The Hacienda at the River

Beautiful place incredible food!!!

Skilled Nursing Without Enough NursesThis review only covers the skilled nursing services at this facility in August 2019.Physically this is a beautiful place thats kept in good physical condition. It is part of the Watermark network of facilities, and that generally means good care and a pretty nice place appearance wise. We looked at other skilled-nursing facilities in the northwest of Tucson, but they seemed rundown and shabby, with a bit of a rough looking crowd of patients. My experience at The Hacienda is with my mother being there for 2.5 weeks in skilled nursing so she could receive physical/occupational/speech therapy 6 days/week after a hospital stay.There were not enough nurses in skilled nursing, and for extended periods of time. Those who were there were incredibly busy. They were too busy, in fact. Short staffed, I heard, repeatedly (which is aggravating). The care was good when the nurses were there, but getting them to my mother was hard and very frustrating, especially the first week. If you are considering having a loved one here, call and speak with senior management and ask what the actual ratio of nurses to patients in skilled nursing will be. Ask what it will actually be on the day that your loved one will arrive there, and the next day, and next. If its more than 10 patients to 1 nurse, then get ready for long waits for your loved one, or look elsewhere if more attentive skilled nursing care is needed. It took 2 hours to get a nurse one evening due to another patient being admitted and that taking 2 hours of the nurses time to do it. Normally it was 15 to 30 minutes to see a nurse. Management tells me theyre hiring more nurses, even ones specifically to do new admissions, so patients will have better care. Verify that this will happen or has happened, or expect quite long waits. I want to be clear that the problem is with a shortage of nurses, not the skill or work ethic of the nurses who are there (they worked hard and were always busy). Management simply needs to hire more nurses. This nurse shortage was a constant and aggravating problem, even up to the day of discharge.That being said, the nurses and care givers (called nayas) were very good when they were present to care for mom. A big thank you to nurses Jose (hes awesome!), Norma and Mary. Also, a huge thank you to Nayas Thanes, Jenna, Celese and D. Physical/occupation/speech therapists really shined here. They were the most consistently terrific service providers in our whole experience, and helped my mother quite a lot. Thank you to Kaliko, Jenn and Todd!In summary, they need to fix the nursing shortage. Call and speak with senior management to see if they have a 10 (or less) patient to 1 nurse ratio in skilled nursing on the schedule for when your loved one will be there. Beautiful surroundings aside, it is imperative that they fix that. When they do, The Hacienda at The River will be the top notch skilled-nursing facility in Tucson.

I spent a lovely hour touring this beautiful facility. What impressed me most, although I was impressed with many many things, was how integrated the staff and guests were. The support, respect and integrity was evident everywhere. When I entered the buildings I noticed how the natural daylight filled the areas and the energy was wonderful. The gardens were amazing and tranquil, with lovely and spacious seating. The equine program is amazing. The dining areas are spacious and very well appointed. Whoever designed this facility really put much thought into the layout. Kim was a fantastic hostess, taking us through the facility. All of the guests that I saw appeared happy, engaged and at home. No stone left unturned!!! I've always thought of assisted living (nursing homes) as dark and depressing but La Hacienda at the River is full of life, color and texture. Well done!!!!!

I read all of the reviews AFTER I had already arranged for my husband to be transferred there from Banner University Medical Center. I was scared to death that I made the wrong decision. I'm happy to say that I made the right decision My husband had excellent care from the very busy Nurses, CNA's, PT staff, and frankly everyone we came in contact with. We especially want to single out Jenna and Mark for their kindness, humor, and the respect they showed while having to do diaper changes, and other not so pleasant tasks. In addition, I will single out Jose the nurse. He was outstanding even though he was very busy. My only suggestion is that you add more nurses and CNA'S to take some of the pressure off of them.The skilled nursing facility was beautiful, clean, and comfortable. My husband had a single room, his own bathroom, a comfortable bed and a large screen TV to pass the time.I highly recommend Hacienda At The River skilled nursing facility.