Mary Wade Home

My mother, who had Alzheimer’s, was a resident of the skilled nursing area of the Mary Wade Home from September of 2005 until her death in August of 2009. The staff at the Mary Wade Home was great from the beginning. There was a sense that they enjoyed the residents. I felt that the staff really enjoyed my mother and that she was well taken care of.
When my mother’s sister came to visit from Chicago with her husband, they noticed how the place felt. The good care was in the atmosphere and in the way visitors were welcomed. There was also a sense that the staff was well taken care of, which had a ripple effect.
Another aspect of the Mary Wade Home is the beautiful garden. My mother enjoyed many hours in the garden area.
When it was time to bring in hospice, the nurse suggested it and we were fortunate to be able to have hospice care brought in so she did not have to be moved. The staff was very accommodating to us at the end. I was able to spend the last night in an empty room across the hall and my mother’s roommate was temporarily moved out of the room to give us privacy. My brother, husband, my Mom’s long time private aid and I were with her at the end. We had decided to celebrate her life and toast her with her favorite cocktail. We did so and as soon as we were finished, she left peacefully. I feel fortunate that my Mom was able to spend her last years at the Mary Wade Home.
Nealy Zimmermann

I am always telling people that the Mary Wade Home is the best! My dad (Russell M. Smith) was there for the last 13 months of his life. He passed away October 6, 2008. My dad was admitted there with dementia, and one of us "kids" were there every day. I usually stopped in there 6 days a week. I had stopped in at all different times, from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. and each time, every one of the staff members treated each and every resident as if the resident were part of their own family. From the Administrator to the office staff to the nursing staff, dietary, housekeeping and maintenance staff all displayed the utmost respect for the residents. The other thing I always tell people is that if I ever need long term skilled care, I hope I can get into Mary Wade.
One of the nurses there (Charise) once told me "We're (Mary Wade staff) not their real children, but they're like our own family and when we lose one, we hurt too". My dad loved it at Mary Wade too. On one of my dad's trips to the hospital ER (he was unresponsive), when he was feeling a bit better, and we had to choose to have him admitted or sent back to Mary Wade; my sister and I asked him "Dad, do you want to stay here a few days or go back to Mary Wade"? My dad replied "I want to go HOME to Mary Wade". That's how much like home it seemed to him. On his last trip to the hospital ER, he was declining, and again we had to make a choice. We had no doubts that the best choice was to let him go back to Mary Wade. We then were given the option to transfer him to the local Hospice. We said no. We wanted him to spend his last days in the presence of the people who had so lovingly cared for him.
As my dad declined, Mary Wade provided him with a special quilt to cover him, a floor lamp was brought in near his bed, to shield him from the sometimes harsh overhead lighting, and there at his bedside was a CD player, playing soothing music ever so softly. A special quilt square was hung outside his door. This was to let staff know he was in the dying process, so they would know to say their own "goodbye". We received the call in the wee hours of the morning that it was time to come, and had our last moments with him. I found out the next day, that after we left, one of the maintenance staff had gone in after we left, to say a prayer over our father. THAT is a prime example of all the staff there, caring - even when the family is not present.
In my fathers obituary, we made mention to thank "his other family, the staff of The Mary Wade Home" who took such excellent care of him. We later planted a Lilac tree in the courtyard garden that my father so enjoyed, and celebrated his life with a Thank you cake for the staff. I will continue to recommend the Mary Wade Home to anyone who is seeking the utmost in excellence of care for their loved ones. Respectfully submitted, Linn Bodle

My family and I will be forever grateful for the care the magnificent staff of the Mary Wade Home provided for my beloved father (Joseph Pruzinsky) who was a resident there from March of 2009 to January of 2010. When admitted to the Mary Wade Home my father was suffering from dementia as well as multiple medical problems, including a broken hip. Though my family and I had extensive experience with dear relatives being in nursing homes in the area, we were not familiar with the Mary Wade Home when we arrived there.

I now consider our time at the Mary Wade Home to be one of the greatest gifts we have ever received in our life. Our family was treated with the greatest kindness, compassion, and professionalism at every step of the way. The admission process, which can be stressful, was made particularly easy by Roseane, who showed us a profound level of thoughtfulness that set the stage for our entire stay there. On the day that my father died, we were blessed to be reminded of the deep and personal commitment that the staff of the Mary Wade Home make to their residents; they too experienced the sadness of his death. In between my dad’s admission and his departure from Mary Wade he and our family experienced the highest possible quality of care and professionalism from nurses, doctors, physical therapists, recreational staff, maintenance and kitchen staff and, most profoundly, the certified nursing assistants. It is hard to express in words the depth of our gratitude for all of these individuals.

One of my family members or I visited my father most every day that he was a resident at the Mary Wade Home. Depending on our work schedule, we would visit at different times of the day; that is, on some days we would visit in the morning and on other days we would visit in the afternoon or evening. I mention this because we were always struck by the fact that whenever we were there that the staff was friendly, professional, and very clearly doing the best they could to take care of my father as well as the other residents. It was impressive how professional the staff was and it was deeply moving how thoughtful they were and how they created a loving, relaxed, clean, and safe environment. Despite the sadness of seeing my father decline, I nevertheless remember with great affection how the staff was so skilled at using humor and playfulness in just the right way at just the right moment.

It is important to me to stress that my family and I believe that our experience at the Mary Wade Home is also the experience of the other residents and families as well. We cannot, of course, speak for any other family. However, we do know that we witnessed, every time we were there, the same professionalism and compassion being offered to all other residents and families. Over the past year I have said to many people that I believe there is something very special about the Mary Wade Home and I am forever grateful for them being there to help us in the time of our greatest need. We have offered many prayers of gratitude and we will continue to do so for the rest of our days.