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I contacted the long term care ombudsman to ask for some assistance for a family member. (getting them located closer to home) Instead of her just being honest, every time I call her, she lies and says she will call me right back but she never does.

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There has to be more than one. And there has to be a supervisor. Try to get one of them.

Why do you need an Ombudsman for a transfer? Is the facility giving you a problem in releasing the resident? Is the person on Medicaid? Medicaid doesn't go over state lines.
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worriedinCali May 2019
This poster has multiple posts...about trying to get her BIL in moved. She herself doesn’t have the authority to move him. I am not surprised she is being stone walled.
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That sure is frustrating! Perhaps you need to go over her head?
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haileybug May 2019
againx100 Who would be over her head? She is a state long term care ombudsman.
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IS it possible to go to the facility and corner this person? Sounds silly, b/c a return phone call is standard!

If you can go there, do so, and hang around until she's available. I have had to do this and it usually ends well. The squeaky wheel does indeed get the grease.
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worriedinCali May 2019
She’s 200 miles away.....and has no authority. this is the poster who regularly asks how to get her BIL moved and why memory care facilities turn down dementia patients. He’s been turned down from facilities because of behavior issues.

https://www.agingcare.com/questions/can-someone-please-tell-me-how-to-get-a-family-member-that-is-in-an-alf-closer-to-home-444815.htm

https://www.agingcare.com/Questions/skilled-nursing-home-deny-patient-220111.htm?orderBy=oldest

https://www.agingcare.com/questions/facilities-denied-husbands-brother-219832.htm
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They would do the same if I had "POWER OF ATTORNEY" across my forehead.
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worriedinCali May 2019
No they wouldn’t.
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Yes they would. I know how people handle situations when they are wrong. They either lie or get hush mouth.
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Call the area on aging for the county you are trying to deal with the ombudsman. I had to find out how to deal with the ombudsman that was listening to a demented dad and never listening to the actual issues. They explained things so I could understand. Not that there was any help, it just helped me understand how useless that avenue was.

The problem dealing with any government entity is that there is no accountability, once they get past the 6 month probation period it takes an act of congress to get them fired. Sad situation and makes for really frustrating dealings.

Is you BIL considered competent? Does he want to move? Is your husband, as a blood relative able to get any information?

I would speak to your local ombudsman and ask if they can help you with the steps you can take or if the situation is what it is.
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haileybug Jun 2019
IsThisReallyReal

Thank you so very much for your response/advice.

No, my BIL is not competent, however, he keeps getting getting moved from one location to another. The administration of these facilities claim he is signing himself in.

BIL is 3 hours away from home and we have been trying to get him moved closer to home so that he would not be isolated from family.

Yes, they say he sometimes have behavior issues relating from dementia, therefore, no one closer to home will accept him. In speaking with the ombudsman she states she will pay a visit with BIL and facility to find out what's going on and then call me to discuss things. I never receive a call back and when calling her, she keeps making an excuse to get off the phone and that she will call me back. She never does.
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worriedinCali

Thank you for your response. The facility's administrator did speak with me and stated she would try to help because "It was in his best interest."
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I sympathise with the frustration.

By saying "I'll call you straight back" the ombudsman is not lying, she is being polite. It is a polite of way of saying "could you get out of the way, please."

Let's go back to square one. You contacted the ltcombudsman when? How (letter, phone, email)? And asking her to do what?

The thing is, it is the role of an ombudsman to investigate complaints when there is a dispute between a consumer and a service provider. But it isn't her job to assist you in finding services. In a situation as complex and developed over time as your BIL's, where there have been many providers and perhaps many gaps and failures in provision, there *may* still be issues that are within the ombudsman's remit - but identifying them and then addressing them will take time.

And meanwhile hundreds of other people are appealing for immediate help with their loved ones' pressure sores and suspected mishandling.

I hesitate to suggest patient, dogged persistence to someone who's been working away at something for as long as you have, but that is what it's going to take. How is your BIL, meanwhile? Has anyone been able to see him recently?
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haileybug Jun 2019
CountryMouse

Thank you for your response. Great points.

I am thankful that the ombudsman did investigate and found that a facility had "illegally discharged my BIL". Now we would love to know how he is being dumped from facility to facility, signing himself in, with him being incompetent.

Meanwhile he is in an ALF, 3 hours away, isolating him from family and everyone he knows. We have tried to get him located closer to home but because he has had behavioral issues in the past, facilities will not accept him. The facility administrators and ombudsman state they will assist in helping him.

BIL is doing fine, thank you for asking.

BIL
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After all this time, why hasn’t your husband applied for guardianship? Don’t you think some of the roadblocks you’ve hit are because.....no one has legal authority to do anything? Neither you or your husband has POA. Being that you are an “in law”, not a blood relative, with no POA or guardianship, the facility administrator and the ombudsman are limited in what they can tell you. If your husband gets guardianship of his brother, he would be able to move him, provided he can find a facility willing to take him.
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haileybug Jun 2019
worriedinCalie

Thank you for your response. It is greatly appreciated. Actually, I do not have a problem with the facility administrator or the ombudsman answering any of my questions. I have a problem with them telling me he is signing himself into these different facilities when he is incompetent.

Also, they tell me that he is not having any more behavior issues and that they will help locate him closer to home but they never do. When I call them, they make excuses to get off the phone. Thank you, again.
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