Beware of The Nursing Home Scandals

I thought I would blog this because, though personal, it might serve as an informative experience that perhaps maybe helpful to you should you ever have to endure a similar situation.

The question is: When does CYA (Covering Your backside) become more important than protecting a life?

Background:

My family and I are currently dealing with a long-term medical care situation involving a nursing home facility located in Delaware.

My younger sister is very ill and confined to a nursing home in Delaware. I will not mention the name of the nursing home but suffice it to say, it is one of the worst I have seen in a long time. Anyway, as a result of the lack of care they were giving my sister, I called a meeting back on March 6, 2008 of all of the top administrative and nursing staff. This included the head of the facility, the director of nursing, the head nurse, the primary care physician for my sister and the administrator of social services for the facility. We all gathered around the table, along with other members of my family to discuss my sister's care.

What transpired at the meeting isn't important, except that it was pointed out to the administrators that we (my family and I) are very disappointed and very much aware of the negligent practices of the facility and that we believed that the facility was not a good place for our loved one's continued care. That same evening, my sister was rushed to the emergency room of Christiana Hospital where she subsequently underwent three surgical procedures to correct the actual problem.

The problem, by the way, is one that was persistent and that should have been identified by the nursing home medical staff, where she lived. It gets even better.

After my sister's condition stabilized and she began to get better, I receive word from the hospital that the nursing home had been contacting the hospital on a daily basis, expressing that they were holding a bed for my sister's return, against our wishes. More importantly, the hospital is obligated to release her back to this facility because the facility has volunteered to keep a bed open for her. Whereas, due to the extensiveness of her care, and the new medical challenges she faces, other nursing home facilities are not equipped to or unable to take her.

My problem with all of this is that out of all of the facilities that were identified as having the ability to take her, they are all listed on a Medical Watch List for facilities having failed repeatedly to pass survey tests in key areas of care. Surprisingly enough, the facility that has given my sister the very worst care -- ISN'T EVEN LISTED AS HAVING ANY ISSUES!

There is an answer to this however. When my sister was admitted to the hospital, the very thing that is causing her the worst medical problems, was conveniently omitted from her medical report. In other words, the nursing home failed to indicate that she had a problem. They NEVER documented that she had the problem. By doing so, they do not claim any responsibility for the problem and the hospital nor any of us, can do anything about it.

Now, they are coming back to us as the glorious savior for my sister by being the only facility that will take her with the conditions she now exhibits. Of course, you may offer to say: "Why don't you hire a lawyer?" or "Why aren't you looking to place her in other facilities?" And the answer to this would be: "We are."

However, there are only a half dozen facilities available in Delaware that support extensive long-term care - and all of them are on this list of DANGEROUS FACILITIES for care except the one she is currently assigned to.

So now what do I do?