even though a suggestion box is available. We have been advised that if enough complaints are made regarding one issue, then something can be done, otherwise, one complaint alone will not be of concern. In my opinion, every complaint should be of concern. My low score is based primarily on the numerous food issues.

Both of my parents are residences at Lantern Crest Assisted Living. I am very pleased with the care they receive. The entire Staff is caring and compassionate. Mom and Dad enjoy many of the activities, and entertainment. the food is very good, my dad really enjoys the deserts. My parents have had some medical emergencies the day staff, night staff have responded with extreme professionalism. It is such a relief to know my parents are in a safe environment. I. highly recommend Lantern Crest Assisted Living.

For just over a year, mom & dad have experienced the evolution of this Lantern Crest community. Assisted Living Director Kristy Brown has been our shining star since her arrival. She leads with warmth & compassion, always with the residents first in mind. She leads & trains her team by focusing on continual improvement and identifying right staff fits. She successfully launched a revamp of the medication room service operation that made this important activity an accurate, well-​oiled machine. This was a MAJOR improvement that was highly needed and since this change, stays on track consistently by re-​evaluating meds room operational needs. GREAT JOB!!! A special recognition is deserved for the commendable help provided for my mother during my father’s recent hospital stay. Outstanding care was provided by the Assisted Living & Generations teams. This gave mom a returned sense of security, safety, and improved wellbeing until my parents were reunited once again. Kristy recently assisted in the necessary transitional move for my parents from the Assisted Living side to the Generations team side. She made this difficult move for them a smooth changeover for a fresh start. We’re excited to get a higher level of trained care in place to help with moms dementia needs that will result in needed respite relief care for dad. The Generations Director Lani Stegall immediately jumped in with the same high level of compassionate attention, support, & quality leadership that we experienced while working with Kristy. Both encourage continual feedback and communication. This great leadership team model has resulted in solid staff management of site operations. Grateful!!!
A special kudos to everyone who helped since entering Lantern Crest Senior Living!

What a wonderful community. I can’t be happier for my grandparents. Just visited them and did Sunday brunch at the dining room. Friendly and caring staff members. Especially dining room staff. I highly recommend Lantern Crest. One of the best senior care communities in town.

My mom, who has Alzheimer’s, has been at Lantern Crest almost since they opened. It is a beautiful facility. My brother, sister-​in-​law & I have seen it through many growing pains. Yes, there were staffing problems which were concerning. Several times we considered moving her, but she has been comfortable & happy there. I’m so grateful we «stuck it out» since we have seen a great improvement in all aspects. Mom is happier than ever. The staff is wonderful– — I would acknowledge them by name, but I would probably leave someone out! They do a lot of activities with the residents. There is a beauty shop and the meals are varied & healthy. I’m quite confident that the kinks are worked out and my family is happy (under the circumstances) that my mom has a beautiful, caring place to call home.

This place looks and feels great! The staff is engaging, loving and caring! You can’t ask for anything more in a retirement community!

DO NOT BRING YOUR PARENTS HERE!!! Both of my parents were here for a yr, the first 6mons were good, after that a total nightmare, Kristen Curran Brookham is an awful administrator, lied to us and her CEO about meds given while her license was expired. Kristen’s boss Jason Englehorn also awful, lied to us about the staff and their qualifications (that person quit shortly after that meeting). The corporate nurse Linda Mather lied to us about when she found out about the problems. We know this because the staff told us they complained to her in detail. The CEO Collette Valentine gave us what we call the ‘Corporate Bla Bla Bla, she told us all issues can be fixed but the issued just continued and worsened. Two serious medication errors within one months time, both lasting 6days each for our mother which could have killed her. We found out after the fact it was due to lack of staff training. Getting no where with any of these people we decided to contact the builder Michael Grant from Santee Ca, to tell him our horror story since he hired ISL, his response was very polite but continually interrupted us to the point we were not able to completely provide our full story. A list of issues were sent to community care licensing and lantern crest was found to be guilty of a type A violation.. We kept asking for additional care, paid for it but didn’t receive it. Frequent wait times of up to an hour, little consolation when you’ve fallen.
We had to bring in outside agency to provide care givers at the cost of $ 30,000, we did ask to be reimbursed for this but were told by Collette that Michael Grant said we were not asking to be reimbursed and we did not deserve it. Kristen Curran Brookham did in fact administer meds while her license was not valid and fined. Under staffing is so bad that when we complained ISL integral senior living added two more staff members but promptly removed them after we moved our parents. As a matter of fact, the day after our parents were moved the corporate staff no longer felt it necessary to fix things so they left. We were told that the average stay in this type of facility is less then 2 yrs. My opinion is that once people are removed or die there is no problem. No one is in charge here and no one cares. Its a hostile work environment, our first complaints were to fix things before we lost all the great med techs working there, there were 4 and everyone quit because their complaints fell on deaf ears. So if your parents need a bed and a crappy meal fine but if they need any care at all… do not go here. I must say that we moved mom and dad to a facility that is privately owned and it is sooooooooo much better we can’t believe it. This was the worse year of our lives having our parents there, I feel so much relief to be away from such lack of integrity. Read the complaints below they are all true.

I agree with a previous reviewer who said that it appears to be a nice place, but is actually very poorly run. They are way under staffed for the care they say they can provide. We were led to believe that our father was in good hands after we specifically discussed his needs and issues with walking. In the few days he was there, he was hospitalized twice due to falls because no one was watching him. He broke ribs and hit his head requiring stitches. One of the times we only found out that he wasn’t there when we called to check up on him. Another time, he walked right out the door that supposedly had a code to get through, but the code just turns off the alarm. The alarm was going for 12 minutes with no one responding and he was found in the other building. The bottom line is, they don’t check up often on the residents, due to the minimal staffing. If they need assistance with the restroom, they won’t get it. If they fall, someone may discover them in a hour or two. I suppose if you have a loved one who doesn’t really need any care and can do everything for themselves it would be fine, but then why are they there? In my opinion, this is a very dangerous place to leave your loved one. Don’t do it.

Lantern Crest is a beautiful place. It has some very caring individuals. But they never seem to stay long. In the beginning it was great. But the longer our mother was there, the more we saw that things weren’t being taken care of. It seems that the turn over in staff became a big concern. THEY DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH STAFF. Every time we would question about something they would be getting to it or taking care of it and it never seem to get done. There was no accountability for anything. Moms room became horribly urine soaked and stained obviously due to inadequate cleaning procedures and or toileting scheduling.
Im sure if all you need is assisted living (3 meals and laundry) its there. But if you really need care. Dementia care, Alzheimer care, this it seems, is where they lack. The last month or so when I would visit Mom, she would be in the TV room or she would just be sitting in her room. We couldn’t visit in her room because it was so filthy. And what happened to all the activities? So sad.
For the amount we paid, mom should had much better care.
We kept thinking it was going to get better and it just kept getting worse.

My grandma, who is in her 90s, moved into this place when it opened in June 2012. We have consistently experienced problems with her meds, which aren’t too involved, being given at the wrong time, not at all, or incompletely. The place is understaffed and several times she wasn’t even taken to her meals because they were too busy to get her. We know other residents who moved out because their meds were goofed up repeatedly and they had lost confidence in the staff. Another moved because she couldn’t stomach the food. They’re on their third chef here and he’s no better than the other two. Tonight I ordered a BLT sandwich for my grandma’s dinner, with crispy bacon. I was surprised to find the bacon actually crispy, but then disappointed when I discovered they had precooked the bacon, frozen it, then microwaved it for her sandwich. The bacon was fully cooked but still partly frozen. A couple weeks ago I ran into a resident in the hall in her wheelchair, with her lap full of yogurt, granola bars and other snacks from the bistro room. When I asked how she was she snapped at me that she was starving. It’s hard to fill up on meals here when the food is so unappetizing. Many residents’ families bring in food to compensate for the problem. Also, we have complained many times about the understaffing issue and we just get lip service. They have as much help as they did when the place opened and only a few people lived here. Caregivers arrive in a sweat when it’s time to bathe my grandma because they literally race from room to room for fear of being written up for not staying on schedule. All they care about is saving every nickel they can, all at the expense of the care and comfort of residents. If my grandma were not in her 90s we would probably move her, but as it is we’re at the mercy of Lantern Crest. They call it luxury assisted living here, but it’s a joke. What makes the place tolerable is some of the very nice people who work here, unfortunately none of them are in positions of authority. Beware.
UPDATE: AFTER THIS REVIEW WAS POSTED LAST OCTOBER, WE WERE CALLED INTO KRISTIN’S OFFICE – SHE IS THE BIG CHEESE DIRECTOR– AND REPEATEDLY TOLD WE NEEDED TO MOVE MY GRANDMA. WE ALSO GOT THE USUAL BALONEY ABOUT HOW THE CHEF IS WORKING ON THE MENU AND HOW THEY HAVE HIRED MORE PEOPLE. JOKE. THANK GOD THEY HAVE WONDERFUL STAFF LIKE DIANE, SUSAN, MACKENNA AND COURTNEY THERE. THIS PLACE IS ONLY A GOOD SOLUTION IF YOU DON’T ACTUALLY NEED ANY ASSISTANCE. THEY ARE GROSSLY UNDERSTAFFED, WE EVEN HEARD ONE OF THE FORMER CAREGIVERS COMMENT TO ANOTHER FAMILY THAT ONE OF THE RESIDENT DEATHS RESULTED FROM NO ONE BEING AVAILABLE TO HELP THE POOR MAN.

Great facility, looks amazing and the staff is great