Nursing home not returning calls. Any advice?

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Nursing home not returning calls. Any advice?

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Hi..I am the guardian of someone just admitted to a long term facility. I am hundreds of miles away, trying to get basic info is like pulling teeth. I have called and emailed the activities person 3 times over a week and she doesn't answer (yes she is there). She handles clothing for the residents and I need info. The Administrator is brand new to the facility and said he would have her call. This has happened with the Nurse not returning 2 calls and the DON taking a week to answer. HELP! Do I reach out to the homes parent company?

Care Plan Long-distance Caregiving Skilled Nursing Facility

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Typical many NHs do this.

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Call during business hours, tell them you will hold. Keep hounding the people who actually do answer the phone. Mentioning the formal complaints process to the administrator may light a fire.
I found that asking for the charge nurse usually worked since she pretty much ran the place during her shift.

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Right. I got the direct line to the nurse’s station to call to check on Mom. But, sometimes there was no one at the desk because they were taking care of residents. However, eventually someone was there eventually and they always answered my questions.

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It sounds as they are trying to “train” you. The more you complain, the less they respond. Yes, I would reach out to the parent company...

If this is the poor service they are providing to you, though, how are they treating the residents?

Can you move the person into a different place before s/he gets fully settled?

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How was this nursing home selected? Did you have input to that process? Help with the selection? Is this person self pay or on Medicaid? Do they have a copy of the court order granting you guardianship?

I would start with letting the administrator and the Director of Nursing know you will contact the ombudsmen for the facility. That person is employee by that Area Agency on Aging, in my area they are under the Council of Governments.

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Or simply call the AAA and speak to the ombudsman. You may want to consider hiring or at least speaking to a local geriatric placement specialist or care manager. It really is very difficult to manage from afar.

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At Moms NH it was her social worker who managed clothing. Have you tried that person? The activities people were never in an office to answer a phone, they were always with the residents.
If it’s a good sized place, there should be a charge nurse along with an administrative assistant for the floor. Ask for those peoples numbers, as the administrative assistant will be your best friend there.
If still no luck, call the ombudsman.
Is there someone local to the NH that could physically go there and track down the people you need?

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Thanks all for the feedback. Yes they are aware I am the Guardian. The NH was chosen by the hospital he was in. Social Security fo insurance. The Activities person is the one who handles clothing/supplies. I reached out to her first but she referred me to activities. I too worry about the quality of care if the quality of communication is so poor. Good thing is Im not shy so will continue to seek answers from them or parent company or Obsurdman. I have full understanding how busy people are but this is indane. Glad I found this board

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One should hopefully NEVER let the hospital choose a NH UNLESS you know the place and agree. Call the local office on aging. They may not be able to speak freely, they cannot recommend one place over another probably, but they can tell you which to avoid. As can the Long Term Care Ombudsman's office or the local area agency on aging can guide you to where you can look up info yourself. I don't know your finances, but you can also hire a geriatric case manager to keep watch and intervene. You may get more attention if someone local is watching out, but you shouldn't have to worry like this. Is it possible to move the person closer?

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I did when the Ex. Director, the Asst. Director and the DON didn't return calls. I faxed my concerns to the parent company ( who is out of state from the location of the facility my mom is in) and THEY didn't respond, either. Call DHS. THEY will respond! And so will the facility after that!

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What is DHS and DON? Sorry but not familiar with these yet.

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Departmemt of Human Services and Director of Nursing

https://www.agingcare.com/articles/common-caregiving-abbreviations-and-acronyms-435589.htm

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I might suggest finding a different nursing home. You may already be stressed out doing this so you may need a third party. Have you tried a free company such a A Place For Mom? They helped us find a place and get us the right contact person.
Yoh may also ask for the Assistant director. They have a different role than the director.

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Because of the fee/commission APFM gets, an honest rep there told me they don't have any housing.. independent living was what I wanted...that was under $3000 a month. This is A For Profit Company!

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Many here have had bad experiences with A Place For Mom. While it does not cost you anything, APFM is a referral service that is paid by the facility that is used. Not exactly an impartial basis for selection.

AGINGCARE is.owned by A Place For Mom.

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OMG! I had NO IDEA this was owned by APFM! So is that who is moderating this? I mean this has been a good site for so many of us...but that explains a lot. Someone in my adult children support group had a beneficial experience with whomever she spoke with. Got a list of available resources for in-home care. I called and it was like when you friggin go car shopping and IMMEDIATELY began to get a deluge of phone calls soliciting my business. I was infuriated and one person was nice enough to offer pulling me off the list or whatever. I mean the last thing any of us needs as a caregiver is MORE STRESS by phone calls! But the topper to this was just the other day I got an email from someone that looked personal and this person sends a short note acting like we're friends, and how she knows how hard it is because she is a daughter too, and she'd like to know when I could arrange a tour for mom and dad and myself to see the Weils!!!!! First of all I NEVER was looking for care outside of our home, and second of all if you want to see what limited funds you have fly through the air, that's one of the places. Not to even mention that the first place I contacted for in-home care...the woman who owned it, who had no problem hiring a person trained there who had a LENGTHY record of driving offenses, was friends with someone who also apparently USED to work there in some sort of administrative capacity who went on and on about how wonderful she (AND THE AIDE) were on that Next Door site. I learned many lessons...add this one to the list. Thanks for sharing this! I guess my next question is who owns A Place For Mom? I really get angry when I see that person in the ads...Joan Lunden isn't it? She's probably clueless!

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I was wondering what you meant by "social security for insurance "? Perhaps you meant Medicare???

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Yes, that is Medicare, but Ombudsman also cover Medicaid.

In IA I called Ombudsman and they gave me three other offices to contact. Each covered different issues...a royal pain.

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Phone calls do not help. If you put someone in a nursing home you have to visit in person and daily. I mean seriously they can be covered in poo and have bed sores all over and they will still say they are doing fine and resting well. So why are you even bothering with calls.

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She is hundreds of miles away :(

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I would go straight to the Ombudsman.

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Move the patient. These are red flags. You can move the patient closer to you. The transportation may be self pay but Medicare/Medicaid is Federal and will pay for the facility in every state. Start looking for a facility close to you and ask them to transfer the patient. You have that right!

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My family rented a nice RV to transport LO to LTC several states away. It was much less expensive than medical transportation, and is easy to keep an eye on her. Bring someone alone to help with the drive and keep LO occupied, that is important. Puzzles, cards, and other activities will keep them occupied and reduce stress.

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Reach out to the administrator again - in writing - listing dates of each call that has not been returned. Keep a log. I found that complaints in writing are addressed for things like staff problems, falls, wrong meds versus phone calls. There's no real proof of phone calls if you have to take this further up the ladder.

You state very clearly to admin - you told me on xx date you would have Ms Activity person call me and that request has not been completed. I will be sharing my communications with the Ombudsman's office to ensure my concerns are addressed. (Facilities do not want on site reviews and you may see some results). You can find email address for your Ombudsman's office or you can call your local medicaid for elderly/disabled and get info on who/what to report things to

What is the reason this patient is still hundreds of miles away? Are friends still visiting regularly, family? If not, it is probably time to find a closer facility because someone needs to be looking in on these patients all the time. Horrible things happen even when they know you come by, so you can only imagine what happens when a patient has no one to speak up on their behalf.

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Good advise & definitely find a closer facility now. Don't wait. This will not improve very much. If this happening you it's happening to others.

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Document all the occasions on which you have made contact, what you have been told and what you need to know. Write to administrator / manager of the facility and cc to parent company. If you are giving them time to reply and not calling every hour, and it sounds as though you have been very reasonable, then their failure to get back to you within a reasonable time is unacceptable - and would ring alarm bells to me, but maybe if there is new staffing or staffing change a couple of weeks to allow them to settle would be reasonable.

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Where is this facility located? Texas, through the Area Agency on Aging, has an ombudsman assigned to every LTC in the state. It is a federally funded program that helps residents and their families address problems with the facility and staff. Contact the Area Agency on Aging in your LO's state. Every state has one. Start there.

Next time you have to 'leave a message, inform the person that you will file a complaint if you cannot get a timely response. I hope that this helps.

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Contact the State office that oversees NH licensing.

Call local Center on Aging to ask for a Wellness Check.

Continue to keep a log of all attempts to contact: whom, topic, time, date....when did you hear back...was it a productive response.

You have binding legal authority, similar to a spouse. It is time to let them know, you know this is unacceptable, and you will take further action if it doesn't stop.

If they "Offer" to move her to another facility because you appear to be unhappy... don't take the bait..but write down who, when and where they wanted to ship her off to. Odds are it is a facility with an ever more checkered track record...or more expensive.
Tell them you will decide if and when and where to move your LO, but that is stressful, as they know. You expect them to do their jobs as they are contractually and legally required and you will hold them accountable.

If this does not work..or stops working, call a respected Elder Care Lawyer in that state & hire them to draft a letter of concern to the facility, cc the Corporate Management.

Good Luck.

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Contacting the Ombudsman is a good option.

You could call and leave a message with the administrator and tell them that if you don't receive a call back within the next 24 hours you are going to report them to the State.

FYI: Bring this up at the Care Plan (CP) meeting. When someone is admitted into a skilled home the home is required to do a full assessment within 14 days. After that they have 7 days to schedule the Care Plan Meeting. A CP is a meeting that occurs every 3 months for homes that take Medicare/Medicaid. The purpose of the meeting is to come up the the plan of care for that resident for the next three months. Part of the meeting is for you to bring up any concerns you are having with the home. As the guardian you should be invited to attend these meeting. Since you are in another state they can conference you in on the call.

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Your loved one should have a social worker assigned to them. I would reach out to them right now to explain what you are experiencing. A good social worker will act as a point person to direct your inquiries. As a rule of thumb, put everything in writing (email may be better than phone.) I realize that she is at a distance, but a strategic visit to smooth over this transition might be helpful.

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This is a major problem going on in the world today. It’s not only this place, it’s every business. No one calls anyone back anymore. It’s just terrible. I don’t know how businesses even function not returning calls anymore. I resorted to email because I know no one wants to talk on the phone anymore but that doesn’t work either - it’s too easy to ignore, and trust me they see the email, they just don’t respond, because I’ve been in that boat before as well. If I had their cellphone # I guess I would text them, but I don’t have that info either. I would keep going up the chain in management to get the calls returned even to the owner if you have to. Then I would consider taking mom out of there and bringing her home because you know you will probably never reach these people for another event going forward, or bring her to a nursing home by you so you can walk in when they don’t answer the phones. I feel your pain, I’ve been there before. It’s one of the most frustrating things to have to deal with and selfish on the part of anyone who can do this to another person, especially a business!!!! DAMNIT!!

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I am in a similar position as I am a POA for someone in another state. This was happening to me too. No return phone calls, messages left, etc. Finally, I got the receptionist and told her to write down word for word what I had to say. Basically I told her to give xxx my message that if my calls were not returned by time/date, I would proceed to take appropriate legal action against the facility. I started getting calls back within two hours. And, you can also tell the receptionist that someone LIVE must be paged and found right now - you are NOT hanging up and that you will hold as long as needed - but you DEMAND A LIVE PERSON N O W.! Things have improved since I laid down the law as they know I am a tough cookie and am not going to be ignored. One other suggestion, write a very formal professional letter to the head person stating the exact problem and what is not happening. Tell them this is a situation you will not accept or tolerate and it better be fixed. Believe me, this works. Go straight to the very top of the chain and explode (in a professional way) and you will get success. I have a 95% success rate with problems like this Good luck. By the way, this is typical of most companies today - horrible.

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Thank you..! Silly Question..what is a POA?

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I just answered this above. But also contact the Office on Aging in your county and ask for the Ombudsman to handle the situation. You might also threaten to report them to the state (that you live in) and they could receive a big fine for violating business practices. And you could say you hope you won't have to get in touch with your attorney. I guarantee you - you will get return calls. Be tough and threaten them by saying you hope you don't have to resort to.....to get return calls.

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HI All

Thank you for all the great feedback. After speaking STRONGLY..I have gotten call backs. I am keeping a record of all contact. I never thought it would be this challenging communication wise

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Just: Oh, yes, Nursing Homes can be quite frustrating. One killed my mother, basically.

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POA, power of attorney. You need two separate ones, medical and financial. It is usually done by a lawyer and someone should probably already be in place.

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Nursing home not returning calls. Any advice?

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