19525 West North Avenue, Brookfield, WI 53045
For more information about senior living options: (866) 208-4318
Overall Review of Franciscan Woods
Pros
The staff take very good care of residents and strive to do their best.- The care team is a great group that works well together.
- A caregiver is described as a Godsend, doing much right to help residents feel safe.
- Staff come into residents’ rooms at their level to communicate and reassure them.
- Caregivers pray with residents and never laugh at their fears.
- Activity workers help residents stay engaged and get out.
Cons
Nothing but a place to park someone.- Absolute minimal care.
- Dirty, loud, ever-changing staff.
- State should close this place down.
- Seems the norm to leave residents urine soaked and alone.
- Mom left on a toilet asleep for an hour, called for help and was left on the toilet.
- Pills all over the floor, poop on the floor, and I had to clean up.
- For $10,000 a month... what a deal!
Review
Franciscan Woods in Brookfield is best suited for families that prize a small, relationship-driven care environment where staff can form meaningful, ongoing connections with residents who need long-term care or memory-supportive services. The appeal rests on the notion that care is hands-on and personalized, with caregivers who know residents by name, track their routines, and respond quickly to needs. When the priority is daily attentiveness, gentle reassurance, and engaged activities that make a resident feel seen, this community delivers a degree of warmth that larger, more anonymous facilities sometimes struggle to provide.
Those considering alternatives should be aware that reliability and consistency across shifts appear to be non-negotiables elsewhere. If a family cannot tolerate regular turnover, uneven supervision, or noticeable lapses in basic daily care, other options with steadier leadership, fuller staffing, and more robust quality controls may be a better fit. Facilities with strong corporate oversight, clearer escalation protocols, and higher CNA-to-resident ratios tend to offer a more predictable baseline of care, even when the atmosphere is larger and less intimate.
On the bright side, the strongest reviews spotlight caregivers who go to great lengths to treat residents with dignity. When staff are present and engaged, residents are spoken to at eye level, helped with daily tasks like hearing aids, and supported through anxious moments with compassion and even spiritual reassurance when appropriate. There is clear value in the way attentive nurses monitor safety, ensure hydration, prompt timely assistance, and facilitate social participation through organized activities. In those moments, Franciscan Woods fulfills a fundamental expectation of care: residents feel both seen and protected.
The opposing voices paint a harsher reality. Several families describe a one-step-forward, two-steps-back dynamic: minimal ongoing care, dirty or loud environments, and high staff turnover that leaves residents with inconsistent aides. Accounts of leaving a resident unattended on a toilet, medication lapses, and even messes on the floor raise serious safety and dignity questions. Price sensitivity is bound up with these concerns, with one family quoting roughly $10,000 per month and expressing a strong sense that the value did not match the experience. Such reports cannot be dismissed; they signal real risk when staffing and supervision are not stable.
How the positives balance the negatives depends almost entirely on the degree of active family involvement and on whether the care team sustains its strongest performances. The availability of consistent, compassionate staff who know a resident’s quirks and triggers can offset some concerns about environment and routine, but that offset hinges on predictable staffing and strong daily management. Families should pursue a candid tour that includes watching staff in real-time during medication passes, asking to meet supervisors, and requesting a transparent overview of care plans, incident follow-ups, and quality metrics. A trial period, if offered, can reveal whether the daily rhythm is genuinely reliable.
In the end, Franciscan Woods functions best for families willing to invest time in oversight and to celebrate the moments when care staff rise to the occasion. When that alignment exists, the community can be deeply comforting, offering genuine connection, attention to detail, and meaningful activity engagement that many residents value. If steadiness, cleanliness, consistent supervision, and predictable care are nonnegotiables, however, it remains prudent to explore other options where the structural supports, staffing stability, routine oversight, and safety practices, are more reliably documented and enforced.
110 resident community capacity
Assisted Living
Memory Care
Skilled Nursing Facility
Activities on-site
Air-conditioning
Beauty salon
Cable or satellite TV
Computer center
Devotional services off-site
Dining room
Fitness room
Fully furnished
Gaming room
Garden
Housekeeping services
Indoor common areas
Kitchenette
Move-in coordination
Outdoor space
Private bathrooms
Restaurant-style dining
Small library
Telephone
Wellness center
Wi-Fi/high-speed internet available
General Mitchell International (15 miles away)
Community operated transportation
12-16 hour nursing
24-hour call system
Ambulatory care
Assistance with bathing
Assistance with dressing
Assistance with transfers
Diabetes diet
Diabetic care
Medication management
Mental wellness program
Special dietary restrictions
Concierge services
Planned day trips
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