Shady Oaks Assisted Living

08/01/2026

😎☀️ 5+ COOL SUMMER UPDATES

❤️ 1. Shady Oaks celebrated Michelle Bruce for her 300+ volunteer hours. She was one of only 32 recipients from over 120 nominees (and the only volunteer!) to win a 2026 Connecticut Assisted Living Association crystal award for Outstanding Resident Service.

🫶 2. Shady Oaks gave $1,250 of Dunkin’ Donuts gift cards to 250 Bristol Senior Center volunteers at their annual banquet. The volunteers logged in 34,309 volunteer hours last year. We cherish our years of friendship with the Bristol Senior Center community.

🦙 3. Shady Oaks residents enjoyed an outside “farm day” and welcomed 2 alpaca, 1 donkey, 1 goat, and 2 ducks and loving staff from Hillside Equestrian Farm. We walked one alpaca through our home to connect with residents who were unable to join us outside.

🏡 4. Shady Oaks thanks Marc and his whole professional team at Connecticut Shade and Blind in Southington for upgrading light-blocking resident room shades around our home. They were timely, courteous, and affordable. Everyone says our new shades look great.

🏆 5. Bristol Press and New Britain Herald online readers voted us “Best Assisted Living” for Bristol 2020-2026 and “Best Assisted Living” for New Britain 2024-2026. This honor means a lot to our home. We wish to thank all the voters for their public support!

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🎪 August: Shady Oaks will host our 3rd Annual Family Picnic. We expect to top 200 attendees! We hired pizza & ice cream trucks, 2 musicians, and a balloon magician. We thank True Value Hardware Bristol for generously helping us with tents, tables, and chairs.

07/31/2026

🏆 Loving 5.0-Star 24/7 Care
(🎉50th Anniversary Year! )

❤️ Shady Oaks is a loving 24/7 care boutique Bristol home, 2 min from Farmington, & 9 min from Southington. We excel at dementia, Parkinson’s, CHF, stroke, Hoyer lift, & end-of-life care. Families rate Shady Oaks 5.0-stars in both U.S. News & Google for 2026.

👥 Our Clinical Standards: Shady Oaks had ZERO family-filed DPH complaints in 7+ years, and 90% of our residents stay with us through to their passing without needing a traditional nursing facility. 1 CNA per 7 residents daily. 1 full-time RN per 14 residents.

🎖️ Family & Veteran Owned: 93% of our Shady Oaks staff rate us “Great Place to Work.” Call the owner, Tyson (Marine Iraq vet & Harvard PhD). He lives on-site and helps VA & CT Pilot Program applications. Tyson’s grandmothers, Vera and Louetta, both lived here.

🏠 Shady Oaks thanks our inspiring residents, loving families, & caring staff. For 50+ years, Shady Oaks serves Bristol, Farmington, New Britain, Plainville, & Burlington, CT. Families also drive from Avon, Simsbury, Southington, Wolcott, Plymouth, & Harwinton.

“A rare jewel in the industry...”
~ Bruce Howard, 5-stars Google
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Call the owner, Tyson, 24/7.
Phone: (860) 583-1526

05/17/2026

50 YEARS OF CARE! 🎉

The Bristol Press covered our 50th Anniversary Party! Read it here:
https://www.bristolpress.com/news/celebrating-50-years-of-service-shady-oaks-reaches-milestone/article_909ce80d-b686-4c34-a69a-52b921b9c591.html

THANK YOU to our amazing residents, loving families, and hardworking staff! Shady Oaks provided GREAT SENIOR CARE in a warm and cozy home for FIVE DECADES! We could not have done it without you!❤️

01/31/2026

Great news! In September, our pay reached $25/hr for CNAs. In October, 93% of our staff rated us "Great Place to Work", and we earned national certification. In November, our families took the U.S. News & World Report Best Senior Living survey, and we earned the highest score the survey team had ever seen. In December, we earned the Connecticut Assisted Living Association Best Practices Award for Recruiting & Retention. In January, we met with 3 state legislators and representatives from the Governor's Office to advocate for higher Pilot Program aid for low-asset disabled seniors. We now look forward to more happy milestones and care moments during 2026. This year marks our 50th year of continuous Shady Oaks care for Bristol area seniors. Happy 50th!!!

Shady Oaks is the best high care assisted living in Connecticut. We’re a great alternative to 24hr. home care and nursing homes. Call: (860) 583-1526.

05/20/2025

THANK YOU!
# VOTING HAS ENDED FOR BEST OF BRISTOL 2025

Shady Oaks = 5 stars in 77 Google Reviews. We earned Best of Bristol in 2024, '23, '22, '21, and '20. The owner is a 3-tour Marine Iraq veteran. His parents built Shady Oaks in 1976. We earned CT Family-Owned Business of 2024 & Humanitarian Home of 2021. We have the best care. Thank you!

02/03/2025

Shady Oaks had a wonderful 2024! We hired top staff, gave great care, made renovations, and earned recognition.
> We welcomed Laurie Ranous as our Evening RN.
> We now have 1 full-time RN per 14 residents & 1 CNA per 7 residents 6am-10pm. This is the best assisted living staffing I know.
> We had 3 resident COVID cases, 0 flu, and 0 RSV in the past year, while other Bristol senior homes had over 265 COVID cases.
> We upgraded our porch, lawn irrigation, and border trees.
> We created and installed a Memorial Tree at our front door, with the names of all 220 residents who have lived here since 2016.
> One of our CNAs earned the Connecticut Assisted Living Distinguished Service Award for extraordinary resident service.
> We earned the Connecticut Small Business Administration (SBA) Family-Owned Business of the Year Award for 2024.
> Bristol Press readers voted us "Best of Bristol" for the 5th year, and New Britain Herald readers voted us "Best of New Britain."

Reflecting on 2024, we hold dear memories of our residents who passed or moved. With heavy but hopeful hearts, we pledge to continue providing strong nursing in a cozy and loyal home.

Thank you!

05/29/2024

Online voting is now closed.
Thank you for your support!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Posted 29 May 2024:

ONLINE VOTING IS OPEN!
# BRISTOL PRESS: Best Assisted Living
Shady Oaks or the Pines?
>>> https://www.bristolpress.com/bestof2024/ #/gallery?group=483544
# # NEW BRITAIN HERALD: Best Assisted Living
Shady Oaks or Arden Courts?
>>> https://www.newbritainherald.com/bestof2024/ #/gallery?group=483421

Shady Oaks averages 5 stars in 71 Google Reviews. We earned Best of Bristol in 2023, '22, '21, and '20. We earned CT Family-Owned Business of 2024 & Humanitarian Home of 2021. We are now Connecticut's only family-owned and veteran-owned assisted living. Thank you!

03/25/2023

We are doing well. We today average 5 stars in 29 replies to our 2022 family survey. We also average 5 stars across 53 Google reviews.

Bristol Press readers voted us Best of Bristol in 2022, 2021, and 2020. We also won 2021 Connecticut Humanitarian Home of the Year.

In 2022, we earned a perfect 100% rating in our CT Department of Public Health inspection for our assisted living nursing procedures.

So far, for the whole pandemic, only 6 residents caught COVID here. Elsewhere in Bristol, over 800 nursing home residents caught it.

We thank our residents, families, staff, and supporters. We promise to continue providing strong nursing in our cozy and loyal home.

10/03/2021

Shady Oaks provides strong nursing in a cozy and loyal assisted living home. We thank Bristol Press readers for voting us Best Skilled Nursing Facility in 2021 and 2020.

With our Bubble, testing, KN-95s, air purifiers, vaccines, staff effort, family support, and luck, no resident, visitor, or staff member has caught COVID-19 from in our home.

So far, our home has been a safe place to live, visit, and work.