Community Care in Laramie, WY

Pros

• The Cottonwood staff are amazing, prompt, and attentive, making residents feel safe.
• Cottonwood Health provides care, love, and respect, with families kept informed about their loved ones' condition.
• The environment at Cottonwood is friendly, safe, and clean, with staff who go the extra mile for residents.
• The staff at Laramie Care Center are wonderful, kind, empathetic, and caring, and they answer questions without making families feel like interruptions.
• The activity staff at Laramie Care Center provide a constant variety of activities for residents, including exercise, crafts, and church study.
• Reviewers appreciate the facility's open communication and regular updates on health status and COVID-19.
• Some reviewers describe Laramie Care Center as a "little slice of heaven" where residents are treated with dignity and respect.

Cons

• The facility is utterly awful, with no follow-up after complaints.
• It is described as a dreadful place - loss of patient property, extreme understaffing, dreadful food, and medications arriving late.
• The facility needs to be shut down because it does not care for its residents.
• Laramie Care Center is an old building that smells and looks outdated and in desperate need of an update.
• Care is poor, with residents sitting in urine, ants in rooms, and patients not being fed when unable to feed themselves.
• Staff are disrespectful and rude to families.
• The administrator lacks compassion and spends time gossiping rather than helping.
• Visiting policies were misrepresented, with families told visits were allowed when they were not.

Review

Community Care in Laramie is best suited for families that prioritize personal, relationship-driven care and transparent, frequent communication with staff. This facility can deliver a warm, attentive bedside experience from caregivers who know residents by name and can provide hands-on assistance with daily activities. It works well for residents who thrive on regular social programs, structured routines, and visible staff involvement in everyday life. For families, the strongest signal is that when the team is at its best, there is genuine warmth, steadiness, and a sense that a loved one is being treated with respect and dignity.

Those weighing alternatives should pay particular attention to two thresholds: staffing reliability and the physical upkeep of the building. If consistent staffing levels, timely medication delivery, strict hygiene, and a modern, well-maintained environment are non-negotiables, this community may fall short. Several reviews flag understaffing, late meals or medications, and odor or cleanliness concerns, as well as management lapses. For families where these areas carry significant risk - especially when a loved one requires close monitoring, reliable hydration, or frequent incidental care - shopping other options may yield a safer, more predictable experience.

On the upside, the strongest pros center on the human side of care. Staff members are repeatedly described as kind, empathetic, and willing to go the extra mile, with many residents and families feeling especially supported by nursing and activity teams. The facility is often portrayed as safe and clean when comparisons are made with the worst scenarios in the reviews. Activity programming - exercises, crafts, and social gatherings - helps keep residents engaged, and several families cite consistent, direct communication about health and daily life. When the staff are engaged, residents appear well cared for and connected to their routines and social life.

Yet the cons recur with notable clarity and should not be underestimated. Understaffing emerges as a dominant concern, contributing to delayed care, missed messages to families, and a sense that basic needs are not being consistently met. Reviewers report issues with food quality, timely hydration, and hygiene, including incidents of residents being left in soiled conditions or not receiving regular room care. Property losses and inconsistent follow-up on concerns also appear in multiple accounts, while some families describe administrative leadership as dismissive or slow to respond. The building itself is described by several reviewers as outdated or aging, with odor or cleanliness issues that undermine comfort and trust.

In weighing the pros against the main cons, the decision becomes highly dependent on what a family can tolerate and what they value most. The positive, relationship-first care can offset a surprising amount of fragility when staffed by a steady, responsive team that keeps families in the loop via calls and posted updates. However, when the shortcomings - especially staffing gaps, hygiene lapses, and medication delays - are persistent, those same pros fail to fully offset the risk to a resident's safety and daily well-being. Families must decide whether the warmth and communication can be relied upon consistently week after week.

Practical next steps are essential. Visit the Laramie location at multiple times and observe staffing levels, meal service timing, and how aides interact with residents and families. Ask for a frank discussion about nurse-to-resident ratios, response times to call lights, and the process for handling changes in a resident's condition. Review recent state inspection reports and talk to current families about their experiences over several weeks. Compare the building's condition, cleanliness, and amenities to nearby options, including those with newer facilities. If the priority is a highly engaged, communicative team and you can tolerate the facility's aging space and occasional process gaps, this community can be a viable choice. If reliability, pristine upkeep, and consistently prompt care are non-negotiables, it may be wiser to look elsewhere.

This part of Laramie, Wyoming, offers a convenient and diverse array of amenities for seniors. With several hospitals nearby, including the highly rated Meredith And Jeannie Ray Cancer Center and Ivinson Memorial Hospital, residents have access to quality healthcare facilities. Additionally, there are numerous places of worship for spiritual fulfillment, a variety of restaurants for dining out options, beautiful parks for leisurely strolls, and theaters for entertainment. For medical needs, there are several physicians and pharmacies in the vicinity providing essential services. Lastly, cafes such as Book & Bean and Turtle Rock Coffee offer cozy spaces for socializing with friends or enjoying a cup of coffee. Overall, this area provides a balanced mix of convenience and recreation for senior living.

Hospitals

• Five Stars (0 miles)
• Meredith And Jeannie Ray Cancer Center (0.9 miles)
• Ivinson Memorial Hospital (0.9 miles)
• Albany County Hospital District (0.9 miles)
• Urgent Care (1 miles)

Places of Worship

• Zion Lutheran Church (0.1 miles)
• Church of Christ (0.1 miles)
• University Catholic Community (0.1 miles)
• Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (0.5 miles)
• United Presbyterian Church (0.6 miles)
• Emmanuel Apostolic Temple (0.6 miles)
• Laramie Reformed Presbyterian (0.7 miles)

Restaurants

• Omg (0.1 miles)
• Niko Sushi & Steak (0.1 miles)
• Black Kilt (0.2 miles)
• O'Dwyers Public House (0.2 miles)
• Taco John's (0.3 miles)
• Taco Bell (0.3 miles)
• Arby's (0.4 miles)

Parks

• Washington Park (0.2 miles)
• Fraternity Mall (0.3 miles)
• LaPrele Park (0.5 miles)
• Optimist Park (0.6 miles)
• Harbon Park (0.8 miles)
• Optimist Park Dog Park (1.7 miles)

Theaters

• Regal Fox Theater (0.2 miles)
• Studio City Uw Plaza - Arq (0.6 miles)

Physicians

• Laramie Reproductive Health (0.3 miles)
• University-Wy Hearing & Speech (0.6 miles)
• Laramie Valley Medical (0.7 miles)
• Snowy Range Vision Center (0.8 miles)
• Behavioral Health Service (0.8 miles)
• Meadowlark Pediatrics (0.9 miles)
• Stone Meadow Health and Wellness (0.9 miles)

Cafes

• Book & Bean (0.4 miles)
• Java Java Espresso (0.4 miles)
• Coal Creek Coffee Uptown (0.5 miles)
• Turtle Rock Coffee (0.8 miles)
• The Rising Cafe (0.8 miles)
• Turtle Rock Coffee (0.8 miles)
• Starbucks (0.9 miles)

Transportation

• Laramie Taxidermy (0.5 miles)
• Alamo (1.1 miles)
• U-Haul Neighborhood Dealer (1.7 miles)

Pharmacies

• Quality IV Care (0.9 miles)
• Pole Mountain Pharmacy (1.3 miles)
• Safeway Pharmacy (1.3 miles)