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Elder Law and Care Home Mishaps. Who’s on your side to help, are they able, and will they help?  You might be surprised by the answers. 

After listening to these next two episodes (part 1 and part 2), you will gain a new, more empowered understanding of your parent’s care facility and what they’re legally allowed to do, or not do for them.  In addition, you’ll learn how to get better care for them and understand where you have the power to make a difference. 

First off, here is where most of us get caught off guard when we think our folks are safer in these facilities:

You visit your parents in their new care home residents and notice things aren’t what you thought they’d be or were at first.  Everything was great early on and the staff seemed friendly and welcomed you with each visit. Then… little things started to happen or pile up:

• Their room smells bad like a used urinal.
• Their bed is soiled, even though the sheets and bathroom towels should have been changed on Monday (it’s now Wednesday) – per the marketing and agreement documents.
• Mom appears depressed, sits in her darkened room, and rarely ventures out to walk and visit other residents.  You notice she’s being charged meals to be delivered to her room, but they’re only piling up in the mini-fridge.
• Dad’s not eating like he used to and is rapidly dropping weight. 
• The staff doesn’t notice or tell you.
• One of them took a fall and it took hours (or longer) for someone to discover they’d been on the floor trying to get help.
• Mom enjoys bantering with a tablemate during mealtimes. Staff misinterprets this and now wants to move her to a memory wing.  You refuse to approve. Her tablemate is swept off to memory care instead.
• Dad’s has an unexplained gash on his leg, which is now infected. The staff nurse has no record of the incident or gash, so it’s not her concern, so you’re told.

You take a firm stance and it’s time for a “serious” conversation with the facility’s management.  Nothing changes (a laughable moment for those who know better about the industry).  Trips to the ER increase because Management says their needed. The monthly bill increases by another $5k because management says mom needs more oversight. The quality of that oversight is ultimately a lot less than what you expected, based on cost, and the list goes on. 

This is when you decide it’s time to get legal counsel.  This is where you learn exactly what happens in many care facilities, and the difference between a care home/facility, Rehab Facility, Nursing Home, and in-home care agency.

Tune into Part One and learn how to take more control where you can.

Guest: Lauren Ellerman, JD, Partner, Frith & Ellerman, PC. Lauren's practice is focused on Medical Malpractice, Non-Compete litigation, and Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect. She helps clients in a range of civil litigation matters, including medical malpractice, and business litigation. She was recognized as one of the youngest Super Lawyers in Medical Malpractice for the Commonwealth of Virginia., and in 2020 she was named the BEST Lawyer in America in Roanoke for Plaintiff’s Medical Malpractice, and the first female to receive the nomination.

She is the co-author of  How to Beat Your Virginia Non-Compete. Lauren and her husband, Whit, are very active in the Roanoke Valley: opening a restaurant, The River and Rail; starting a non-profit