She is in good health (most of the time) and has dementia (as do most in the facility). She has learned to open the doors and leave. I just learned the hard way that the facility is not an "official lock down facility". We went to considerable trouble to move her from a secure memory care facility to this home in the town she had lived in from 1952 until 2014. My sister and my two stepbrothers live there and she has had a lot of visitors from her church. I live in the metroplex (Dallas/Fort Worth area) and had her here for the past 4 years. We moved her because she was getting UTI infections and was sent to the hospital several times. The ER/ hospital visits were wearing on my sister and me and very confusing to my mother. My sister doesn't want her to come back here (and I understand and appreciate that). But now we will have to move her somewhere that none of us are near. To be perfectly honest, I didn't visit her much when she was in memory care near me. She had full time entertainment and didn't seem to know/care if I visited. She's pretty good at entertaining herself but loves attention. I guess I'm just venting.
I believe the location of the facility is second to the services they provide at this point. You said you didn’t visit her much. Soon, she will no longer recognize her friends from church, and as long as the facility isn’t hours and hours away, they can still get together as a group and make a day of it if needs be. Right now, finding a facility that meets her needs for as long as she requires that care takes precedent over her social life.
Studies have shown that cranberry juice fights UTIs and there are several cranberry supplements available in liquid and pill form. My mother hasn't had a UTI since the doctor approved adding a cranberry supplement to my mother's daily medications.
Good luck in your difficult search!