My mother's dementia is progressing quickly. My father has done his best to try and be her care giver but it has reached a point that this is starting to cause major health issues for him. We have been trying to find a memory home or nursing home for her to move into but all have a year or more wait list. I don't think my father's health will hold out that long. We need to find a home that takes Medicare as our family can't afford to pay for the home out of pocket. Any info or advise would be greatly appreciated.
If her discharge was in the last 30 days, you might be able to go back to the discharge folks at the hospital for placement.
Next time mom is in the hospital, YOU make contact with discharge planning the minute she's admitted and have them start looking for a placement. Get familiar with the NH s and Memory Care facilities in your area so that you can narrow the list quickly.
As for a facility with wait lists...the best thing to do is to take mom to the hospital after the next incident (maybe a UTI, a fall, a violent outburst etc). Then you speak to the hospital social worker and tell them that she can no longer be cared for at home. The social worker will find a facility that will accept mom, as hospital patients with social workers are given priority placement. If you haven't been accepted by Medicare when mom is moved to a facility, the facility will accept he rmedicaid pending meaning they will be paid retroactively when the medicaid application is approved.
Angel