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Reviews for Ponderosa Retirement Center

Once Excellent, Recently Troubled

Ponderosa shows a clear split between long-term satisfaction and recent serious decline. Until mid-2017, residents and families consistently praised caring staff, excellent food quality (especially after a new chef arrived), and robust activities, making it feel like home. However, multiple reviews from 2018-2020 report a sharp deterioration following leadership changes: poor communication, neglectful care, broken confidentiality, difficult transitions, and lack of family support during end-of-life situations. Earlier reviews cite older building conditions and unexplained price increases as concerns.

4.0Based on 19 reviews
JerryJuly 14, 2025

I moved to Ponderosa Assisted Living Community. I'm in their assisted living, and what I like best is the people. The caregivers are pretty nice. The size of the room is pretty fair. You don't have all that much room in there. That's just for a one-room apartment, though. If you have a bedroom, then you can keep more stuff, I guess. The cleanliness is pretty good. They're just having problems right now with their air conditioning, so the room's getting a little warm. The

ThomasSeptember 27, 2024

My parents moved to the Ponderosa Assisted Living Community. They had great staff. I value the staff there and the way they treat my folks. The best feature I noticed there I guess would be accessibility. It's an older place, but it's in good upkeep. They have a variety of activities. They bring in a musician to sing and they have different things like Wii systems. They go shopping and they have a church service.

MerrilouMay 4, 2020

My parents received excellent care for 9.5 years. When my Dad passed away, the caring staff was so supportive of my Mom and my family. For the last 6 months, the administration has changed and the service has been very poor. The communication with the family, the lack of support as my Mom was passing away, the lack of caring as she did pass was so very sad for the family. We had been big supporters of the Ponderosa but now am recommending that no one use their services.

Brian SorensonOctober 10, 2019

No review provided, only rating

kendra growJuly 24, 2019

No review provided, only rating

cassie leeJuly 15, 2019

No review provided, only rating

AnonymousJanuary 28, 2019

I would recommend Ponderosa to anyone. The residents and staff here are great. It is the second best next to being in my own home. The move in process was easy; everyone was nice, pleasant, and helpful throughout. Being at the Ponderosa makes me feel like I am at home and I am very happy to be here. Ponderosa has a great menu! It changes each month but there is always familiar food. The kitchen staff does a great job and are always willing to adjust any meal to a personal preference.

AnonymousJanuary 28, 2019

My husband and I were first looking at assisted living because he needed more care with his increasing health problems. We found the Ponderosa and quickly made the move. The Ponderosa has a good menu, with a variety of options. I enjoy the activities but my favorite would be knitting because we get to sit and visit with each other. I love that I can have my dog here, since it has been hard since my husband passed away.

AnonymousJanuary 25, 2019

Before I was looking for assisted living, I visited the Ponderosa with a friend. When I came for a visit, I saw how well the staff took care of her friend and how friendly everyone was. Since making the move to Ponderosa, I can confidently say the care is great and everyone is very friendly. Ponderosa also has a great menu with a nice variety. I really love that the menu changes monthly. The kitchen is able to fix meals so that there is something for everyone.

AnonymousJanuary 25, 2019

When looking for a new place to live, I was really drawn to Ponderosa. I heard great things about it. My move in process was really fast and was made easy for me. I would recommend Ponderosa to anyone; everyone is happy here and the staff is really great. I love our menu here. It has the best food and that is saying something because I am a picky eater! Being active was one of the main reasons to moving and Ponderosa does not disappoint. My favorite is jewelry making and manicures!

CowboyJackJanuary 15, 2019

I would recommend Ponderosa to anyone. The residents and staff here are great. It is the second best next to being in my own home. The move in process was easy; everyone was nice, pleasant, and helpful throughout. Being at the Ponderosa makes me feel like I am at home and I am very happy to be here. Ponderosa has a great menu! It changes each month but there is always familiar food. The kitchen staff does a great job and are always willing to adjust any meal to a personal preference.

Jeffrey HinesAugust 29, 2018

We moved a family member into there wonderful facility. The staff from top to bottom care about there residents and it shows. Top notch cafeteria with excellent variety and good food. Thank you guys for caring and helping with our family through this transition. 11/10...5 stars...top notch!!!

Janet June 7, 2018

Care staff was very rude and neglectful. My loved ones apartment always was filthy. I do not feel this is a safe place for seniors.

Mr BrentApril 9, 2018

I am always blown away with the quality of care that the staff of Ponderosa provides for my dear friend who has lived there for several years now. They are always keeping busy with a wide Variety of activities and outings and have lots of great events going on all the time. They recently got a new chef who has changed the hole dynamics of the dinning experience at Ponderosa! It's like going to a fine restaurant. I'm not kidding, the food is amazing! I enjoy eating there with my frien

Karen LeeApril 9, 2018

The person who commented on this website before me about the Ponderosa Assisted Living Facility, namely on January 9, 2018, provides a highly false picture of the facility. This person must likely be a previous disgruntled employee writing scathing negative comments about Ponderosa's care and services that are not true and giving it only One Star. I give The Ponderosa Five Stars! My father has been cared for at the Ponderosa for many years and is most happy there giving the facility an A for it

MerrilouJanuary 11, 2018

After 9.5 years of excellent service for my parents, it is sad to say that for the last 6 months the service, friendliness, and value has been horrible. I would not recommend anyone have a family member at this facility until there is significant changes.

MerrilouJanuary 9, 2018

My parents lived at the Ponderosa for 10 years. My father passed away while living at the Ponderosa. The caring staff were amazing through that difficult time with both my Mom and my family. Up until the last 6 months, we (as a family) have been pleased with the care that Mom received. There was a significant director change recently along with other major position changes that coincided with my Mother’s health deminishing. The new director has never contacted us as a family (after seven re

SonOctober 24, 2013

My mom was there and their care was really good but the building was older. The cleanliness might not have been as good because the building was older. A month after we moved her in they raised the prices and they never told us that that was going to happen. Less than a year later they raised them again and then they raised them a third time and so we had to move her. The main reason we moved was financial.

rocky1June 22, 2012

Every time I visit the Ponderosa, I am impressed. The facility is clean, organized, and in good working order. The staff is always friendly and helpful and eager to help in any way they can. They are also prompt when dealing with emergency situations such as medical emergencies. Multiple times my family has received immediate notification from them when our grandmother was taken to the hospital.Their food is also pretty good. While not on par with a gourmet restaurant, if is high quality food ma

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