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Mom recently fractured her arm, refused medical care for follow up visit to Orthopedic doctor. Was lethargic and hallucinating so I called 911. Long story short, was taken into ch. 55 custody by PO and taken to hospital, from there waited for rehab center to accept her. Only one would take her and she has been there for 20 days getting rehabilitation. Was notified yesterday that Medicare will run out in three days as the therapists can't do anything further until cast comes off. Therefore, I've been instructed to private pay for 14 days. She is scheduled to return to Orthopedic doctor end of next week and hopefully, get the cast off. Can the nursing home/rehab do that? I did bring up that after 21 days, the next hundred days are covered by Medicare and supplemental insurance, which she has. My mom is mobile but they have her sitting most of the day in a wheel chair. What if any rights does she have? What are we obligated to pay? This would be private pay. Not sure how to proceed. I have Guardianship and POA for Health. She also has been diagnosed with dementia during her stay in the hospital.

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Hi Freqflyer, It started innocent enough. Mom fell in home and couldn't get up, after 30 minutes of trying, I called 911 for EMS. They arrived and helped mom up. Her left arm was in pain so they asked if she would like to go to emergency, at first she said no but after 30 plus minutes of coaxing, she went. At the ER, she got fully checked out and found that she had a fracture in left arm. Soft sling was wrapped on her arm and was sent home. Follow-up appointment was 10 days later. No therapy during this time. On the day of the Orthopedic appointment, mom refused to go. That morning she woke up very sleepy and also telling me she heard people upstairs (no one but me). That has been happening over a course of two years or so. This was the only appointment I could get and it was important for her to make it. Therefore, after giving her some time to reconsider, I called 911. Told them what was happening, Fire Dept EMS showed up and local police officer. They spoke to my mom over an hour and were more than willing to take her to her doctor's appointment. No, no, no was her reply. The officer said he could apply chapter 55, custody so to speak. She was then taken to a nearby hospital and under custody for 30 days. She was thoroughly checked out. No UTI. They did diagnose mom with dementia after evaluation. During her hospital stay, she received occupational therapy and physical therapy. They helped her walk with the aid of a three pronged cane, using her good arm. By all rights, she should have been released and back home but because she kept denying medical care, something needed to be done. Therefore, the stage was set for Guardianship. She has been in the nursing home/rehab center for 21 days now. When they said that therapy was going to end on o1/12, and I needed to pay a full month ahead ($9000) and I was not going to get it back but when physical therapy began again, I would get credit for future stay. I know it sounds confusing. As long as she is getting some kind of physical therapy, Medicare will cover her stay. Anyway I balked, because her cast will most likely come off next week and then she would need therapy again. They decided to charge me only for half a month. Since this happened, I visited the nursing home and saw the Occupational therapist working with my mom, followed by the Physical therapist walking in to do whatever they were going to do. I think they were surprised to see me and I asked them why they were stopping working with my mom. They did not know that they were no longer working with mom as of the 12th. So I went to the head office and was told the person who spoke to me over the phone was not there. Then one of the therapist said if she is not making progress, that would be one reason to stop. Well thanks to this amazing AgingCare site, I found legal documents on Medicare that said to the contrary. That they do cover care even if progress is not being made. Bottom line as of yesterday, afternoon I got another call from nursing home and they decided to continue until next week when she sees the Orthopedic doctor and hopefully, gets her cast off. I think I need to get in touch with Elder Care Attorney or senior care organization to help guide me. The nursing home/rehab center is trying to get me to start private pay.
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Littlebear, I am confused. Why was Mom placed in rehab when she couldn't do the physical therapy until the cast came off? When I broke my arm couple years ago I couldn't do physical therapy until the bone was completely healed. Had numerous series of x-rays prior.

What is "ch.55 custody by PO"?

Why was Mom lethargic and hallucinating? One would think the hospital would find the cause, treat Mom, and send her home. Did Mom have an Urinary Tract Infection? Such an infection would cause such symptoms in an older person. Or were the pain meds causing a side effect?
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