Family member in rehab after hospitalization. Patient declining. Pain not managed. Can we request transfer to hospital to be stabilized?

My opinion here. I really don't think a Dr. associated with a rehab facility can do "pain management". Where I live, they are usually General Practitioners. I think what would be needed is a Dr. who specializes in pain management. You should have had a care meeting within the first week your LO was there. I would talk to the DON or Dr. assigned to your LO and request a specialist. If they can't bring one in, maybe you can take LO to the Dr. She is not in prison. Family could ask that LO be discharged, take to their PCP and ask for a referral to a specialist.

Pain can be managed in rehab. Bring this to the Doctor's attention. If the pain is so bad that the patient cannot participate in rehab then a move to skilled nursing facilites may be in the cards. Can you tell us the "reason" or diagnosis that is causing the pain, what medications are being given?
You can of course discuss anything with the doctor, including your suggestions about a move back to acute care. But hospitals definitely now are moving in the direction of acute care only, and chronic pain management isn't considered acute care. Let your doctor, your case manager at rehab and your social worker come together to help you here. Call on Monday and request a conference with them.

Dot, have you requested a care conference with the staff?   But first, what was the specific reason for rehab?   An injury?  Physical deterioration?    Is the patient able to participate in rehab or not, b/c of pain?  If there is an injury and the pain is not managed, have you spoken to the resident or attending doctor?

This sounds like a situation we experienced when my mother broke her leg.   The assigned PT'ist was trying to force her to stand on her broken leg, then determined she wasn't cooperating.    We took her to her ortho doctor, who had wanted no pressure at all on the leg.   That apparently was lost somewhere along the line, so he wrote a letter to the facility.

At our insistence, we also had a care conference addressing this issue.   The therapist was assigned to another facility, another therapist was assigned, nonweight bearing instructions were put in place, and Mom had therapy while sitting until she could be weight bearing,  eventually healing enough to come home.

I'd try to get the conference set up ASAP and find out what's really going on, and determine whether the stabilization is for the patient's medical condition or the rehab for an injury.

Good luck, and please let us know how this works, including providing more detail on the situation.

A doctor has to order hospitalization. The rehab facility should have a staff doctor that’s at least on call and could be asked about this. If the patient is covered by Medicare, rehab must be able to document progress or the patient won’t be kept for very long. What is rehab therapy staff saying about the progress? Normally family is kept apprised of progress or lack thereof. When my father was last in rehab and not able to progress, it led to his doctor recommending to him that he come home and begin hospice services. There were no fixes left and no progress to be made anymore. You need advice from either patients own doctor or staff doc. Wish you the best