Good Samaritan Society - Prairie Creek

My parent has lived at The Lodge at Prairie Creek for several years now. It is a beautiful facility with spacious apartments in a variety of floorplans. Appliances and finishes are similar to an upscale apartment community but are not high-end/luxury level (formica not granite; Kenmore not Bosch). Amenities include underground, heated parking ($50/space extra), indoor pool/spa, library, game room, movie theater, activity room, and a well-equipped gym. There are a variety of community activities such as exercise classes, bingo, ice cream socials, game nights, and excursions using facility vans. Residents also organize their own activities.There are two meal plans to choose from but daily menus are limited. Food quality is varied depending on current cook and administrator. While some meals are nutritionally balanced, others are not (e.g. hot dog, potato chips, pickle spear with pie). Vegetables, other than carrot sticks, come from cans as does much of the fruit. Salad bar is mainly iceberg lettuce and toppings but can include spinach and other greens. There is always Jello. Deserts and ice cream are abundant. In short, it's a difficult place to dine if your health requires a low-salt, low-cholesterol, or low-sugar diet. While the facility is always updating, in-unit maintenance is inconsistant due to high turnover and inexperienced staff. There is also high turnover among managerial, cleaning, fitness and food service staff. Expect rent to increase annually. Overall, The Lodge is a friendly, comfortable place to live with few stressors. Additional dollars spent on a wider variety of quality, nutritional food and better pay for the best performing staff would make this a 5-star facility.UPDATE: Recently read that The Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society has entered into a 'partnership' with the corporate entity that owns Sanford Medical Center (i.e., T. Denny Sanford). The stated goal is to integrate care and services between these two very large entities (each employs over 20,000). Good Samaritan will be adding the name 'Sanford' to their name (no surprise). There will be no name change for the Sanford organization. Thus, it seems like Good Samaritan is becoming a subsidiary of the Sanford global health and research conglomerate. As of 10/10/2018 no changes in services, fees, or rents at Good Samaritan facilities have been announced. IF YOU ARE CONSIDERING LIVING at THE LODGE, or any other Good Samaritan Society property, you may want to ask what changes are expected as a result of this merging.