Frequently Asked Questions

Assisted living at Oak Terrace Senior Living means providing residents with the perfect balance of independence and supportive care. Licensed by the Minnesota Department of Health, our assisted living communities meet high standards for physical facilities and personalized care. Residents can age in place, receiving increased assistance as their needs grow, all within a warm, home-like environment.

Memory care services at Oak Terrace are specifically designed for residents with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. Placement in memory care is determined case-by-case, based on the resident’s ability to communicate, safety in community areas, and the need for increased supervision and specialized activities. Our goal is to provide the least restrictive environment possible while ensuring safety and quality of life.

The main questions we ask when deciding the most appropriate placement include:

Can they communicate their needs?

Are they able to use a call pendant to summon assistance?

Are they appropriate around other residents and in community areas?

Would they benefit from higher staffing ratios, a smaller environment and specialized activities/services?

The difference between assisted living and a nursing home are both large and small. Both can provide quality care to residents. Nursing homes specialize in short-term rehab after a surgery or a medical event that can often provide care to those needing significant interventions. Assisted living communities also provide a high level of care but do so in a home like environment, which emphasized the quality of life and resident choice. In many cases, after an emergency or a surgery an individual will go to a nursing home for short term rehab and then find home in an assisted living once they have regained their strength.

Oak Terrace Senior Living Communities highly encourage individuals not to wait until an emergency happens before they look into an assisted living community. Transitions to an assisted living are best when there is plenty of time to plan the move and when an individual is able to become acquainted with the community.

Oak Terrace Senior Living can accept residents on short notice. The first thing to do is call us and start providing us information and take a tour of our building. There are regulatory steps that Oak Terrace is required to do before we admit a resident. These include reviewing medical records, obtaining physician orders for admission, completing a comprehensive nursing assessment and signing some paperwork. Oak Terrace rooms are furnished by the resident and arrangements need to be made to move in furniture and incidentals.

In almost all cases residents are able to stay at an Oak Terrace Senior Living Community as they require more assistance. Individuals that require memory care assistance may need to be moved into our memory care community if warranted. We are able to continue to provide care for residents who need two-person transfers, mechanical lifts as well as a long list of other circumstances. Oak Terrace works with hospice companies if the need arises and continues to care for residents through the end of life. Although Oak Terrace offers a high level of care, we are not able to support feeding tubes, ventilators, complex wound care, bariatric lifts and other complex medical needs that require ongoing treatment by a licensed nurse.

Cost varies depending on the size of the room and care services needed. There is no a la carte charges. Oak Terrace Senior Living has a simple price structure and we are transparent in communicating what the cost will be. Monthly costs are set and do not change without communication. We are able to give price estimates for individuals inquiring.

Oak Terrace has availability for individuals who are on Medicaid, Cadi or Elderly Waiver program. Oak Terrace Senior Living collects basic information upon admission to determine how long a resident will be able to pay privately. Before the individual is admitted as a resident, Oak Terrace will preapprove the resident to remain at Oak Terrace in the future. Individuals who are on financial assistance may need to move to a qualifying room upon acceptance to the Elderly Waiver/Cadi Program.

Residents at Oak Terrace Senior Living Communities keep the rights they had in their own homes and can assert additional rights as outlined in the Minnesota Assisted living bill of rights. Residents in our assisted living community live in private rooms, have the right to privacy and the right to determine their own healthcare.

It is a common occurrence to hear that relationships between a new resident and a previous caregiver improve because the time they spend together at Oak Terrace is quality time they spend together doing things they love to do. Oak Terrace Senior Living Communties will provide direct care to residents, it is the families responsibility to do those things that only families can do.