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Assisted Living Pennsylvania
QUESTION: My mother was living in an assisted living facility in Pennsylvania.
She had a stroke which left her very weak, but not paralyzed or
handicapped. After she got out of the hospital, she was transferred
back to her hometown to recuperate in a nursing home. Her physician
told us she would never leave the nursing home and that we might as
well sell her belongings that were still at the assisted living
facility, which we did.
Because she was receiving rehab, the Fed's picked up the nursing home
tab. But then she stopped making progress, and the funding for her
stay was stopped. We had enough money to keep her at the nursing home
for about 8 more months. During that time, my mother worked very hard
and made a remarkable recovery. She is still 83 years old, very prone
to falling, almost completely deaf, and suffering from moderate
dementia.
Well, the personal money ran out and we applied to the commonwealth of
PA (through a county agency) for assistance so she could continue to
stay at the nursing home The people from the county agency believe my
mother is too well to stay in the nursing home and they said she
should be put in personal care. Well, she is no condition to go to
personal care. All of the people who take care of her at the nursing
home, nurses, dieticians, and social worker were appalled by this
decision to move her out of the nursing facility. She improved because
of the constant attention of the nursing home staff and they feel that
if you take her away from that, she last may 3-6 months in personal
care. The kicker is that the physician who evaluated her and
recommended personal care was the same physician who told us she would
never leave the nursing home. The nursing home where my mother is also
runs the personal care facility she moved out of when she had the
stroke and they said that my mother would probably not meet the
minimum criteria be re-admission back into their personal care
facility.
Some in my family think we should just go through the appeal process
and see what happens. I'm thinking we should get a lawyer now to try
to keep her at the nursing home. BTW, my mother is very happy at the
nursing home, it's a wonderful place and moving her now would surly
devastate her. Another reason I would like to retain a lawyer is that
if something should happen to my mother in personal care, such as
falling down and breaking a hip, I feel we have a right to go after
the people who put her there, especially after the recommendation of
her caregivers that she stay right where she is.
This is a very frustrating situation. I wrote all of this to try to
get some feedback from other people. Thanks for taking the time to
read it.
ANSWER: I think your instincts is right, see a lawyer now. If there is nothing the
lawyer can do, you'll find that out. The one recurring thing people do
wrong in hiring, using and managing attorneys is wait until the last minute
to see one. Often there is nothing we can do at the early stage, but it's
better to waste an appointment than to guess wrong and hire an attorney
after the damage is done.
One other thing. It won't do to hire just any old ordinary attorney. In
your situation, you need one who specializes in elder law, and one who knows
your state systems very well.
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