Hospital pushing to discharge my Mom (82). How do I stop the discharge?

You stay away, you walk out and force them to take responsibility. They won't discharge her in her present condition unless you take her with you.

Could it be the hospital feels it is time for your Mom to be placed in a nursing home? One cannot live at a hospital indefinitely.

Thanks for the advices.

judesmom, you will probably get other suggestions to your question.... you wrote late in the evening here on the east coast in the States. Check back tomorrow.

What does it say on your mother's discharge plan? Where would that hypothetical cab be taking her?

Ask the hospital what their care plan is for mom; what do they see as her needs? I'm going to assume for the moment that she lives alone and has no one to oversee her at her home. Are they suggesting that she go to rehab? Have they suggested rehab places for her to go? Rehab should be covered by Medicare. Once she's in rehab, THAT social worker can help you apply for Medicaid. She hasn't had a BM in 11 days? Is that charted? What do the docs say about that? Are they giving her stool softners? maybe ask for a gastroenterologist consult while she's in the hospital?

Also, there is generally a Patient Advocate or Patient Relations department in a hospital. Have you been in contact with them about the quality of care your mom is receiving?

Let us know what's going on.

For one She is out. Her BM has finally improved- not out of the wood yet-.The frequent urination has stopped, since it seemed to have come from extra pressure on her bladder caused by an excessive amount of bowel pushing against her intestine.
But I'm still concerned this is only a temporary relief. I wanted to have her stay longer, but she simply was feeling pressured by the hospital to leave, and that caused her to be tremendously stressed out physically and emotionally. She was made to understand a public shelter may be her next home.
As far as rehab, the original plan was to have her enroll in some temporary rehab program. Her insurance declined her application-submitted by the hospital social worker.-I spoke to her case worker on friday late morning on choosing a rehab facility; on saturday morning I was retrieving messages about her insurance turning down her request. The messages include her discharge schedule for monday.By saturday morning I received more calls from the social worker's office. The frequent messages, increasingly pressing, where all centered around her immediate discharge.

Staying with me is nearly impossible, for there will be no one to care for her when i'm at work. Her insurance only offers no more than three to four hours from a visiting nurse.
She is now, temporarily, staying with her nephew who's a daily caregiver to his disabled son. But that can only work for so long. In the mean time I'm looking into getting her enroll for Medicaid, get her to somehow get her colon cleansed-severe constipation still remains a serious threat -..
I know it's a lot of intertwine details, leading to more complications and confusion in putting all the pieces together. But It means so much and is empowering to be in touch with others with similar issues.. Thanx for your continuous advices and concerns..Seniors matter.

When you say "insurance" do you mean Medicare? what reason did they give for turning her down? Stick around, yes, Seniors Matter!

At 82, your mother should have Medicare. I would get in touch with her primary doctor. The medical problems you described should be treated in the hospital since she is in the hospital. Have tests been done to see if she had a UTI or another bladder issue? Are there heart and lung problems if she is having ongoing problems breathing? What is the cause of the white lesions in her mouth? What does the hospital offer as treatment plans for each of these conditions? Instead of being fearful of her discharge, they need to treat your mother. Once she is stabilized she can be transferred home or to a rehab for up to 120 days paid by Medicare if needed. Rather than leaving her on her own I think it is time to step up and be her vocal advocate.

The hospital did admit her, so they need to treat each condition and then work out a realistic discharge plan---putting her in a weaken condition alone in a cab isn't that plan.

Consider reporting this staff to the oversight groups for Medicare and Offices who license hospitals. I doubt if this type of treatment is limited to your mother, and God knows some seniors on their own may well be sent away before they are treated, alone in a cab.

I was going through something similar with my father. I contacted the Department of Health and Human Services. An advocate called me back. The advocate said that the facility cannot discharge my father without having a safe place for him to go. They also have to give a 30 day notice and they are responsible for finding that safe place for him to be transferred to. My dad no longer had his home and no one in the family was able to take care of him.

It is the responsibility of the facility to meet the resident's needs and if they do not do this, the advocate will step in and make sure that they are complying with the State and Federal Guidelines. They wanted to put my Dad in their Memory Care Unit but his dementia is mild and we felt like it would do more harm than good if he were to be transferred there. He is not an easy person to get along with but they cannot just do anything they want to because they might not like him. Everything is fine now but without the advocate's help, I might have made his situation worse by listening to the facilities' recommendations. Oh, I found out later that the Administrator wanted to fill her Memory Care Unit because she would receive a big bonus from her company if this had happened. Document everything you can and don't always assume that they are making these decisions for the right reasons. I know it's hard but you have to learn to fight back and not take their word. This is a business to them and most facilities do not care about doing what is right for the resident. Thank God for the staff that really do have my Dad's best interest at heart. And these are the people that you really need to talk to find out what the problems really are.

Hospitals get paid by the diagnosis. X bucks for a diagnosis. If they can get you to take your relative home quickly, they pocket the money they make on the diagnosis. When my mother fell and we thought she broke her hip, we took her to the ER. When they X-rayed her and it wasn't broken, their $$ went way down. They told me to take her back. She has dementia and 'knew' her hip was broken and would not move out of bed. The nurse told me to just deal with it or I'd have to pay cash for the ambulance. I asked to talk to the doctor and he just looked at me from across the ER and ignored me. I told the nurse she could deal with it herself and I walked out. They sent her back to assisted living by ambulance which is what should have happened in the first place. If they DO put your relative in a cab and send her home, sue them. Hospitals nowadays only understand money. Absolutely nothing else.

I'm not an advocate for Hospitals but the bottom line is..it's a business with board members that make rules based on state regulations and hire people to enforce them. Insurance is going to pay based on diagnosis and DRG's not based on if she has somewhere to go. The people that are hired to enforce the length of stay based on diagnosis and DRG's are only doing their job's. I know what your thinking hospitals need to be compassionate but compassion doesn't pay bills and without revenue their will be no hospital. But to answer your question if you don't pick her up they wont put her on the street or in a taxi they will find placement for her but you might not like their choice. Families can become very wishy-washy they can't take mom home but don't like the placement choices offered. Do the best you can with the choices you have...and understand hospitals are not "out to be mean" their only doing their job...............I'm only commenting..........

Judesmom, hope things are going okay. Let us know what's going on with mom.

Does your mother have a Doctor? I think hospitals have case workers that can help with placing her in a local rehab in your area and if she's on Medicare that could take her for least 10days to help get her physical therapy. The colon or BM issue sounds medical and should have been addressed by nurse/doctor while shewas in the hospital, meaning if you were there visiting, you could have addressed these mouth sores and lack of BM issues with nurse on the floor and asked for suggestions or treatment while in hospital? Just thought off top of head...keep us informed of your situation there's alot of people on this website that care :-)

Still having constipation problems? We had chronic problems with this until we started using benefiber or miralax. Both have no flavor and dissolve easily in liquids (hot or cold).
I put 1/2 dose of miralax in her coffee in the am if there was no bm the day before. 2 nd day gets full dose. Always gets results.
Used to use benefiber in her coffee everyday until it was not available anymore but it is back now. Mom's pains are worse if she is constipated so keeping her not "full of it" is a priority.

If your mom has Medicare, you can dispute the discharge . There is an ombudsman and they called us right away. Mom was kept for an additional 4 days and that gave us time to figure out where to go next. Hospital days don't count against the 100 days so the longer in the hospital, the more days she is covered in rehab or skilled care.