I just discovered my mother's AL which is on lockdown has admitted another resident. What do you think?

I just admitted my wife to memory care facility TODAY (3/17/2020). That had been our plan and the management and staff were wonderful! They took every precaution possible and now I know my wife is comfortable and SAFE! Who knows how much longer I’d have to wait until this lockdown is lifted? Who knows how many falls she might have suffered?
I am extremely grateful!

I really can't see this as something to panic about, as far as I know facilities here are still accepting new residents - after proper screening of course.

Central Florida here. The ALF where my father is is on lockdown too. They closed their dining room and are feeding residents in room. He is safe and taken care of and i have no intention of trying to visit. I am 64 with chronic diseases and sheltering at home. Everyone is doing the best they can. What will be will be. Good luck to us all.

Louisiana has a population of about 5M and as of this moment 392 cases. I wouldn't add to the irrational panic taking place.

I think the lady's arrival was probably agreed, arranged and paid for before the AL put its lockdown policy in place; and the least worst option available was to go ahead with admission.

You're going to call - what do you want them to say? Assuming that your mother's information is correct, what's your better idea of what everyone should do *now*?

For the short term, it is best if everyone considers that we are in a state of emergency.

The main point about this is that everything we all of us do just at the moment falls into one of only two possible categories: Helpful, and Unhelpful. It contributes to getting everyone through this crisis, or it makes it more difficult.

If what you are thinking of doing cannot be made to fit into the Helpful column, please don't do it, at least for now.

So, for example, ringing up the NH - good luck getting hold of anyone in authority at the moment anyway - and demanding information about another resident - yeah, that's going to happen - and how they're going to correct this situation...

Not helpful. Not even helpful in protecting the OP's own mother, come to that - because the new resident is already there, she is a fait accompli.

Sigh. Roll on universal testing, that's what I say. Anyone heard any updates on how long that's going to take?

I think the point of all NH lockdowns is to restrict non-essential visits. This new woman was probably scheduled to enter a while ago. I'd call the admin and ask what their protocol is for new entries. They are between a rock and hard place. I feel sorry for this woman's family for the stress of this move during this unprecedented time of health concerns. I don't blame you for your concern, either. My MIL is in a locked down NH too. I would be interested in knowing what the NH tells you. Let us know if you can.

The hospitals need to be cleared of people who need rehab and assistance in order to make beds available for the upcoming tsunami of patients. They are going to have to allow rehabs and nursing homes to admit people.

It would be great if all admissions were quarantined for 14 days, though.

If the new resident is being admitted from a hospital, a discharge to a facility may have been in order to free up beds for a possible influx of patients due to the coronavirus. Most likely, the facility has protocols in place for new admissions given the knowledge of the reality of the population. If they are coming from home, I'm thinking the same protocols apply universally. While I can sympathize with your concern, how would you feel if it were your loved one who is in need of a higher level of care during this crisis.

Well my mom was in a nursing home, was transferred to a hospital for a NON coronavirus infection on Saturday. I have been visiting her every day except for Wednesday. When I called on Thursday they told me she had been discharged. I was completely confused and angry because they had not told me where she was being discharged. After about 10 minutes of scrambling around, they said she had been discharged to the nursing home she came from. I called the nursing home to make sure she was there, and she is. She no longer has a roommate as they put her in a private room due to the coronavirus scare. I am very angry at the hospital for not telling me she was being moved. I get the that we are in a health crisis and that things are a little crazy to say the least, but the hospital managed to call me five times to ask the same question regarding a local healthcare provider which I repeatedly told them she did not have one in this area because she is from a different city and I moved her to be closer to me but they can't manage to call me when she is discharged? My mom also has dementia so I don't see how they could legally do this. And please let me repeat I do understand that we are in a Health crisis. However mom is in the high-risk category and was being moved back to a nursing home so I'm just really disgusted that the hospital couldn't bother to tell me anything regarding that. The social worker was pretty flippant that I talked to oh, so I now have a phone call in to patient advocacy.