Elderwood Of Uihlein At Lake Placid

Pros

• The facility has many caring nurses.
• Terry goes out of his way to help residents and make them feel at home.
• Bonnie is a great nurse and is always polite.
• The care provided by CNAs and nurses is excellent, with staff in tune to residents' needs.
• The new Seasons Memory Care Program is enjoyable for residents.
• Uihlein Mercy Center accommodations are beautiful.
• The facility appears clean and smells good.
• Aides have gone the extra mile for residents.

Cons

• The reviewer describes the facility as the worst nursing home they've ever been in.
• The grandmother fell, received no calls, was placed on oxygen, and died, with no communication from the facility.
• The facility does not return phone calls.
• Staff allegedly gave attitude when the reviewer asked to speak to a manager about what happened.
• Call lights are not answered promptly, and there is a noticeable odor during a visit.
• Seven serious falls occurred within six weeks, and families were often not informed about them.
• The level of care has declined compared with years past, despite a few aides going the extra mile.
• Residents were crying for help and lying in their own feces; the place is described as very sad and not suitable for elderly parents.
• The reviewer would give zero stars and warns others to think twice before placing a loved one there.
• Management is described as not caring about staff or residents; there was a nurse who gave the wrong medicine and still works there.

Review

Elderwood Of Uihlein at Lake Placid is best suited for families in the Lake Placid area who want private rooms and a pathway for memory-care services, provided there is a willingness to be an active, persistent advocate. The community can deliver on individualized attention from some front-line staff and offers a residency option that may feel more like home due to private accommodations. However, this is not a hands-off choice. Families must be prepared to monitor care closely, escalate concerns promptly, and press for accountability, because safety and responsiveness are not consistently reliable across shifts or departments.

On the plus side, the facility can deliver a decent living environment when it runs smoothly. Several reviews note that private rooms are available, the premises can feel clean and well-kept, and a subset of CNAs and nurses show genuine care. There are mentions of staff members who go the extra mile, and in at least one account, the new Seasons Memory Care Program is described as a positive development for a resident who benefits from specialized supervision. For families prioritizing a quiet, home-like setting with private space, these elements can offer real daily comfort.

But the strong caveats dominate. The most consistent threads across reviews are concerns about safety, responsiveness, and communication. Call lights are described as ignored or answered inconsistently, and there are disturbing reports of delayed notifications following falls, with critical events sometimes going uncommunicated to families. Medication errors are noted, including a case where a resident received the wrong medicine. A number of comments describe staff shortages or turnover that leave shifts overburdened, with management often perceived as unresponsive to family inquiries and complaints. The overall impression is of a facility that can feel detached from urgent resident needs, especially when concerns accumulate.

Those quality gaps undercut the few legitimate pros. Private rooms and a generally clean environment cannot substitute for timely help when a resident presses a call bell or for reliable medication management. Even where certain nurses or aides are praised, the broader system, administration, supervisory oversight, and consistent staffing, does not appear to meet expected standards. One reviewer captured the tension well: competent caregiving by line staff can be undermined by organizational gaps and management focus that tilts toward quieting family complaints rather than preventing problems. In short, the moments of good care are uneven and fragile when weighed against the risk of overlooked emergencies or mismanaged medications.

For families considering a visit, the practical path is clear: demand evidence of strong, accessible leadership and concrete safeguards. Ask for direct access to the administrator or director, request recent call-bell response statistics, and review the turnover rate among nursing leadership. Require a detailed care plan that specifies how falls are prevented, how medication administration is double-checked, and how families are promptly informed of any incident. Observe the memory-care pathways in action during a tour, and interview staff who are assigned to your loved one’s daily routine to gauge consistency. If care is a premium, insist on seeing how the program adapts to evolving needs, and press for measurable improvements before committing.

Ultimately, this community should not be the default choice for families whose top priorities are safety, consistent communication, and dependable staffing. Alternatives should be seriously considered for those whose tolerance for oversight is limited, or whose loved one requires robust, transparent emergency responsiveness. For residents whose families are prepared to stay deeply involved, and where memory-care enrollment aligns with observed positive staff engagement, there is a path to acceptable living. Still, the best course is to compare with other local options that demonstrate steadier staffing, clearer accountability, and a track record of reducing fall risk and medication errors, or to pursue in-home or community-based care if those pathways can accommodate the loved one’s needs with greater reliability.

Places of Worship

• Saint Margaret's Convent (0 miles)
• New Hope Christian Fellowship (0.8 miles)
• Southern Baptist Convention (2 miles)
• Lutheran Church Holy Trinity (8.2 miles)
• General Conference Of Seventh-Day Adventists (8.4 miles)
• Adirondack Alliance Church (8.9 miles)
• Jay Baptist Church (13.2 miles)

Physicians

• Lake Placid Sports Medicine (0.2 miles)
• Placid Audiology (2 miles)
• Mountain Medical Services (2.5 miles)
• Medical Associates of Saranac Lake PC (8.4 miles)
• Surgical Eye Care (8.5 miles)
• Adirondack Eye Center (8.5 miles)
• Eye Care for the Adirondacks (8.5 miles)

Hospitals

• Adirondack Medical Center (0.2 miles)
• Lake Placid Health Center (0.2 miles)
• Adirondack Medical Center (9.7 miles)
• Elizabethtown Community Hospital (19.5 miles)

Cafes

• Adirondack Corner Store (0.5 miles)
• Farmhouse Cafe (1.1 miles)
• Coffee Bar (1.5 miles)
• Starbucks (1.6 miles)
• Origin Coffee (8.5 miles)
• Cedar Run Cafe and Bakery (9.3 miles)
• Old Mountain Coffee (11.1 miles)

Restaurants

• Salt of the Earth Bistro (0.5 miles)
• Liquids and Solids at the Handlebar (0.9 miles)
• Lisa G's (0.9 miles)
• Johnny's Pizza Restaurante (1 miles)
• Bowlwinkles (1.1 miles)
• Mr Mike's Pizza Restaurant (1.1 miles)
• Adk Greek Kitchen Lake Placid (1.1 miles)

Transportation

• Rent-A-Wreck (0.6 miles)
• Adirondack Scenic Railroad - Lake Placid Station (0.8 miles)
• Lake Placid Airport (LKP) (0.8 miles)
• Rent-A-Wreck (1 miles)
• Adirondack Scenic Railroad (8.6 miles)
• U-Haul Neighborhood Dealer (9.1 miles)

Parks

• Horse Show Grounds (0.9 miles)
• Mount Van Hoevenberg (4.4 miles)
• Riverside Park (8.4 miles)
• Berkley Square (8.5 miles)
• Ampersand Avenue Playground (9 miles)
• Adirondack Park Ampersand Mountain Trail-Off Road (12.7 miles)
• The Footbridge Park (19.3 miles)

Theaters

• Adirondack Theater (1.9 miles)

Pharmacies

• Walgreens (2.1 miles)
• Kinney Drugs (2.3 miles)
• Kinney Drugs (2.5 miles)
• Walgreens (8.6 miles)
• Kinney Drugs (9.1 miles)
• Kinney Drugs (19.6 miles)