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My mom, 84, early stages dementia, probably Alzheimer's, is at a NH/ Rehab. The place had been the subject of at least 3 law suits in the last 5 years, brought against them by our state's Attorney General for things like negligence and wrongful deaths. Actually the state is in the process of purchasing it from its private/corporate owners. What I liked about it when she first got there was that they were clearly trying to turn a new leaf, and visitation is allowed, no appointment needed, 24/7.


But, starting on December 22, nearly three weeks now, visitation is forbidden. 7 total staff members and visitors had tested positive for Covid. Everyday a robot voice autodials my cell phone with information. My mom is supposed be doing a 60 day stay. She is losing it in there.


She is vaccinated, I am. Is this normal? What can I do about this? I cannot get anyone on the phone to at least tell me what their protocol for quarantine is. Not even any rough estimate of when I would be able to visit.

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Vaccination is just a 'preventive' measure. All my kids and gkids have been appropriately vaxxed, yet we've still has breakouts here and there. BUT, nobody has gotten sicker than what a cold would feel like.

Until we are more vaccinated, then we won't see a massive change. We need the 'herd immunity' that comes with over 50% of the population being vaxxed.

Even the, the immunosuppressed will be at higher risk, Both DH and I are considered so, but he has still traveled for business and flown all over the country.
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cwillie Jan 2022
Dream on about the herd immunity theory, vaccination rates here are well over 80% and approaching 100% in the most vulnerable demographic but hospitals are still struggling with increasing numbers. On the plus side for the vaccinated, our science table has calculated an ICU admittance reduction of 90.8% among those with at least 2 doses of a vaccine.
https://covid19-sciencetable.ca/ontario-dashboard/
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I’m in Florida, where they never shut visitation down.
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Hey thank you all for this information. I actually really need this, even though my state may be a little different. My particular situation has additional layers of complexity added to it. I am trying to arrange to have a place to take her into my care, but not quite there yet.
There are two care plans, that two adversarial parties are pushing for, and sadly my mom's fate lies in the hands of the Probate and Family court.
I could get into the details of the epic battle, but it would belong in a different post.
The 60 day figure is based on state law via which she was placed, after discharge from the hospital.
She has been there since two weeks before the lock down, and I know for a fact there is not much PT/OT going on. The most movement that occurs is when I would visit and we would do laps with the walker around the place. The facility wears multiple hats, if you will. It calls itself a 'Nursing and Rehabilitation center" in some contexts, and also "Hospice" in others. Based on my visits there, I never saw anything going on that would deem it anything beyond a Nursing Home.

When she first got there, they were stressing me to sign a lot of paperwork. Consent for psychiatric meds, consent for physical restraint(a bed frame/gate) and then just one form, if signed, indicated consent to Dental, Counselling, Podiatry.

I wrote in a paragraph on each form stating that consent was provided only to services covered by Medicare and Medicaid if applicable. Any out of pocket expenses would have to be cleared first.
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You need to call ur State Ombudsman and tell them you have had no contact with the Rehab. IMO, if Mom is not getting PT then she does not need to be there. If she has been there passed the 20 days allowed, she is wracking up a bill unless she has a very good supplimental. After 20 days Medicare only pays 50% the other 50% is the patients responsibility. Her supplemental may pay partial or all of it for my Mom 5 yrs ago, she paid $150 a day. A 60 day rehab stay would have cost her $6000. The last time my Mom was in rehab to get her strength back, I told them that she needed to be released by the 20days because there was no money for the xtra days.

In my area it changes almost daily concerning visitation. All it takes is one staff member or resident to be positive for COVID and it shuts the whole place down. This new strain is very contagious.

The thing that is not right is you cannot contact someone at the facility. Nor does it seem they have contacted you. At this point your Mom is being held against her will. She is not a resident.
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nerdmafia Jan 2022
Yes I have had my finger on the Ombudsman button for a while. To be fair the facility isn't quite that bad. And today higher up staff have finally jumped up to attention, showering me with apologies. Tomorrow the 'activities director' is going to facilitate a Facetime visit(since now my Mom has also contracted Covid) The Head of Nursing explained the protocol to me. That that each positive test sets the clock back, and state's Department of Health indicates a 7 - 10 day quarantine after each such positive result.
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I’m going to approach this from a different vantage point…..You mention a “60 days”, so she’s in for an estimated 60 day rehab stay?

If she was admitted as a post hospitalization rehab patient (MediCARE benefit), I’d suggest that you try to speak to the PT / OT that is working with her as to your moms “progress” and where she is on a care plan based on her admit codes (this would be her ICD-10 codes & in her discharge notes). That “60 Day” is not fixed / guaranteed IF this is a Rehab admission. Rehab is totally different that being in a facility as a LTC resident. I’d be real concerned that if staffing for therapists have been snafu’d due to Covid, that her rehab not been ideal. So her chart is not exactly where it would be in preCovid times.

I mention this cause if shes kinda right now almost at 3 weeks & this is a rehab stay, Medicare stops the 100% coverage at Day 20/21. It then goes to 80% coverage for up to 100 days IF, and only IF, she shows progress as entered by the PT, OT, ST. Personally I’d be real concerned that if she’s not progressing enough, she’s going to be discharged from being a rehab patient and then her choices are stark. So either leaves the NH or goes thru the process to become a LTC resident at the NH. I’d suggest that you try asap to speak with the therapists, SW or admissions at the place to see exactly what’s what as that initial 100% Medicare rehab benefit is ending. Also billing - if they don’t already have the insurance info - is going to want details as to how the 20% is getting paid….. in my experience a rehab NH tends not to fret the 20% as Medicare is still paying 80% and Medicare pays double/ triple of what a LTC resident room&board rate is. So a facility is beyond happy 😃 to have rehab patients.

Her rehab status perhaps might be why your not getting much traction to your phone calls. So it’s not just Covid compliance issues but the whole rehab eligibility past initial 20/21 issues atop Covid.

Is there a plan as to what happens once she’s out of rehab?
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JoAnn29 Jan 2022
Sorry Igloo but Medicare does not pay 80% after 20 days rehab at a 100%. It only pays 50% and the other 50% is paid by the patient because not all supplementals pay the 50%. With my Mom she paid $150 a day after the initial 20 days.
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Please remind me whats the point of the vaccine if nothing has changed. Just a great big exercise in what fear will do to people. All so they can have their digital vaccine passports and more control over the masses. If all staff at the nursing home and residents are vaccinated and they are still getting covid then it's time to say hey maybe these vaccines are basically useless and people should be able to decide if they want to take the vaccine rather than being forced. How come one death from covid is unacceptable but one death from the vaccine is acceptable?
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JoAnn29 Jan 2022
Even vaccinated COVID can be spread. You just get a milder case. This new strain is very contagious.
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Every state is different.

My daughter lives in CA and hasn't been in her 'physical office' since she got her new job there 18 months ago. She hasn't personally met most of her co-workers.

They just roll with the punches and come home to visit as often as they can. Utah is a lot more open (but, no, I don't know where you could get a rapid test unless handed to you by a Dr.)
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NH/ALs in California are now required to make sure everyone is vaccinated, boosted AND has a negative test over the past 24-48 hours. Problem is most drugstores don't have tests and the testing centers are booking a week in advance.
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sp19690 Jan 2022
If you are vaccinated and boosted then why the help do you need to keep testing yourself? When are people going to wake up and say enough is enough? This will stop once emergency use is revoked and these companies are held accountable financially.
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Sure, it's normal. I didn't get to visit my mother for a year from March 2020 to March 2021, thanks to Covid.
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