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My mom was moved to an acute care facility. At 0024 monday morning I received a call that she had taken a turn for the worse and she was not going to make it. I got to the hospital 0040 but she had already passed away. I just received her death certificate and time of death is 0000. Did the hospital wait 20 minutes after she passed away to call me?

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I completely agree with the above posters. They do their very best, but in the end, I'm sure they did everything they could to make sure he was comfortable. I am so sorry for your loss!
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My father passed in a hospice facility. It would have been odd if someone had been in his room at the moment he passed - it was late at night and he wasn't hooked up to any monitors. I never asked but assume he was discovered passed on a routine rounds check. I also assume they called me within a reasonable length of time. So when I see a time in my fathers death certificate I'm pretty sure it was an estimate. Regardless, daddy is gone and the exact moment of passing isn't all that important - except if dad had lived 45 minutes longer than that which was recorded - then my beloved father would have passed on what would have been his 85th birthday. I understand that you're probably thinking you could have been there at the end - no way to know for sure and dwelling on it will only make the grieving process that much harder. I'm sorry for your loss.
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They might not have been with her at her actual time of death. They might have come into the room at 0024 and called you and estimated the 0000. When my dad was at the end, they called me and told me he'd taken a turn for the worse and I'd better come. I got there in about 10 minutes and walked into his room to find him alone and passed away. I think he was already gone when they called me. But they don't want to upset you, so they just tell you to come. I was surprised that no one was in the room waiting for me...but I didn't make a big deal about it.
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It could also mean that someone didn't enter the time correctly on the death certificate. Or the clerk entering the data didn't make any entry in that field so it defaulted to 00:00.
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