If my mom in of sound and mind, does her medical POA have any authority to make decisions if mom can leave the facilty and come home. The doctors have given the OK for her to leave, but the facility refuses to fill out any paperwork. They say they have to talk to mom's POA. I thought the medical POA only has power when mom becomes incompetent?
This is correct.
If POA (agent: your sister) and principal (your mom) disagree on a medical decision, your MOM gets the final word.
Example:
my POA document became effective the moment my mom signed (I already have POA powers, even though my mom is competent). BUT if she and I disagree on a decision, SHE gets the final word, because she’s mentally competent.
If in the future she’s mentally incompetent, I get the final word.
The solution pretty simple. Mom revokes her health POA and re-assigns it to you.
Is mom competent enough to do that? Get ger lawyer on the phone.
I'm guessing that the HPOA is seeing signs that mom isn't safe living at home.
The AL must be seeing that sending mom home alone would not be a "safe discharge".
What level of care do you propose her having at home? Can she afford it?
If mom assigns you POA, are you willing to manage her at home care, getting her to doc appointments, making sure she has food and supplies?
How will you handle it if aides call out?
If your Mom is of sound mind, she can revolk the POAs. If she wants to assign you, the new POA will say, "this POA revolks all others".
My Moms medical read that I only took over her Medical if her doctor said she was incompetent. And then, IMO, the Medical POAs responsibility is to carry out the principles wishes. Meaning a doctor wants to put the principle on a feeding tube and the Directive says no feeding tube then the POA tells the doctor that.
I had Immediate POA but I never "took over" until Mom asked me to. When her Dementia progressed, then I had to make decisions because she couldn't. But a Springing POA only goes in effect when the person has been formally declared incompetent by doctors. As long as your Mom can make decisions for herself, no one is really POA.
I hope Mom has a copy of her POA. She shows it to the facility and AL. She, or you, tell the powers that be that Moms POAs are not in effect because she can make decisions on her own. By the way, the POA cannot turn their responsibilities over to someone else.
Come to think of it, even before she was hospitalized and I was still allowed in to her doctor visits, the PCP would get things okayed by me. My mother often didn't hear, so didn't even know. Once she forbade me from going back into the examining room with her, I never knew what was said or done or recommended.
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