The VA Hospital social worker told me that there may not be an available bed for my husband in any of the nursing homes that the VA contracts with in the county where I live. I have tried to get my husband into the VA nursing home which is in the same building where he is currently an inpatient at the VA Hospital. He has a 100% service connected disability, but I was told that the VA operated Community Living Center director will not accept him for placement there because he is a carrier of VRE. Now I'm being told that there may not even be an available bed in any other nursing home that the VA contracts with in the ENTIRE county and that they might have to send him to another city. I moved my husband and myself to Syracuse, NY last fall to be close to the VA Hospital and now this social worker says they might have to look at sending him to a nursing home in Ithaca, NY! As if we're not crushed enough that he won't be able to come back home to live. How can they send him so far away from me?
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Or would it be possible that you could keep him at home and have caregivers come in? Look into a program called VIP it is designed to keep Veterans in their homes as long as possible. The Veteran is evaluated as to the help that is needed and a "budget" is set and you have that money to spend for caregivers and other needs. You would get the equipment from the VA, you could ask for Home Based Primary Care so doctors, nurses, and the rest of the "team" would come to you rather than you getting him to the VA if transportation is problematic. You would have to hire caregivers on your own and for me that was the most difficult part. I did contact the local Community College and asked the Director of the Nursing program if there were any CNA's that had recently graduated that would want to work privately. I got two of the best people!