Why & how does nursing home get away with not notifying me? I am the only surviving child, who lives out of state. I am also his guardian and conservator. I have requested medical records with no response from Social Services Director. I do not have his personal belongings left from his room, and I don't know where his belongings are. The nursing home did not call for the dr, did not call for an ambulance as I asked for one on the day before he died. I did sign paperwork for the request to give him the Covid test back in Oct, but I guess the nursing home does not have to follow and laws, rules about families and notification. Who do I call now to get his medical records? My last medical records from the nursing home is from Dec. 2019, they would never give me his records when I asked, always took repeated asking, just awful business practices.
Did you speak to his MD regarding the decision he made not to remove Dad to hospital? He may tell you that his death was sudden; it well can be. O2 sats can plummet in seconds. In some who are fragile and elderly a ventilator cannot even pump in the air through the severity of the pneumonia. The doctors have at times to make decisions in the best interest of their patient, and to make them fast.
I hope you will be able to speak directly with the physician in charge of decisions at the care home. Try not to enter with an adversarial attitude because they are currently under great pressure, and may set up one big roadblock; that won't help you.You say that the LTC people notified you of his death "the next day". Or was this the move to Covid Ward you meant? Was this death expected? When was the last time you spoke to someone re his condition, and when did he pass?
Right now LTC is overwhelmed with the decisions, care and choices. No good options exist at the moment and all are exhausted, with already dwindling supplies again, and limited resources. Your Dad is precious to you. They are dealing with so many more precious elders and their families.
As his MPOA you should have access to SEEING the medical records, however they do not always have to copy and send them. The way it works in my own state is that the records are owned by the facility, and families can access them to look at them; in my own state personnel cannot answer questions about the records, or interpret the records; at least that was how it was at my retirement some 15 and more years ago.
As to his belongings, it is now your responsibility to find someone (they may be able to help) in removing his belongings. This is not easy in Covid times; I had to have it done for my bro who died at the other end of my state when I could not be with him in May. I was lucky to have a friend of his I could pay to take care of everything. It was not easy. The person was not able to enter the facility more than once a day, and had to have some things transported to curb by staff then taken by him. In fact his work was cut out for him.
Again, so very sorry for this loss. I hope it is a small comfort for you to know that in all likelihood, the severity of this pneumonia in one older and so sick with it would likely not have been helped by his transport to a busy and overwhelmed ER. Covid has virtually taken us into the "act of God" definition of triage care and it saddens me that I think it will get worse for our elders.
Sadly, there have been terribly disturbing incidents being told about assisted living facilities and nursing homes concerning Covid.
What exactly has the facility told you? Have they given you an explanation for their behavior concerning your father’s suffering with Covid?
Have you considered hiring an attorney to investigate your father’s death further?
I truly hope that you will find the answers that you need to explain what happened during this dreadful time.
Again, I am truly sorry for your loss.