Morningside at Menger Springs - Cibolo House

My mother moved into Morningside Ministries at Menger Springs. It's close to me, and had other levels of care we were looking for. The staff is fantastic, her room is very nice, and it's perfect. I would recommend it because the staff is attentive and nice, helpful, the meals are good, the rooms kept clean, and they have several activities you can participate in. They have movies, bingo, they transported them to early voting, and a daily exercise class.

Morningside at Menger Springs is beautiful. It's very upscale. Their main building has apartments, they're nice, I have seen them before, but I didn't see them when I went this time, and they have homes. I have a friend that's in assisted living, but they're under pandemic, and they can't have visitors inside. We looked at that and she's got a little living room, a bedroom in the back, she doesn't have a stove, but she has a refrigerator, and a microwave. We've eaten there before too, and their food is excellent. They've expanded it where they have assisted living, then they have memory care, then they have a full nursing home, besides the houses that you want to live in independently, and the apartments.

I am a family member and guardian for a resident in AL. My mother has lived at Menger Springs AL for over 4 years. During that time there have been many, many staff changes (management, nursing, ancillary nursing staff, house keeping, dietary, activities personnel). The many staffing changes and continual adjustment of residents to new faces, including the use of agency LVNs, is confusing to the elderly population. There have also been errors in the administration of nursing care, including medication errors, residents not receiving baths on schedule, rooms not thoroughly cleaned, trash not emptied, and documentation errors in the resident nursing/medical record (now mostly electronic). All of these things are contracted services with Morning Side Ministries, and are paid for as "rent" when a resident agrees to live at Menger Springs. A written Nursing Assessment Care Plan is design by nursing staff and kept on file, but I have found that this is not consistently adhered to by staff. The nursing care of the resident suffers, and so does the resident. Texas has less requirements and regulations for Assisted Living than some other states, and as a result these AL facilities all have a wide margin of error where your loved one is concerned, and contracted care (paid for services) is hard to enforce. I was informed of that by the estate lawyers who deal with thousands of guardianship cases in Travis County, TX. As a result, family members, guardians, and the resident themselves (if able), need to be vigilant in order to receive the care they have agreed to and paid for. Menger Springs AL provides a room in which to reside, food at mealtime (quality is also 3 stars), some activities (more for Memory Support than AL), light housekeeping (not thorough or consistent), and for the most part acceptable medication delivery. The highest level nursing care is delivered by LVNs (12 month training). Nurse aides (Certified Nurse Assistants, or CNAs) assist with trash pick up and bathing (inconsistent). The resident must be mobile, have no bandages or wounds to dress, no braces to fit (by nursing care), feed themselves (including cut their own food with utensils), be able to dress themselves,...basically minimal assistance. Do not be deceived! These are the facts. I am a physician. My observations and comments are based on a wide variety of professional experience in both the military and civilian practice, and is several different parts of the country. Texas fall behind other states in this type of care due to fewer regulations, However, Menger Springs could and should be better based on their advertising, cost of housing/food, and mission statements. My mother resides at this facility for now, as moving the elderly, especially with dementia or chronic medical issues, is not an easy or clear cut decision. Best wishes in your search for an appropriate AL facility to match your needs.

Morningside Ministries at Menger Springs (Cibolo House Assisted Living Community) was pleasant. It's a very lovely community. We had lunch there and the tour was very brief but still pleasant. I really did like the place, but it was much too expensive for us. We looked at apartments in the main building and there were some outbuildings also. They have light hallways, they're attractively decorated, and the apartments were very nice. The dining room was pleasant and the dining room staff was very helpful. There were many activities that they offered, and initially we thought that was already our place until we found out we wouldn't be able to afford it.

Morningside was very good, but it's a little more expensive. I got a very good impression of the staff. The memory care section is very small, and I thought it was a little too close. They have an open area, but it's limited. It's closer to us than other facilities, and it was referred to us.