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Rascal12 Asked January 2021

Is the nursing homes responsible for replacing missing clothes?

At the end of October 2020 my aunt went into long term care. At that time of admission I brought her suitcase and duffle bag with clothing and a plastic bag with pillows and a throw for her. Since then I brought two more bags of clothing for her with her name on AND in the bags as directed. In chatting with her recently I found out and confirmed with a staff member that she has hardly any clothing! Her closet should be full with tops and pants and her drawers full with pjs, socks, and underwear. Due to the covid lockdown I had to leave everything with the front desk staff to put in quarantine for 24 hours, and it looks like her belongings never got to her. The staff is trying to track the bags down. However if nothing turns up, is the facility responsible for replacing everything? My dad was in the same facility a few years ago, and there were just a few issues.


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


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Rascal12 Jan 2021
Thank you for all of your responses. The manager of the laundry met with my aunt, asked if he could look in her room for her clothes and discovered she had taken most of her clothes off the hangers and moved them to other places in her room. Some were in her built in dressed and some in her nightstand. Her underwear was in other clothing so not obvious at a glance. And she is hiding her laundry. So we think most if not all of her clothing has been accounted for. I'll know for sure when I can get into her room and see for myself. One thing my husband AND the laundry manager brought up is that my aunt thinks she is going to have ALL of her clothing with her at the nursing home, Just like at assisted living. Oh, my. My aunt is a clothes horse. We have found a lot of clothes never worn, all kinds of duplicates She'd need a whole separate room just for her clothes! 😉

Rascal12 Jan 2021
I should have let everyone know the home has a label maker that puts the name and room # on every piece of clothing. If my aunt was missing only a few items, that would be one thing, but most everything? Because of the pandemic I can't get to her room to see what she has but going forward I'll take pics and label everything myself. Thank you!

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JoAnn29 Jan 2021
Midkid, it was a learning process and having a daughter who worked NHs. Told her several times Mom was without a bra and needs it so she doesn't break out. My daughter asked me where I put the bras, in the side table with the socks. That was the problem, aides dress from top to bottom. They didn't see the bra until they went to get the socks. I always put Moms tops and slacks that matched on the same hanger so I started putting the bra there too.

Midkid58 Jan 2021
JoAnn--

That's BRILLIANT. I'm going to remember this for when we have to place MIL. She loses her own clothes in her own house where she is totally alone and swears someone is stealing them. I can't imagine how awful a NH is going to be for her.

JoAnn29 Jan 2021
The NHs in our area put the person's name in the clothes. Its a special machine and the labels don't come out after even several washes. They even do socks.

In the beginning of Moms stay, I took her clothes home to wash. There was a sign on her closet that said "Family doing Laundry". I found that the residents clothes were very clean and smell free. I wanted to go on vacation so I switched over to their laundry. Yes, started missing clothes. I found some in her roommates closet. Others I had to track. I had taken a picture of everything I took in. So when I was missing something, I showed the laundress the picture and the item showed up. So, I would call and talk to the Laundress and see if she has any clothing with no name in it. Also ask her what the laundry cycle is. My Moms facility washed every day so cycle was the laundry came back every 3 days. Some may wash certain rooms once a week, lets say. By knowing this, then you know how many outfits to leave. For my Mom it was 7 outfits. 7 tops, 7 pants, 7 bras, ect. I only brought seasonal clothing. I left a couple of pairs of shoes but she would have been OK with one pair. The aides never changed her shoes. You need to put her name on anything you take in. Don't take anything that u are afraid could get stolen. Like a favorite necklace or broach that is worth something. Not saying that the staff steals but other residents may. Take pictures of her glasses if she wears them. My Moms got mixed up with another residents. The picture helped find them. I would say do this with hearing aides too.

freqflyer Jan 2021
Rascal12, as your question is the nursing home resonsible for replacing missing clothes....... you would need to read the admittance contract which was signed when the love one was placed as to what the nursing home will reinburse.

MargaretMcKen Jan 2021
My MIL’s Nursing Home also required each article of clothing to be named. The laundry is all done together, so it has to be sorted by name after it gets laundered. I thought some of her things had gone missing, particularly nice shawls and throws, but I found them as layers in her bedding at the end. Her NH gave clothes that were unclaimed at the end to OP shops, because they didn’t want the other residents to recognise them as previously belonging to someone they remembered. If your LTC finds the bags not yet unpacked, get a laundry marker pen and mark them all – or perhaps the LTC will do it anyway. I hope it all turns up!

Geaton777 Jan 2021
Her name needs to go on each article of clothes, not on the bag. That's how it is in my MIL's LTC facility. Even then the clothes get lost but she "inherits" the clothes of others who won't be needing them anymore -- the staff gives them to her. She is on Medicaid so maybe they think she can't afford clothes...not sure.

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