Well, we have quickly reached the point of having spent down MIL's savings. I submitted her application for Medi-Cal (California's Medicaid) 30 days ago, and their time frame for a decision is 45 days. We placed her in a board & care in May, at a care rate that we felt could be sustained at least till the end of this year. One week later, she ended up in ICU with a UTI that went into sepsis. After 6 days in the hospital with delirium, having become bed bound and fully incontinent, we assumed she would be discharged to a SNF. However her B&C has a Hospice waiver and convinced us they could care for her if she qualified for Hospice. She did, due to septic shock. We felt in her altered mental state she would be better off not being moved to another unfamiliar facility. Since then we have dealt with lack of communication from B&C staff as well as hospice staff, months of MIL languishing in bed in her room which is in a separate building from the main house, where she felt alone much of the time, and rarely eats much, so is losing weight. After much prodding and shifting of responsibility (between the two staffs), she was moved into the main house and a doctor's order was written for her to be gotten into her wheelchair and taken to the dining room and communal areas. So, finally some improvement. But with the "hospice-level care" came an increase in monthly care fees of over $1600, which has seriously depleted her savings. We are now at the point of having to scramble and rob Peter to pay Paul to pay her rent.
Since she is not going to be discharged from a hospital to a SNF, how do we find a SNF with Medicaid beds that we can feel halfway good about placing her in? I'm searching online hoping to find a placement agency like the one that helped us find the B&C, but I don't find them. Do they exist? The hospice social worker has worked in many SNFs and knows which ones are better than others. Do I wait till Medi-Cal is approved and put him on it? We plan to keep the same hospice company because they know her now and we have established a relationship with them.
Thanks once again for your input.
I would try to get a local person who can meet with you , arrange tours , negotiate, they know availability, cost , requirements. And they are paid by the facility that’s placed in.
I wish you luck .. and hope you get things resolved quickly
So what does the Board and Care facility do extra for her that hospice isn't doing that justifies the added expense? I would certainly be looking into that and questioning them.
Sorry that really didn't answer your question, but thought I needed to comment on that. Best wishes in finding the best place for your MIL.
It can be a good place to start, right now.
After you’ve seen what’s available in your area, try a couple walk-in visits. Even going into the reception area can give you some clues about how a place is run.
Ask friends and family for recommendations and warnings.
Try to avoid using your funds, but if you temporarily must, document every cent you lay out.
Good luck!