The Lantern at Morning Pointe Alzheimer's Center of Excellence, Spring Hill

The staff at The Lantern have proven to be exceptional individuals. My relative had an urgent situation and staff at The Lantern moved at breakneck speed to assist the family in moving her from Morning Pointe of Spring Hill to The Lantern. She has now been a resident of The Lantern for about 10 days and seems to be treated as family. In visiting the facility in preperation for the move, the move process, and visiting since the move in day I have been able to observe staff as they interacted with the residents, always in a calm and caring manner. The building is clean, bright, and cheerful with spacious rooms. I would like to extend a special THANK YOU to the directors for their patience in helping us as we transition this family member to a totally new environment. They walk us through all of our 'oh, and..., can we, do we....' questions and answer very quickly. I feel comfortable with the transition. I would like to extend specific thanks to both Christy Johnson, the Community Relations Dirextor, and Heather Bernard, the Director of Nursing. Christy was a phone call or text away and usually answered immediately. She never appeared to be rushed or bothered and was able to meet with the family mid-day Wednesday and was available on Friday as we moved in furniture and set up the apartment. She stayed well beyond normal business hours to make it happen. Heather, oh my, rumor has it that she may have come in during her vacation to take care of the medical assessments and other behind the scenes 'nursing work' to smooth out any hiccups with transferring medications from Morning Pointe to the Lantern. Although we haven't personally met, Margie Fay, the Business Office Director, worked with us to complete paperwork as my family member made the transition. She was very understanding of the suddenness of the move and was patient as we had delays in doing our part. I can honestly say I have jot met a single unfriendly staff at The Lantern or Morning Pointe. These individuals seem to do their jobs because the truly care about their residents and not just the paycheck. As i have been thinking about what I wanted to say about these individuals 2 things come to mind ... happy and service oriented (servant hearts)

After caring for my Dad in my home, it came time to make the difficult decision to move him to Memory Care. I toured every option in the area and chose The Lantern at Morning Pointe. I'm SO thankful I did. My Dad has been at The Lantern for six weeks and is thriving. What a life changing relief to not have to stress and worry about his care and happiness. The staff are Lantern employees and not agency, meaning I know each of them by name and always know that the person taking care of my Dad has a heart for the residents. That is not the case at most Memory Cares, so always ask that question first! My Dad loves all the staff and thinks of them as his friends. : ) A special shout out to RA's Megan and Jada and Nurse Denise. Their obvious love for my Father is such a blessing! The building is beautiful and designed especially for Alzheimer's patients. So much thought and care has been put into every detail. His room is big and bright with room for a living room area and his bedroom set. When I first moved him I told him this was his new apartment at a great apartment complex. He never questioned that, and I can tell he is enjoying more independence than he had at my house. I visit every other day and often at meal time. I am very pleased with the meals and snacks served. They are very well fed. They accommodate for all residents with special needs in diet and abilities. And the activities....so many activities! My Dad is on the younger side of the residents at 72 and is very physically able. I was worried he wouldn't enjoy the activities. Boy, was I wrong. The amazing Activities Director makes sure there are fun and engaging options for all levels of physical and mental ability going all day long. I love when I can visit during the day to engage and watch all the fun my Dad and the other residents are having. Another thing I like is that there are a lot of male residents at The Lantern. That wasn't the case at the other Memory Cares I toured and it's important for my Dad to make male friends and have activities planned for men. I also love that I can visit my Dad whenever I want with no restrictions. I also take him to the Farmer's Market on Saturdays and church on Sundays. It's so wonderful and he is always happy to "go home" to The Lantern. As we all know, every place will have issues here and there. I can tell you the leadership and staff is always there to help and fix or look into anything you need. I know this is one of the hardest decisions you will ever make, but as someone who is living through it I can tell you that The Lantern is such a blessing for me and my Dad. He is safe, loved and cared for 24-hours a day and I can enjoy our special father/daughter relationship without the overwhelming stress of being his caregiver.

When I made the difficult decision to move my husband from another memory care community to The Lantern in Spring Hill a little over a year ago, I made the move because I was impressed with the breadth of the activities for the residents, the 24-hour nursing staff, the fact that The Lantern has its own kitchen rather than sharing with the assisted living residents, and the real caring that all the staff members seemed to exhibit to the residents. A bonus is that The Lantern is located on beautiful park-like grounds. I had visited four times prior to making my decision and three of those times I popped in without letting anyone know I was arriving. Every time I visited, I was impressed with the consistency and care with which the residents were treated. Now, after over a year, I am completely satisfied that I made the right choice. Although The Lantern isn’t perfect, anything that needs to be addressed is taken care of quickly, and it is obvious to me that the goal actually is perfection. From the Executive Director of the facility to the wonderful staff in every area (Nursing, Activities, Dining Hall, Reception Desk and all other support areas, etc.) we have been treated with caring, compassion, professionalism, and competence. Although I had high hopes when I moved my husband, I didn’t expect that The Lantern would also become a true community of friendship and caring. The staff and residents have become a wonderful family for my husband and me.

The staff is wonderful! Christy is precious and couldn’t have been more helpful in finding a place for my father and helping us get settled. I highly recommend The Lantern.

I can’t say enough good things about the Lantern at Morning Pointe. Suzanne greeted me with a warm smile the first time I walked in the door. She worked tirelessly sharing information about the wonderful facility and the employees she works with. She is a definite asset to this company and the residents in the Community. In this difficult time in my mom’s life, I knew this was going to be a good fit. We spent several weeks searching for a place, none of the ones we looked at felt as good as the Lantern. Lori and Heather were fantastic about physical needs and what we could expect from them. The aides and staff attending mom are absolutely the best! Every single time I visit there are smiles! Mom hasn’t had a lot of time to adjust yet, but I have total peace that she will be fine. Thank you Suzanne, Heather, and Lori, and Lantern Staff , you all are the best! Sheila Stone

The lantern at Morning Pointe in Spring Hill continues to provide compassionate care for the aging population with Neurodegenerative cognitive diseases in the Middle TN area. Lauri Yokley, the Executive Director provides consistent leadership and education that empowers the staff to provide differentiated caregiving, meeting the needs of all residents at their personal and most highest level of dignity. The employees truly love the residents and demonstrate it daily.

You WILL NOT be disappointed! They deserve 10 ⭐️s! The Lantern is now like family! Welcomed my mom with open arms! She is thriving once again! A very caring and loving staff. My only wish was that I had found them sooner!

Wow, I was pleasantly surprised by this facility. Having visited so many different facilities, my experience has been that, at best, most facilities are trying to make it through various difficulties due to several reasons. This is the first facility in a very long time that I can say is truly 5 stars 🌟 . While most facilities attempt to appear as if they have all departments performing at their best and working well together, this one has exceeded expectations and the interactions are true. The Residents here are happy and well taken care of, and the staff too. Remarkable.

We relocated my Father-in-law from another Memory Care facility last week into The Lantern at Morning Pointe of Spring Hill. I am a retired hospital administrator, in other words, I speak the language. My areas of expertise specifically are compliance with Joint Accreditation. We carefully and thoroughly interviewed, researched Morning Pointe and its' management team and met five times with the Community Relations Director Alicia Buday, who was wonderful! As different siblings would come into TN we would have them meet with Alicia so that she could offer her perspective of the facility and services offered. This process began before the new facility, The Lantern, began construction. She was patient, the consummate professional. It is important to have your point person be informative, knowledgeable about memory disorders and elder services. Professionally speaking, she is top notch. Kristin Rosario, the Lantern Director, again is hands on, progressive and professional. She promotes personalized care with dignity recognizing life experiences and roles to incorporate these into every resident's daily activities and experiences. The apartments themselves are warm and inviting - far from the institutional rooms we were accustomed to. The facility itself is inviting, state of the art, promotes cognitive stimulation in every turn. They have a "downtown" walkway with store fronts, screened in porches, beautiful out door greenscapes and gardens all within the safety and security of a modern memory care facility. The little things - motion activated lighting in the bathrooms in every room, recessed wall lighting in the rooms to illuminate foot paths - Norman Rockwell prints on the walls to promote nostalgia. You feel as if you are in a community rather than a unit as we had experienced before. By having a separate music area, game room, man-cave, dining room, they optimize cognitive stimulation with every opportunity! Tanya Osborne the DON is another professional who took a thorough look at my father-in-law's medical record and restructured the administration of his meds to promote an increased level of energy to help optimize his "day time", as he was having trouble sleeping at night! Jim Hagaman, the Facilities Manager, retired Air Force, is meticulous, always has the resident's safety and wellness in mind and personally interacts with the residents every day!!! Jessica Tindol the Program Director engages the residents in daily activities and promotes a monthly one-on-one to continue to develop individual participation. So far my father-in-law has enjoyed daily activities which we believe has supported his transition into this new facility. The meals are created by a dietitian and made to order eggs/breakfast every morning are a welcome return to a non-industrial lifestyle. Life is difficult when you "parent the parent"! We have found a "home" for my father-in-law to help support his medical and memory care issues and for the first time in 5 years can feel a sense of relief that he is again "home". For those of you that are also "parenting your parent", it is without hesitation that I highly recommend The Lantern and the Staff.