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The facility didn't even know he was gone. Proper paperwork was not done on patients for 24 hours ( supposed to be every 2 hours ) I am now out of work caring for him until paperwork is complete for new place - should I SUE

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I'd check with an attorney. Is he on Medicaid? If so, well, getting a large settlement may disqualify him. I'd explore the options. I would confirm that the Secure facility has filed their reports. The state's regulatory agency that governs that type of facility should be investigating. They may want to speak with you.
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Sue for what?

Did your father sustain an injury, or was he found and taken to hospital for safekeeping? I hope he's all right.

What has the facility had to say for itself?

To have a reasonable chance of claiming for damages, there has to have been a loss or an injury which you can prove happened as a result of the facility's negligence. You won't, for example, be able to sue for your loss of earnings because, having lost confidence in the facility's care, you are now looking after your father.

By all means consult an attorney, and by all means pursue this serious lapse on the facility's part; but don't let anyone send you off to court on a wild goose chase. Law suits are extremely stressful and heaven knows you have enough to worry about already.
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I agree with CountryMouse... sue for what?

What I would do is have a heart to heart talk with the head person at the facility, and what do they plan to do so that this doesn't happen again.

Otherwise, how is the facility doing on other care issues?   Is Dad clean, well fed, have activities [if he wants to do], keep his room clean, good linen service, nurse 24 hours a day, etc?
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I hope the new place opens up for your husband soon!

I'm not sure what you could sue for. I don't blame you for being spitting mad, though!

Sometimes residents do escape from secure places. It happens. (Heck, sometimes prisoners escape from jail!) It sounds like in this case the facility was not even following its own procedures, or they would at least have realized he was gone within two hours of his leaving. I'll bet after the state gets done investigating they clean up that practice! In fact, I'll bet they started enforcing it the day they were notified.
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Sue for what??? The hospital bill will be a minimum of $5,000 probably more , I had no faith in taking him back to the same place , it wasn't not just that he wandered off, prisoners escape but are of sound kind in most cases - my father is like a 5 year old - left with only a tshirt in 40 degrees- unnecessary catheter , unnecessary cat scan ( radiation) this was already recently done- not sue ? why not for " LOSS OF WAGES" They clearly made several mistakes -
They admitted door was broke for 2 days , They charge D@MN GOOD money to protect our loved ones and keep them safe - he had only been there 4 weeks , I don't really want to sue them but I do however want to be rightfully compensated for medical bills , loss of wages , all incurred expenses due to there negligence - and I do not really think that's unreasonable , I have 3 kids of my own and a job so being a father to my father is difficult - I already feel guilty he was at a place like that but I have to work - the least they could do is take there job VERY seriously - They should have to pay them they wouldn't make those mistakes - it shouldn't have to take someone dying to be taken seriously.
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Have you contacted a lawyer yet? A professional can give you a professional opinion. We just have opinions.
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I agree with others here - you don't have a legal case here. What you do have is grounds for a complaint against the facility, which, at the very least, would correct the problem going forward, so this doesn't happen to someone else. (Or at least we hope it will.)

My father was in a NH during the last 6 months of his life, and on dialysis every other day. It became a routine of one day at the NH, one day at dialysis center (off site from NH) with good results, and he'd return to the NH - then the next dialysis day, his blood pressure would bottom out and he'd have to go to the ER to get checked out, then back to the NH. It was a rough, rough cycle. I normally called every single day to check on him, and we went to see him on days when he didn't have dialysis, because he was exhausted when he returned from dialysis, so we'd let him rest and visit the next day.
One day, when things were extremely hectic at home with caring for Mom and all the paperwork I was dealing with for Dad, I forgot to call and check on him. The next morning, I called the NH to check on him, and was told they didn't know where he was. They "assumed he was at dialysis". I was *not* a happy camper. Immediately after that phone call, I got a call from the hospital asking if we were coming to pick him up, because he was being discharged, having been there 48 hours. So his BP bottomed out at dialysis, he went to the hospital and NO ONE CALLED US. Not the NH, not dialysis - no one. Dad had dementia, and would either answer questions wrong or not at all, so putting him in the hospital where he needed to answer questions without someone there to speak for him was a recipe for disaster. What if he had died?? We would have gotten a phone call from the hospital asking if we were coming to get the body?? I ripped the NH administrator up one side and down the other over the phone, filed a complaint with the ombudsman and insisted that they SHOW ME the changed procedure sheets that were being distributed to all staff members. You have to advocate for them, and insist that procedures be changed in situations like this, or the changes will never happen.
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Thank you! Now we have some more information.

So your Dad - probably looking for the door to his "office" or something like that - left the facility through its faulty security door in the small hours of the morning. His absence went unnoticed until ? He then...? What happened? He was found wandering in underwear on a cold night and taken to the hospital - by whom? Did he sustain any other injuries? Who ordered the CAT scan, and what for?

You certainly should be able to recoup hospital expenses, yes. But you don't have to sue: ask the facility for them. They can also waïve any notice period required. But it's not their fault that you won't accept their explanation and have withdrawn your father from their care, and it's not their fault that you're not hiring alternative care so that you can get to work.

Have you had a meeting with the Director at this place?
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