Grace Lutheran Communities - Prairie Pointe Assisted Living & Memory Care

    286 N Willson Dr, Altoona, WI, 54720
    3.3 · 6 reviews
    • Assisted living
    • Memory care
    AnonymousCurrent/former resident
    1.0

    Understaffed unresponsive dishonest cold food

    I lived at this facility and was disappointed. It's short-staffed (the advertised staffing ratios were misleading), call lights often took forever or failed, and staff were clearly overworked - though the caregivers themselves were wonderful. The building is nice but PT/OT is limited and therapy needs a set schedule. Management wasn't honest, care plans weren't met, water cups weren't refilled, meals were poor/cold or sometimes not delivered, and I was charged a full 30 days after moving out. Too expensive for the care provided. By contrast, my aunt's new place has hot, tasty food, excellent attentive care and convenient therapy - I definitely recommend that one.

    Pricing

    Schedule a Tour

    Amenities

    Healthcare services

    • Activities of daily living assistance
    • Assistance with bathing
    • Assistance with dressing
    • Assistance with transfers
    • Medication management
    • Mental wellness program

    Healthcare staffing

    • 24-hour call system
    • 24-hour supervision

    Meals and dining

    • Diabetes diet
    • Meal preparation and service
    • Restaurant-style dining
    • Special dietary restrictions

    Room

    • Cable
    • Fully furnished
    • Housekeeping and linen services
    • Kitchenettes
    • Telephone
    • Wifi

    Common areas

    • Beauty salon
    • Dining room
    • Garden
    • Outdoor space
    • Small library

    Community services

    • Move-in coordination

    Activities

    • Community-sponsored activities
    • Resident-run activities
    • Scheduled daily activities

    3.33 · 6 reviews

    Overall rating

    1. 5
    2. 4
    3. 3
    4. 2
    5. 1
    • Care

      2.7
    • Staff

      1.5
    • Meals

      2.5
    • Amenities

      4.0
    • Value

      1.0

    Pros

    • Wonderful, caring staff
    • Excellent care (reported by some residents)
    • Nice, well-maintained facility
    • Convenient on-site therapy services
    • Good/tasty food (reported by some)
    • Some residents strongly recommend the community

    Cons

    • Long call button / call light response times
    • Call button failures
    • Short-staffed / overworked staff
    • Staffing ratio appears misleading
    • Poor meal quality — cold or not delivered
    • Care plan not consistently followed
    • High cost for reported level of care
    • Billing issues — charged full 30 days after move-out
    • Limited PT/OT and lack of set therapy schedules
    • Concerns about management honesty / transparency

    Summary review

    Overall sentiment across the review summaries is mixed and polarized: several reviewers express high satisfaction, praising staff, care, therapy access and dining, while other reviewers raise consistent operational concerns that materially affect quality of care. Positive accounts describe excellent, attentive care, convenient therapy services, tasty meals, and a pleasant facility environment; negative accounts focus on responsiveness, staffing, dining failures, care-plan adherence, billing, and management transparency. The combination of strong praise from some residents and strong criticism from others suggests notable inconsistency in service delivery.

    Care quality and responsiveness are recurring themes with conflicting reports. Multiple reviewers report long delays in response to call buttons or call lights, and some mention call button failures. Those issues are repeatedly tied to short staffing and overworked employees; reviewers describe staff as wonderful and caring but stretched thin, which appears to create a gap between staff intent/ability and resident needs. A subset of reviews explicitly says care plans were not followed or that promised levels of care were not met. Conversely, other reviewers state they receive excellent care and would recommend the community, indicating that care quality may vary depending on staffing levels, shifts, or individual circumstances.

    Staffing and management emerge as core drivers of both praise and complaint. Positive summaries call the staff wonderful and note good interactions; negative summaries emphasize a deceptive staffing ratio or insufficient staffing levels and express concerns about management honesty. Staffing-related problems are linked to delayed responses, missed meal deliveries, limited availability of therapies, and general overwork. Several reviews mention a perception that the facility promotes more staff coverage than is actually present, which contributes to trust issues with management.

    Dining and nutritional service are another area of clear divergence. Multiple dissatisfied reviewers report poor meal quality — food arriving cold, meals not consistently delivered, and cups or drinks not being refilled — leading to frustration and a perception of substandard service for the price. In contrast, some reviewers praise the food as hot and tasty and explicitly compare this facility favorably to others (or vice versa), indicating variability in the dining experience. These mixed accounts suggest inconsistent food service performance across shifts or units.

    Therapy (PT/OT) and activities receive mixed mentions as well. Several reviewers appreciate the convenience of on-site therapy and say therapy access is good, but others report limited physical/occupational therapy availability and a need for more structured, set schedules. This points to uneven therapy offerings or scheduling practices that affect residents differently depending on timing or staffing.

    Administrative and billing concerns appear in multiple summaries and are significant. Specific complaints include being charged for a full 30 days after moving out and a general concern about management honesty and transparency. Such billing disputes and trust issues with management compound operational problems and can overshadow positive aspects when they occur.

    In summary, the reviews portray a facility with strong potential: caring staff, an attractive facility, and the ability to provide good therapy and dining when systems and staffing function well. However, persistent complaints about response times, staffing shortages, inconsistent meal service, uneven therapy scheduling, care-plan adherence failures, and billing/transparency issues create a pattern of variability in resident experience. The most frequently cited problems are related to staffing and responsiveness; when those are working well, residents report excellent care and satisfaction, but when staffing is inadequate or management communication is perceived as poor, the resident experience declines significantly.

    Location

    Map showing location of Grace Lutheran Communities - Prairie Pointe Assisted Living & Memory Care

    About Grace Lutheran Communities - Prairie Pointe Assisted Living & Memory Care

    Grace Lutheran Communities - Prairie Pointe Assisted Living & Memory Care sits quietly as part of Grace Lutheran Communities, with the Grace Lutheran Foundation running the show, and they make a point to accept all residents no matter their age, race, background, or beliefs, which some people find comforting. The place sticks to assisted living and memory care, with extra care options for people who have disabilities or certain diseases, so you find qualified staff on duty every hour, every day, and there's always a licensed nurse close by, which gives some peace of mind. Prairie Pointe's built to be safe for people who can't walk on their own and has a 24-hour call system that everyone can use if they need help. Folks get a hand with daily living things like taking a bath, getting dressed, taking medicine, and moving from bed to chair, and the staff works with each person to make a care plan that actually fits their needs, which seems to help.

    The memory care side, called Aspen Memory Care Suites, gives support for people with dementia, and includes rooms that use special sensory features to help keep residents calm or engaged, and the secure outdoor spots mean folks can go outside safely, which not every place offers. The apartments are modern and each resident can control their own heat or cooling, and the showers come in that European style, and there's a big therapy spa with a whirlpool for sore muscles. You'll find an on-site chapel, lounges, a barber and salon, a proper dining room with restaurant-style meals, and the whole place has cable and Wi-Fi included in the price, so families don't have to track extra bills, and there's an emergency alert system to call for help fast if needed.

    For activities, there's an arts room, movie nights, gardening, walking paths, and chances to do activities that other residents run, and there's move-in help to take some weight off families who are dealing with a lot. Meal preparation happens there, and they offer different food choices to work with special diets, with laundry and housekeeping thrown in, and an on-site services lineup that covers things from pharmacy to physical, occupational, and speech therapy, and even skilled nursing or a doctor's visit if a resident needs it. The place has support programs for short-term rehab, long-term stays, bariatric care, and help for folks with diabetes or needing orthopedic rehab, and there's inpatient rehab suites for folks who've had surgery or an injury and need a place to recover.

    The facility's recognized with an A+ rating for overall quality and safety in national rankings, with barely any inspection problems and no complaints found in recent checks, and they take Medicare and Medicaid, which helps some families with costs. The staff covers a lot of ground with medication management, transfer help, and supervision around the clock, though there's no resident or family council if someone cares about having a voice that way. They also offer adult day services for people who aren't full-time residents. The setting feels home-like and steady, and while no place covers everything for everyone, folks will find a range of care and amenities meant to offer safety, comfort, and ways to stay active as best as possible.

    People often ask...

    Nearby Communities

    • Front exterior view of Harmony Gardens Senior Living facility showing a large, multi-section building with multiple windows, a covered entrance with an American flag in front, and a parking lot with several cars parked.
      Pricing on request4.4 (30)
      suite
      independent, assisted living, memory care

      Harmony Gardens Senior Living

      1438 County Rd C E, Maplewood, MN, 55109
    • Exterior view of a large, multi-story residential building with balconies and a tower-like structure at one corner, surrounded by landscaped greenery and walkways with people walking and sitting nearby during dusk.
      $7,071 – $9,192+3.6 (26)
      Semi-private • 1 Bedroom • Studio
      independent, assisted living, memory care

      Marvella

      825 Mount Curve Blvd, St. Paul, MN, 55116
    • Exterior view of a large, modern three-story senior living facility building with a covered entrance driveway, surrounded by green lawns and trees under a partly cloudy blue sky.
      $5,633 – $7,322+3.9 (69)
      Semi-private • 1 Bedroom • Studio
      assisted living, memory care

      Alto Grayslake

      1865 E Belvidere Rd, Grayslake, IL, 60030
    • Exterior view of Belmont Village Senior Living Glenview building at dusk, showing a large covered entrance with white columns, well-maintained landscaping with bushes and trees, and a multi-story brick and siding facade with lit windows.
      $3,965+4.6 (121)
      Semi-private
      independent, assisted living, memory care

      Belmont Village Senior Living Glenview

      2200 Golf Rd, Glenview, IL, 60025
    • Evening view of the entrance area of Belmont Village Senior Living Lincoln Park, featuring brick walls, decorative lighting fixtures, a circular chandelier on the ceiling, and a sign with the facility's name visible near the street.
      $5,506 – $7,157+4.5 (131)
      Semi-private • 1 Bedroom • Studio
      independent, assisted living, memory care

      Belmont Village Senior Living Lincoln Park

      700 W Fullerton Ave, Chicago, IL, 60614
    • Two-story senior living building with balconies overlooking a large manicured lawn and pond under a blue sky.
      $2,189 – $3,529+4.4 (70)
      Studio • 1 Bedroom • 2 Bedroom
      independent living

      StoryPoint Grand Rapids West

      3121 Lake Michigan Drive Northwest, Grand Rapids, MI, 49504

    Assisted Living in Nearby Cities

    1. 143 facilities$4,510/mo
    2. 123 facilities$4,427/mo
    3. 87 facilities$4,501/mo
    4. 7 facilities$4,294/mo
    5. 54 facilities$4,505/mo
    6. 47 facilities$4,565/mo
    7. 15 facilities$5,198/mo
    8. 1 facilities$4,787/mo
    9. 4 facilities$4,377/mo
    10. 17 facilities$4,766/mo
    11. 4 facilities$4,377/mo
    12. 6 facilities$4,656/mo
    © 2025 Mirador Living