OUR ELDERS ARE IN DANGER

Hospitals today face ever increasing pressure to quickly discharge their elderly patients to "rehab", which is a code word for a nursing home, and in many cases that facility will be a sub-standard one. Many people have heard me speak about this. Those fortunate clients who have used my services (references available upon request) have experienced very personally what I speak about. Many more will testify to my proven results.

FACT: If an elder enters a hospital with say, a broken hip or a stroke they will receive poor to mediocre care at best. This fact applies to many hospitals. I've seen it at Cornell, NYU, LIJ-Northshore and many others, not just inner city or city hospitals.

The hospitals view these patients, as people who are in transit. They will be going to a nursing home quickly and their problems are all age related, and routine. Chances are that your loved ones will not receive any specialized care or ever see a geriatric specialist. If they can't feed themselves, and you are not there to feed them, they won't eat. If they can't transfer to the bathroom or use a bedpan, diapers will be used. These diapers will not be changed frequently, which could then lead to decubitus ulcers (bedsores). If they are agitated or combative they will be put on psychotropic drugs. You get the picture.

FACT: Almost as soon as your loved one enters a hospital, the discharge process will begin. Soon you will asked, cajoled, and harassed to choose three or five nursing homes from a list of nursing homes in your area (or in many cases within a fifty mile radius).

The discharge planner or case manager as they are sometimes called might even threaten that if you don't choose one, they may choose one for you. They will ask you to sign the sheet with your choices. DON'T SIGN. If you do, you might receive a call from a nursing home telling you that your parent is there. They are supposed to inform you before the discharge, but they generally don't. They will feign a bureaucratic mishap.

FACT: 75% of the nursing homes in this country are sub-standard. Most of the rest range from dangerous to average. Maybe 5% are great. Anyone who tells you different has never been to any of these facilities. Your loved one might get an hour of good rehabilitation therapy, but in many of these facilities their lives are in danger. You need to be present all the time or get an advocate.

FACT: As soon as your elder enters a hospital or nursing home THEY NEED AN ADVOCATE. Even if you are there all the time they need protection. The powers that be will not deal with you. They deal with me. I get results. I protect the elderly. I save lives every day. I am a FIXER, and have a 100% success rate. I'm very passionate about what I do. I provide my services across the country.

Comments

[catherine bouch]

This probably will not post because no one understands unless they have walk in my shoes since 1973 where I was young was going to save the world for the elderly our heros for without them there would be no history. I unforturely still am trying but I go home everynite crying and feel like I did nothing. I still try but the work force is getting younger and they believe reading books will help understand. I work in a so call assiting living I call it assiting losing. The pay is not good this is the lowest pay i have ever recieved and still i feel like God put some of us here to do this but it is killing me no one wants to listen or understand and i am scared to death because I will fall into this as I am almost 60 I would just soon be put out of my misery before this happens to me please if anyone really cares about our history please help me help those that need this please I have stories but as you see I have a hard time putting them in words please .

[joyce halperin]

This is a national problem of poor care in nursing homes. Here in California the situation is identical to the first paragraph above. Abuse is going on,elderly are dying but nobody is going after the nursing homes. Out here,the elderly who have run out of money are put into nursing homes who accept what the state will pay for their care. There is a lot of turnover due to low wages, way too many patients for each aide to care for despite the supposedly "patient to staff ratio". That is bogus too as it is never enforced.Nobody wants to work in these facilities so some of the workers are not qualified and cannot even speak english!! I seriously think that New York has the right idea with the hidden cameras. They should be installed in every room above the beds and only taken out at the request of the patient or family member. An abuser would think twice about slapping around someone who can't even talk or is unable to defend themselves. The hidden camera would be the most economical way to go too. There is no advocates for the elderly who have any pull to help them.Sure, they say that an ombudsman is there to investigate every complaint and I say that is a farce created to make patients feel safe in the care of the nursing home. Out here, by the time the state inspector arrives at the nursing homes, it is so neat and tidy with every patient looking content. Why and who lets the nursing homes know when they will do their "unexpected inspection"?? This subject is so upsetting to me as I have seen my father abused and others also.I have been a home health caregiver for over 20 years so I know. The ones with money are the ones who are usually better taken care of and that is the same way our courtrooms operate too. But I ain't gonna go there. How do we help our elderly??Who has any better solutions? At least Mr. Cuomo is proactive and doing something. The elderly are entitled to be free from abuse and we need to protect them. Sincerely, Joyce H., Modesto CA

[Scott Denber]

AMERICAS', VERY OWN HOLOCAUST
2008-06-06 09:28:00
Post by Willy Treblinka , Nazi Concentration Camp 1943The perpetrator of this Holocaust Crime,the Concentration Camp commander,was hunted down, put on trial in Israel and hanged. He may not have personally with-held food from this victim, but he was in charge and held accountably. America,USA , Nursing Home 2008The perpetrator of this crime, taking place in a U.S. Nursing Home, the owner was never held accountable and he is still receiving thousands of our tax dollars from Medicaid and Medicare.Why are so many of our Governors, Congressional Representatives, Senators and Assembly Members allowing this to happen and continue? Could it be in return for the millions of dollars they receive from the Nursing Home Industry for their campaigns ??? * Lobbyist = A lobbyist is someone who is employed to influence the members of a legislative body (senate, house of representatives) and thus they are often seen as a possible tool of corruption, especially because they are most successfully empl...

[Teresa P.]

Well I agree with one thing, you are on fire. But the one with the most passion on this issue? I think I'm right there with you. The differance is you seem to have the resources that I don't have. I have written to you before about being fired for self investigating a home I worked in(by the way I shut them down)they reopened under a new name. But not before I made their lives a living hell, as they did their residents. I helped to find placement for most in a new home, while I worked there in the new home the care was great! I just found out from a family memeber since I left, her mom developed a pressure sore on her leg and spent two weeks in the hospital, their short staffed, and the place stinks. I have my own non-profit now called Elder Watch Investigators Inc. and I do live interviews every two weeks on an am radio show, the problem here in this town, the public does not seem to care about our elderly. The nursing homes here are in need of hidden cameras in them, these homes are awful. Problem is I don't have the equipment to go in and set up. I can't seem to get people involved in the fund raising because this is a poor town, mostley populated with elders. I'm now in Rockingham, NC I was in Raleigh. The home I was in in Raleigh is where a daughter drowned her mom in the bathtub and nothing was done about it and the home intimidated their employees to not talk to the detectives. I interviewd several employees in the closet and you would not believe the medication error cover-ups, is there anything you can help me do to get this non-profit up and running here in my area? It's mission is to investigate complaints of abuse, neglect and exploitation. Also in the winter time I hold fund raisers to raise money for sweaters, coats, socks and lap blankets. Last year I gave out 242 coats, 192 sweaters, 312 pairs of sock and 208 lap blankets you should have seen their sweet little faces. At Christmas time, I personally went in to an assisted Living home and gave out 104 Christmas stockings to every elder there.. My number is 910-817-9032. Maybe you could be a guest with me via telephone on the radio, or give me some tips on how to get money for the hidden camera's. Anything you could do to help me on this end of the world to stop elder abuse would be fantastic! Passionate as you are and love what your doing, Teresa P. Owner of Elder Watch Investigators Inc.