Desert Manor Alzheimers Care Center

Pros

• The staff were absolutely amazing; admins, nurses, the activities director, and CNAs were all phenomenal and caring.
• He was very well cared for by the staff.
• The staff were very caring toward other residents as well.
• The facility was clean.
• The mother-in-law was very happy with the care.
• The husband was cared for by wonderful people.

Cons

• The facility is dirty and unsanitary, with feces under a resident's bed and a restroom stained with dry blood.
• Staff are unresponsive and uncaring; family calls are not answered and nurses can be short with families.
• There are frequent resident falls and a lack of preventive protocols to stop them.
• The building and equipment are in disrepair, creating an unsafe environment.
• There is chronic understaffing and a negative workplace culture, with administration perceived as absent or ineffective.
• Belongings have gone missing and communication about residents' status is poor.

Review

A review thread about local elder care facilities paints a deeply divided picture. On one end of the spectrum are accounts that read like cautionary tales: persistent concerns about responsiveness, safety, and dignity; stories of falls without timely or clear communication; and environments described as dirty, poorly maintained, and emotionally discouraging for both residents and their families. Several entries accuse specific people and roles - administrators, directors, and nurses - of not advocating for residents, of failing to answer calls, or of delivering news about accidents in a struggle that makes families feel neglected and unheard. The recurrent plea across these remarks is for more compassionate care, better safety protocols, and a culture that treats residents with the respect and dignity that every person deserves.

A particularly pointed set of comments centers on a father who has spent almost a year in a facility, during which he has endured numerous falls. The author emphasizes the frequency and gravity of these incidents and highlights the distress felt by families receiving the news. The nurse who communicates these events - Harriet - appears repeatedly in the narratives, described as sounding overwhelmed or strained while delivering difficult updates. The author calls on leadership, including named individuals like Mr. JP, Abby, and other directors, to be strong advocates for residents and to implement preventive measures to reduce falls. The sentiment is not merely about a single lapse but about a systemic need to build a compassionate center where families would feel their loved ones are safe and treated with respect.

In contrast, one review offers a powerful counterpoint: a husband's four-week stay in October through November of 2021, during which he passed away from Alzheimer's. The writer asserts that the facility was clean and that the staff - admin, nurses, activities director, CNAs - were "absolutely amazing" and caring. This account stresses that the quality of care can be excellent, with staff who are attentive and affectionate, and who provide meaningful interactions with residents and with the families who support them. The tone here is appreciative and grateful, underscoring that good care, when it happens, can be deeply meaningful for families facing the end of life with dementia.

Another set of remarks focuses on a grandmother placed in the facility after a hospital transfer. The reviewer describes a rapid and troubling decline in her condition: deterioration in Alzheimer's symptoms and physical health, loss of weight, inability to walk, and eventual dependence on a wheelchair. The account paints a grim overall picture - loss of independence, withdrawal, and a perception that she was not adequately encouraged to live or engage. The reviewer mentions a missing bracelet, the absence of a television in her room, and a general sense that the facility did not center her well-being in her final months. This narrative concludes with a broader commentary about the cost of care and a suggestion that keeping loved ones at home may be less heartbreaking, albeit more demanding - an opinion grounded in the experience of caregiving and the high emotional stakes involved.

Sanitation and condition issues emerge clearly in another review, detailing feces under a resident's bed, a dirty toilet described as gray and unclean for months, and a sink with visible blood. The family describes a nurse who responds tersely, as if avoiding engagement or questions; communication about maintenance concerns is portrayed as frustrating or unsatisfactory. A sense of procedural indifference appears as the reviewer notes that management visits to acknowledge complaints but ultimately does not provide assurances that the family would be comfortable leaving their own loved ones there. The reviewer's stance is unequivocal: these conditions are unacceptable, and the tone suggests that this is not an isolated incident but part of a pattern.

Related posts expand on a broader, ongoing staffing and morale issue. The majority of staff is described as spending their days venting about the job, with chronic understaffing spanning CNAs, kitchen staff, housekeeping, and maintenance. An administrator is said to be frequently absent, leaving the facility to rely on optimistic "talks" to boost morale, which allegedly do not translate into real improvements. The result, according to this account, is a grim environment for residents, with physical problems in the building and in the equipment, and a general sense that residents are not receiving the level of care they deserve. The reviewer closes with a stark comparison: in their judgment, this is not just a bad day at a facility; it reflects a sustained, systemic failure in care quality and environment.

A particularly heated entry uses strong language to convey frustration about after-hours access. A family member describes their great-uncle being placed at the facility, only to encounter automated phones after 5 pm with no one answering, and no possibility to receive updates about the loved one's condition. The exasperated tone conveys a fear of not knowing how a vulnerable family member is doing, and a threat to complain in person as the relationship with the facility grows tense. The explicit sentiment is that the facility's off-hours communication and access policies are inadequate for families who live with the anxiety of dementia and serious health issues.

Nevertheless, there are positive notes amid the negative experiences. At least two entries mention someone's mother-in-law or husband being well cared for and expressing happiness with the level of care received. One commenter reports that their mother-in-law was happy with the care, while another repeats that their husband's care was exemplary. A recurring theme in these favorable accounts is the sense that compassionate, attentive, and respectful care is possible and that staff who go above and beyond can make a profound difference in a resident's quality of life and a family's peace of mind.

Taken together, these entries create a portrait of elder care that is deeply nuanced and highly personal. They reveal a system capable of extraordinary compassion and professionalism in some instances, while exposing serious shortcomings in others. The stories consistently call for more proactive advocacy from leadership, stronger and clearer communication with families, and improved safety and hygiene measures to protect residents from preventable harm. They highlight the ethical imperative to treat residents with dignity, to involve families in care decisions, and to maintain an environment where staff feel supported and residents are kept safe and clean. For families facing these decisions, the message is clear: do thorough research, seek out firsthand accounts, visit facilities, and ask hard questions about falls, staffing, sanitation, and how they handle after-hours access and updates. The shared hope across the reviews is that care facilities can rise to the higher standard that families expect and that every resident deserves.

Places of Worship

• Crossview Bible Church (1.1 miles)
• Yucca Valley United Methodist Church (1.4 miles)
• Living Waters Worship Center (1.6 miles)
• Gene Gerald Garrett (3.2 miles)
• Community United Methodist Church (7.4 miles)

Parks

• Dog Park (1.4 miles)
• yucca valley Community Center Park (2 miles)
• Joshua Tree National Park West Entrance (9.6 miles)
• Joshua Tree National Park (9.9 miles)

Restaurants

• John's Place (1.6 miles)
• Murphy's (1.6 miles)
• Jelly Donut (1.6 miles)
• Algoberto's Taco Shop (1.7 miles)
• Kasa Market (1.7 miles)
• Kasa Carnicería y Taquería (1.7 miles)
• Joshua Tree Taquitos (1.7 miles)

Physicians

• Brown Hosea E MD (1.7 miles)
• David Vaughn Leaming (1.7 miles)
• The Vision Professionals (1.7 miles)
• Morongo Basin Community Health Center - Dental Services (1.7 miles)
• Advanced Women's Healthcare (1.8 miles)
• Sean R Thomas (1.8 miles)
• Doctor Thomas MD & Associates (1.8 miles)

Cafes

• 8 Star Cafe (1.8 miles)
• Organic Market Cafe (2 miles)
• Yucca Valley Outpost (2 miles)
• Starbucks (2.6 miles)
• The Yucca Tree Eatery (2.6 miles)
• Larry Milt Western Cafe (4 miles)
• The Dez (7.1 miles)

Transportation

• Alamo (2 miles)
• Yucca Valley Transit Center (2.1 miles)

Pharmacies

• Vons Pharmacy (2.5 miles)
• Rite Aid (2.5 miles)
• New Pharmacy (2.5 miles)
• Walgreens (3 miles)
• Avalon Pharmacy (3.5 miles)
• Good Neighbor Pharmacy (3.5 miles)
• Rite Aid (10.6 miles)