Meadowbrook at Appleton

December 2025

Kris Parker

My mom was recently a resident there for 4 months. I felt that most of the staff was caring and friendly, there were a few exceptions on a couple of people otherwise I was very happy with the care they gave her. There could have been better communication but overall I was happy with the care there.

September 2025

Fred Morrison

My time at Meadowbrook Appleton as a temporary resident was nothing short of HORRIBLE. This place seriously needs to be shut down! Do not believe the 5-star reviews; they are from employees. I HIGHLY urge you to seek out a different facility. I was sent here from a hospital for surgery recovery, so unfortunately I didn't get a choice on where I went. If I ever have another injury, I highly doubt I'll go to a hospital for fear they'd send me here again! The staff did not care about their jobs or the residents AT ALL. Their laundry team managed to ruin all of my clothes - everything came back with huge bleach stains and/or large holes in it. Upon check-in, I was told they wouldn't have a walker or wheelchair ready for me for at least 1-2 days. That was completely unacceptable, as I couldn't stand or walk without them. No one ever came in to see if I needed help unpacking either. Their discharge process was just as bad. Despite asking for help, no one would help me pack. I also found it odd that no final evaluation was done - not from Wound Care, not from PT and OT, not to see if I could adequately walk. The majority of the staff was very rude. It is very clear most of them work here because residents of a nursing home are often easy to manipulate. It was made clear that someone like me - competent and knew what they were saying - would not be tolerated. Any time I asked questions, I got yelled at or talked down to like I was 5 years old and didn't know what I was saying. Questions never got answered; staff always said "I don't know" or "I'll get back to you," and they never followed up. Expect to wait up to 1 hour for your call light to be answered. The facility didn't know how to schedule; some nights 1 CNA on duty, other nights 5 CNAs. Sometimes it was a wait simply because the CNAs were on their phones ignoring call lights. On a daily basis residents fell because call lights weren't answered so they'd try standing up/walking on their own. Once the call light was answered, most of the time the CNA or RN never returned with the item requested and you would have to call again. Some of the CNAs would say things like "I can't get that for you right now, put your call light on again in 20 minutes." Um, no. I just waited 1 hour for you to answer, I'm not going to wait another 20 minutes plus another hour. Some of the CNAs were so lazy that they would just say they were out of the item you wanted, simply because they didn't want to go get it. I got SO sick of having to constantly ask for things because no one did their job correctly. I should not have had to ask for an item more than once, constantly remind them I needed an item, etc. It was nothing but excuses of "well, I forgot you needed that." Then write it down if you can't remember! Speaking of useless staff, their PT and OT did absolutely nothing of use. All they had me do were arm stretches, when the injury was in my leg. The OT lady was also a bully. There were times when I was very sick and she would threaten me; she would say if I didn't come to therapy that she was going to put in a recommendation to the facility that I get kicked out. Also, the facility's wound care team should be ashamed of themselves. They stopped seeing me after a few days, despite having a huge open wound remaining. They also removed the Wound Vac when the wound was still massive; leading to the wound not healing correctly. This caused swelling, excruciating pain, and left me unable to walk. Then the regular RNs stopped doing wound dressing changes a few days after the Wound Vac was removed, so I had to do the wound dressing changes myself. I'm not sure how they could discharge someone who couldn't walk, but that's exactly what they did to me. Honestly there was zero point in me being at this facility; it actually made things much worse. Because now I'm left with an injury that'll likely never heal, and I'm not sure I'll ever walk properly again. Meetings with the care team were a mess: they would forget to tell me about them, they would tell me the wrong day/time, or the care team wouldn't show up. Sometimes they'd admit they had a meeting behind my back and refuse to tell me details. Any meetings about me and my care, I should have been involved in. Totally unacceptable behavior to discuss someone's care and not involve them or fill them in. My next issue was with the nurses. It's honestly hard to believe they were even certified. They touched open wounds, did wound dressing changes, and did blood draws with no gloves on. Staff was also supposed to enter my room wearing a mask, gloves, and gown, but they never put those things on. Medications were also distributed at random times, so if you need them on a schedule or with food, don't expect that to happen. There were also several times I never got my daily medications at all; and many times when I received the wrong dose. If I asked for my medications or the correct dose, I was told I already received them, when I definitely had not. If you asked for an "as needed" medication (such as a pain pill), they took hours to bring it to you. Not to mention a few times I got someone else's medications entirely, which could have been very dangerous if I had taken them. They would also discontinue medications without telling me. I'd ask for the medication and hear "well, you didn't take that 'as-needed' med for a few days, so we took if off your account and you can no longer have it." I was speechless; I still needed those medications, just not all the time. They also put me on a bunch of medications I didn't need to be on. When I raised concern over unnecessary medications, the nurses just said "thanks for letting us know" and still expected me to take them. It also seems the facility didn't follow HIPPA; my health information was given to the facility receptionist (there's no reason she'd need this info), to the transportation company (the driver knew personal details about the doctor appointment he was driving me to), and to a disability organization. All information was given out without my knowledge or consent. They also left computers unlocked and paperwork with resident info out in the open where anyone could grab it. The whole place is disorganized. I came to the facility with several doctor appointments scheduled; they knew about them during the intake process. But come the day of the appointment, they suddenly "didn't know" about it, and since they didn't schedule transportation for me, I missed the appointment. If I scheduled my own doctor appointments, I got yelled at and told I couldn't do it that way. But if I gave them the information to schedule the appointment for me, it never got done. So I rarely made it to the doctor during my stay, despite needing several appointments. And when they did get you transportation to appointments, it was always way too early (i.e. 9AM pick-up for a 11AM appointment) and you'd end up sitting at the doctors' office for 1-2 hours waiting. And if your doctor appointment was during meal times, you couldn't get your meal any earlier or later, so you'd end up just not eating. Another issue was nothing in the facility was cleaned properly. They used soap and water to "clean." No disinfectant. So the rooms and bathrooms were not sanitized between residents, and the showers not sanitized between uses. There was blood and other bodily fluids on the hallway floors more times than I can count. I don't even want to know how disgusting the kitchen and the plates, utensils, etc were. There were bugs everywhere. The vent in the room ran constantly and was extremely dusty on the inside; I could not breathe well during my stay and had a sore throat daily. Bedding was only changed if you asked. And then half the time they tried to make me change my own bedding. When I couldn't even stand up without a walker, how am I supposed to make up a bed. Showers were only given once a week, and if you asked for an additional shower, you were told no. I got infections, pink eye, constant rashes, and seriously sick a few times during my stay - including some ER visits needed. If I reported my health issues, all the nurses would say is "oh, okay." I also had sky-high blood pressure frequently, and that was ignored too. Also, if anything in the room broke, it never got fixed. All the maintenance guy did was sit in the resident lounge on his phone, ignoring work orders for maintenance. It was also miserably hot in the facility; the heat was turned on even though it was summer. I had almost daily issues with headaches, dizziness, and nausea, and I couldn't sleep because I was pouring sweat. I also blacked out a few times. Even some of the staff complained about not feeling well because of the heat in the building, but management didn't care enough to do anything about it. Finally, the kitchen staff was an absolute joke. The facility acknowledged an issue with the kitchen, but no one they cared enough to fix. All meals were inedible - burnt to a crisp, ice cold, past expiration, black bananas, stale cereal, meat still raw, vegetables and bread very dry and hard, moldy bread, dairy warm/obviously not properly refrigerated. Sometimes the food was still half-frozen. You're supposed to be able to ask for your food to be heated up or for more food, but the CNAs will tell you to wait until all the trays are handed out. And then they don't remember to come back, and they don't answer call lights during meal times, so that never happens. Definitely expect to have food poisoning during your stay. The food also sometimes arrived uncovered, which was SO disgusting and unsanitary! If you don't like the menu meal, you can order from an alternate menu, but don't expect to get what you order, because the kitchen sent you whatever they felt like, including foods you had allergies to. Also expect to be starving during your stay. The portion sizes of the meals were for toddlers. Some actual meals received included: breakfast - half a piece of toast and 1 sausage patty; lunch - 8 tater tots and 1 chicken nugget; dinner - half a deli sandwich with only 1 piece of meat on it. And often, half your tray was missing; they would send sides but not entree, send entree and dessert but not sides, etc. I once received a "sandwich" missing meat and cheese; in other words, I only got bread. Once I got crackers, but no soup; literally the only thing on my tray was crackers. It was very obvious the kitchen staff didn't care about their jobs or the residents. And good luck getting your tray corrected; half the CNAs were too lazy to go to the kitchen, and if they did go, the kitchen would usually say they didn't have time to correct things. SO much food got thrown out due to it being incorrect or inedible. They could have probably fed an extra 25 people a day with the food they had to trash. The snacks available were not healthy - snack cakes, cookies, etc. But if you didn't want to be starving, your only choice was to load up on these sugary snacks. Don't count on putting any personal groceries in the fridge or freezer either. I did, and although clearly labeled with my name and room number, they were given to someone else. All I got was an "oops" from the nurse; no apology, no making it right by reimbursing me for my groceries. I could go on for days, but the point is: if you get a choice of facility, do NOT go to Meadowbrook!!!!

June 2025

CE of A

I would give a -0 if I could. The most dirtiest, disgusting, foul smelling place I have ever been in. The rooms are filthy, the people are not taken care of and the staff is unfriendly and cold. I went into my family member's room and his roommate had crapped all over himself, on the bed and on the floor. Not his fault, nobody was taking care of him. an orderly came in to give him his meds and walked around the crap on the floor, and walked back around it to leave. Never came back to clean this man up or his sheets or the floor. I walked into the bathroom and there was a dirty depends with crap in it sitting on the floor. I almost threw up. every time we were there, if we needed to talk to anyone about something, we would ring the buzzer in the room, 30 minutes later, still no one shows up. what if there was an emergency? We would have to go find someone to attend to certain needs. Everytime I called that place, the answering machine came on and would leave several messages to call back. No reply back for weeks at a time. these poor people who are stuck in this place.....I feel horrible for them. We took our family member out after a few months and placed him in the best facility ever and he is now thriving. I wouldn't place my dog in this place, let alone a human being. Run from this place as fast as you can.

October 2024

Google

Marcia Janssen

My husband has been there almost 2weeks and have not met with the director of nursing or social worker about why he's there or his goals. He came from hospital after having a portion of his lung removed because of cancer. He is there to get his strength back. He came with his Cpap machine. It wasn't set up for him until 7 days after being there. The only reason it was set up is because I complained to the nurse about it. They took him off his blood pressure medication but do not check his pressure daily. This place is not suitable to be running because of their nursing skills! I feel my husband has gone down hill from being there. I'm working on getting him out of that place as soon as possible. He is supposed to walk twice a day per doctor and he has to ask them to walk him. He can't ambulate without help. The communication is terrible. They were placing objects outside of his reach like his phone and breathing thing to improve his lung capacity. We had no say as to where he was going. The hospital packed him up and told him he was going. What is wrong with the medical field? I would give this place a one star. I've been to a lot of nursing homes and this one is bad.

September 2024

Google

Deborah Beyer

My cousin is a patient. Staff is friendly. Facility is old and very outdated.

September 2024

Google

Dianne Woldt

Meadow Brook has been a very good experience for me and my husband. The food is very good. The staff is excellent!! And also friendly and accommodating. It may need some updating such as paint and floors, but it's clean. They will and are working on those things. I would choose Meadow Brook again if I have to.

June 2024

Google

Sandy Sheaffer

My Mom broke her leg and received physical therapy and they did a great job. Her case worker at Meadowbrooks was wonderful and she helped me transfer my Mom two hours north to a Assisted Living facility to be closer to me. She went out of her way to help me with finding a place for her. They are very busy but they addressed any concerns about her and they are very friendly and helpful.

May 2023

Google

Danielle Schefdore

May 2023

Google

Amber Endemann

I have worked at different facilities and this team truly cares about their residents, and makes a difference everyday. I feel very lucky to be working with a great team and facility.

October 2022

Google

Kayla Erickson

Hands down one of the best employers I've ever had! the kind and compassionate staff truly make a difference to their residents. I'd recommend the business to anyone i know.

October 2022

Google

Wendy Jacobs

Under new ownership. Under new leadership. Going in the right direction. Check out their Facebook page to see the latest happenings and positive testimonials.

June 2022

Google

Kimberly Ziolkowski

The staff here is AMAZING! I'm so proud to be on the team!

May 2021

Google

Janelle Cox

Matt and dietary dept do an awesome job with the food. CNAs are good people. Staff are all very helpful.