Should I Let Mom Go Back to the Nursing Home After an Injury?

Allowing a Loved One to Return to a Nursing Home Following a Fall, Fracture, Bed Sore or Neglect Injury

As nursing home abuse lawyers, we get calls every day on potential nursing home injury cases. Oftentimes, the elderly injured victim is still alive. Due to neglect at the nursing home, they suffered a serious injury and were hospitalized. Miraculously, they fought through the injury and survived. And now the hospital is planning to discharge them right back to the neglectful nursing home that caused the injury. Obviously, the family does not want their parent to return to the substandard nursing home. So how can you prevent re-admission into the facility?

It is imperative for the safety of your loved one that you do not re-admit them into the at-fault facility. After all, it was the nursing home’s wrongdoing that caused the injury in the first place. Additionally, if you plan to bring a nursing home abuse claim for injuries, it does not look good to allow them back into the facility.

If you fail to take action to stop re-admission, your parent will likely be discharged back into the original nursing home. In this post, our attorneys explain how to stop re-admission from the hospital back into a poorly run, dangerous nursing home.

Free Nursing Home Injury Case Evaluation

If you believe a nursing home neglected your loved one and caused a preventable fall, injury, bed sore, dehydration, infection, or serious harm, contact Senior Justice Law Firm today. Our firm’s focus is on nursing home neglect injury lawsuits. You pay nothing unless we make a recovery on your case.

Call us now, toll-free, to learn about your rights in bringing a nursing home negligence claim: 1-844-253-8919.

How Do I Stop my Parent From Being Re-Admitted into the Nursing Home?

Hospitals are busy places. Priority #1 is saving lives. Your discharge preferences rank well below that, therefore, there is not a lot of requested input when preparing a hospital patient’s discharge. Typically, the hospital notes where the patient lived before (independently at home, a senior living community, or a nursing home) and prepares to discharge them back to that specific location.

This means if you intend on changing the discharge location, say to a different rehab or nursing home, you must take the bull by the horns and effectuate that change yourself.

Exercise Your Rights and Work With Trained Placement Professionals to Stop Readmission After a Hospitalization

Hospital Social Worker

Most hospitals employ a social worker, placement person or discharge specialist who is available during business hours to discuss your discharge plans. It is important that you locate this person right away and inform them of your wishes. Voice your concerns about the nursing home’s care early and often.

Let the hospital discharge planner know that your parent suffered a preventable injury at the prior facility. Vocalize your desire to have them placed anywhere but the neglectful nursing home that caused the problem. They will usually give you a list of nearby nursing homes that accept your family member’s insurance. This should give you some options.

Geriatric Care Manager

If you are getting nowhere with the hospital discharge coordinator, you can hire a Geriatric Care Manager (GCM). Geriatric Care Managers are independent placement professionals that work for you; not a nursing home or hospital.

Our elder abuse attorneys recommend using Aging Life Care Association’s Geriatric Care Manager tool to locate a qualified and licensed GCM near you.

I am being told that ‘This is the only nursing home that will take her insurance’…

This very well may be the case. However, it is recommended you contact you parent’s health insurer and do some digging yourself.

More often than not, large insurance companies have representatives who can assist with placement and/or relocation out of a negligent nursing home.

Most nursing home residents have Medicare. You can click the link below to use Medicare’s nursing home compare tool to locate a better nursing home in your desired location.

Does Going Back to the Nursing Home after an Injury Hurt my Nursing Home Negligence Case?

Yes, re-admission to the defendant nursing home negatively impacts a nursing home negligence case. While there are countless reasons why a resident would be forced to return to a poorly run nursing home, a jury may not like the fact that the patient returned after a hospitalization for the subject injury. We as nursing home negligence attorneys generally counsel our clients to find another facility.