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Linda Pixley

UPDATE It's been more than four years since I posted my original review of Brio in early 2021. During that time, we've continued to be impressed with every single caregiver, nurse, food worker, admin person, etc., at Brio, as well as with their leadership. This past January, my mother moved to Brio's memory care area (she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's many years ago). She is absolutely thriving there. My only regret is that we didn't move her to memory care sooner. The fault is ours as a family, not the Brio staff's. It's hard to think of a parent needing memory care, and we had certain pre-conceived notions about it. But those were quickly dispelled once we moved my mom there. It's beautiful, the care is outstanding, and they do SO many activities with the residents there. They even took her to an Iowa Cubs game this summer! Over these last four+ years, we've repeatedly heard from people in-the-know (outside healthcare workers and others involved in care for the aging in the Des Moines area) that Brio is THE best place of its kind in town. If you or someone you love needs elder care, I cannot recommend Brio enough. ORIGINAL REVIEW My mother was in Brio's skilled nursing/rehab facility for two weeks and is now in their assisted living area. We've been incredibly impressed with the expertise, level of care and kindness of every single team member we've dealt with at Brio. Maria went above and beyond to answer our (many) questions as we evaluated retirement communities--and is still going above and beyond to ensure that my mother is settling in well and has everything she needs (even stopping by for a visit with her on a Saturday morning!). All of the nursing staff and other providers are wonderful, as are the maintenance staff, kitchen staff, etc., as well as the executive director. Choosing a facility for an aging parent is a difficult process. My sisters and I are so happy we landed on Brio. I highly recommend it.

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Hannah Jenkins

EDIT TO PREVIOUS REVIEW: I did speak with someone after leaving this review. It was a good stay while it lasted for rehab but when my family member needed to go back into the hospital and needing to come back to rehab all of a sudden they did not want her to come back and stated a bunch of things that were not true. When I tried reaching out no one could get me to the right person to speak with and no one returned my calls. Honestly it was very disappointing.

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Teresa Dillard

I had the extreme pleasure of staying at the Brio, after a 2 week stay at a local hospital. The staff was/were/are absolutely amazing! I was treated like royalty! I received the BEST care! My spouse stayed with me, for about a week, he too was treated very well! I would highly recommend this facility and their very loving, caring, compassionate staff! A HUGE Thank You for each person I had the opportunity to meet...I desire for each of you to know...YOU MADE/ARE MAKING A HUGE DIFFERENCE TO MANY!!! GOD BLESS!!! ♡

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Frank Monaco

I feel compelled to leave this review for the people doing research online for the best new home for an aging loved one. I want to share my experience because I don't the 3.3 star rating is a fair representation of this place and certainly does not reflect the experience my family has had. Its important to consider that at the time of this writing, only 11 reviews have been completed and by nature its more likely for someone to leave a review if their experience was negative than it is if it were positive. After my mother and brother toured every assisted living facility within a 60 mile radius, the Brio of Johnston was hands down the best option. Quite honestly the only option that allowed him to live without diminishing his quality of life. I personally have stayed over night with him no less than 20 times and every single time I leave I feel so lucky and so much gratitude for the staff and to my mom and brother for finding this place. My grandpa has always been the most active and social person I have ever known growing up.. Now sadly, auditory and visual hallucinations are frequent with his condition... The nurses never fail to deliver his medicine on time and go beyond their duties by making him a pot of coffee, having conversation with, and help to tidy his apartment when needed. He has celiac, an intolerance to gluten that makes finding meals to eat very tricky in today's world... But the cooks order special bread just for him, the waitresses all memorize what he can and can't have and often prevent him from accidentally ordering something he can't have. Most importantly the staff does this with a smile, keeping his dignity in tact and his quality of life the best that it can be in a bad situation. My grandpa has 5 children and about 30 grandchildren who all love him more than anything if there was anything better than the brio, then he would be living there. If you're in the same situation my family was in 8 months ago and you're doing researching online... Schedule a tour and talk to staff and residents in person because I dont think that the 3.3 star rating does the brio justice at all. Im very grateful for everyone who works and lives at the Brio and don't know what we would do without them.

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Theresa Stephenson

We had 2 stays at Brio. The physical Therapy and Occupational therapy was very good. Both times. There are many kind and compassionate people there. Our biggest problem was with the skilled nursing and their ability to manage my moms complex medical condition. When they needed to do blood tests they had to send them out to a lab. The results were not returned in a timely manner. Ther was 1 incident where there was a test was not labeled correctly and it was not processed. They had to resubmit it and we did not get the results until the evening after discharge. Another issue we had was getting her prescriptions(pain pills) the day of admittance. The first time we arrived at 11and she did not have her prescriptions until 9pm. The second time we were admitted she did not get her medication until 2 in the morning. A doctor and a nurse practitioner Manage the medical care. They are there on a weekly basis. On a Monday I asked for Someone to see my mom because of concerns I had and nobody saw her untill Friday. When the nurse practitioner did see her she was abrasive toward my Mother. She actually made my mother cry. She asked her to call me and she said that she didn't do that she communicated through the nurses. There was another situation where I asked the nurse to contact a doctor about my mother's weight and she did not do it. She actually called that on call doctor talk to me about something else but not her mention her weight . On the day we were released my mom was showing signs of congestive failure. 8 hours later were admitted back into the hospital. I called and talked to the assistant director of nursing to voice my concerns. Her comment was we wanted to keep her but you were insistent on taking her home. Nobody ever talked to me about keeping her. I actually had to go get a nurse to listen to her And to give her a breathing treatment. The doctor was in a lobby nobody ever asked him to look at her. Because they are a new facility they have a very New staff. While we were there they had a lot of change over. So if you have If you have someone with a complex medical condition buyer beware.