Why is the rehab my mom went to refusing to let her come back?

The hospital social worker called you? That is who insinuated they "refused" to take her?

I think in your place I would call the rehab directly and ask to speak to their social worker or the person in charge of admissions and try to get a more complete answer.

I completely agree with Jeanne. My experience with discharge planners (who sometimes also are social workers) is that even in the best hospital we go to, they often try to work out the easiest and quickest arrangement, but also that they're not candid about the places they recommend (even though that's not the case in this situation).

However, it is her responsibility to help find a place.

In one situation, 2 discharge planners (at different times) suggested a facility which I learned form an ombudsperson agency was very badly rated, that that many people who went in came out in body bags. I didn't consider that an overstatement.

Take a look at the patient's diagnosis code numbers , write it down, look it up and get it translated. If there is any psychiatric DSM code in there, the rehab can't take them per state health laws, unless they are licensed to handle psychiatric cases (psych MD on staff). The facility you want may only have a limited mental health license.

In my situation, I had family members who made the nursing home staff extremely uncomfortable and ordered them around and made unfounded accusations of neglect and fraud. They harassed and constantly criticized the staff, though in their eyes they were just "taking care of Dad". (IMHO, it was a control issue.) I repeat - UNFOUNDED accusations. My father had a crisis that brought out all kinds of mental illness based on our less than pleasant childhood, and it was reflected in their behavior. These members eventually convinced my father that I could no longer give him the attention he needed and that they needed to take over his care. Dad gave in, and POA was transferred to them. They tried to move him to another facility, but were refused without reason. From what I heard, they had grilled the new facility's staff, talked to patients, even looked into the cafeteria. In short, they were carrying on with the new staff the way they were with the old staff. You may want to make sure that there are no family members sending up red flags with the staff. I know that I wouldn't want to take in my father, based on the way my family was treating my employees. It would just be asking for trouble.

I live in a retirement city and aging care facilities are everywhere. When my father-in-law was admitted to the hospital we had to wait all day to get him into a room because the hospital was full. He had been in temporary care several times. He was a very difficult patient. He died on the 5th of this month. We had no problems with any facilities in this area. But thanks to my wife, who demands answers and will not accept just any opinion; we alway got the best care available.
Our solution is to keep going up the ladder to the top and demand answers. It usually works.
Remember if there is no other competition they can pretty much do as they please.

No point in sending her to rehab if she is non-compliant. She has to be motivated to take meds, use oxygen and do the PT. Yes, it is legal.

i can't believe that that is the only one rehab it might be the nearest one to the hospital,,but there maybe others nearby but not as close. Who takes care of your mom after the two weeks.

If it's a short-term stay, you may want to find out if the hospital has an in-house rehab facility that could take her.

Kim, your mother has lung disease and ends up in the hospital, it seems, because she is non-compliant at home with what she needs to do to stay out of the hospital.

It sounds like the underlying issue is that she needs a higher level of care; someplace where her oxygen use can be monitored and encouaged. Try to see the big picture here.

Hospitals routinely discharge to "rehab"----this is their way of clearing out beds of people that are not ready to be discharged home but can get the same treatment that they got in the hospital to make room for someone else to fill the bed & for the hospital to make more money from a new admission.

Is your mother oxygen-dependent at home? Why did she refuse to "take oxygen home with her"? (I find this statement strange because rehab facilities don't send people home with oxygen---oxygen is usually delivered by a home medical supply service.) Why does your mother require one hospital stay every year? Does she get pneumonia or an exacerbation of COPD? Perhaps she needs better control of her COPD in the form of steroids, a bi-pap machine & oxygen
at home to prevent a hospital admission. You should inquire about it with her doctor.

Legally, people can refuse anything they want and nobody can force anything on them. People are non-compliant all the time, for one reason or another.

One thing I do know is that there are strict limits on payment by Medicare & secondary insurance when there is a re-admission for the same thing within a certain amount of time. Hospitals & rehabs will not get paid for a re-admission for the same problem. Therefore, doctors try everything in their power to avoid re-admitting patients with the same diagnosis so they & the facility will be paid.

Everything boils down to money, in healthcare and everywhere else. Morals & ethics don't matter. Doing the right things doesn't matter. It's all about which insurance is going to pay the most for the stay. It shouldn't be that way, but it is. Rehab facilities and LTC do not want to take patients on a lot of medications---especially brand name, expensive medications---and they want patients that need the least amount of care, so that they spend the least amount of money & collect the most amount of money. It's called a "wallet biopsy". That's how rehabs & LTC places function.

Welcome to America!!