Contacted Ombudsman, she said everything is OK. WTH?
After sitting on several concerns I have about my mother's care in her MC facility and NOT wanting to involve myself, I ended up contacting the local Ombudsman.
It was a tough decision to involve myself with anything since I am not POA and not responsible for anything regarding mom's care. It was however a constant nagging feeling that things are just plain wrong that lead me to make that call. I just could no longer stand by and do nothing.
She listened to what I had to say. I did not tell her everything, but did give her two specific areas of concern which was 1) mom's soiled mattress that is 30 years old, lack of bed linens covering it, and lack of appropriate absorbent materials beneath mom when sleeping, and 2) lack of proper follow up care after leaving the hospital since she had an infected sore on her upper arm that nobody knew about until I notified the staff at the facility.
I told her I raised these concerns to the DoN and the Executive Director a few times already, but it seemed nothing had been done.
Other concerns were lack of ADLs, not making the bed with a comforter (just a blanket covering it), missing clothes and a broken wall clock that looked like it had been ripped off the wall with a torn connector hanging out. I just got a return call that the Ombudsman made an unannounced visit to my mom and "everything looked fine". I was shocked.
She said my mom was sitting in the dining room appropriately dressed. She said the food they served was decent and the level of staff was appropriate for the number of residents. None of those were my concerns. She said she asked to go to mom' room and saw the bed was made and it looked just fine.
She did not address the two items I specified earlier. I told her you cannot tell what the mattress looks like unless you pull back anything that might be covering it. She never did that, so did not actually see the "wet and soiled" mattress and lack of sheets. She also did not see mom's arm to determine if the proper medical attention was given to the sore on her arm.
She told me to keep an eye on things and let her know of any further concerns and she would make another visit. I already had told her about two separate times I raised concerns that appeared un-addressed. I have pictures for my own documentation. How long am I supposed to keep tracking this? How bad is bad enough for someone to take action?
She said she usually follows up with a meeting with the staff at the facility and the family member as guardian to have a joint agreement on care plans. When does an Ombudsman actually become involved?
I feel like I am talking into the abyss.
Thank you.
If the furniture is Moms, then the POA has to supply a new mattress. They also have to supply the mattress protector and any other protection they may need to be used. If they are part of LTC and Mom is Medicaid, then a new mattress and coverings are supplied by the facility. Since the Ombudsman did not do anything, then call in APS.
May I ask who is, Ginger. I know you have written us before a few times, but cannot recall this. Do know that things in aging care in placement will be far from perfect. If the visiting ombudsman had the findings described, then this is just about it, really.
I think people need to understand that MOST ombudsmen serve free of charge. They are not people who have a whole lot of power. They are more "mediators."
Without being POA you will find that your power to do much of anything here is severely limited.
I sure wish you good luck.