Fox Knoll Village Assisted Living and Memory Care Being Passed Around Like An Orphan

Fox Knoll Village Assisted Living and Memory care located in the historical site once known to many as St. Joseph’s Hospital has been passed around like an orphaned child.

Some of them birthed their own children there, worked in the Aurora community and were former neighbors. “Oh you are the daughter of so and so . . . and I grew up with your grandchild . . . ” were just a couple phrases I’d heard tell among resident, staff and visitors. Reminiscing of first job opportunities working at St. Joseph’s Hospital with the nuns, the museum like atrium and chapel with stained glass windows always wowed me and felt so nostalgic. These people are retired, widowed with empty nests having lived full lives and given up their own homes probably with the thought “finally we found our new final home”. A cozy historical and familiar place nestled conveniently near family and friends with staff who had been around for years that the bond was almost like extended family. Now they must uproot and separate once again. Imagine the emotional challenges and mental confusions at that stage of life. This is why the most recent events have hurt so deeply.

Prime Health purchased the facility from Ascension earlier this year but in less than 10 months ownership is changing yet again and without warning. Just to show the disrespect without notice all the computers and telephones were dismantled leaving most staff without email access. There was no written communication to family caretakers. Everything has been word of mouth. Nobody knows what’s happening. All we were told came through the grapevine back in August and that was that residents had 60 days to vacate the premises with an option to go to another facility in Downers Grove that had beds. There was some partnership deal with the new overseer, it seems. Word on the street was that the facility was going to undergo serious renovations and reopen in 10 months. No jobs would be loss. Of course they assured everyone’s return to a prettier and better functioning facility next year. Yeah, right! The “telephone game” provided a different message. It was discovered that Fox Knoll Village Assisted Living and Memory Care will not reopen as such. And the 60 days turned into 30 days as the new overseer and cohorts pressured residents to be out in early September. No written documentation to staff or resident family members. Still all word of mouth. It left people in a twilight zone state of mind scrambling to understand what has happened. The atmosphere was filled with anxiety and uncertainty. It was so very UNprofessional, neglectful and damn near abusive how Prime allowed this and it’s new partners to treat dedicated staff and residents.
Healthcare arena is the one place if no other where the expectation for compassion, empathy and decency is the highest but they’ve let us down. Fox Knoll Village has been shuffled around like a foster child or worst, an elderly person in a selfish and disrespectful society.