Resident in MC pushed mom, she fell and broke hip, now what?
My mom is in memory care. I found out another resident pushed her, she fell and broke her hip. She needs surgery to repair the fracture.
How is this usually handled? What are the options to ensure my mother is safe among the residents?
From what I am told, my mother was walking in the hall with her walker and was standing next to another resident. She did not instigate hostility, nor is that part of her behaviors. I was told the other resident seems to have felt mom got too close. Being unable to communicate to say "excuse me", this other resident instead pushed my mom which resulted in her breaking her hip that needs surgery to repair.
The Executive Director told me this was an isolated incident and this resident does not have a history of aggression. I am also told the staff there will be making sure my mother will be kept distant from this person. I think the staff cannot ever be 100% able to keep this person away from my mother and that is not much of a safety plan to me.
Can we force the offending resident to move out? Can we demand that perhaps my mother live in the 'assisted living' community instead if we hire an outside caregiver to gap the services she may need for MC?
What about the legal ramifications? What is the family of the offending resident liable for? This other resident caused my mother physical harm and I am not comfortable she is safe living among this person.
Thank you.
But an elderly widow in a NH, it’s hard to place value on for damages. Average lifespan in the US is like 82…. If over 82 you are past any sort of actuarial tables used for value. You have no job / salary loss. If over 65 you are on Medicare so health care costs are being covered. And even if medical was included in a settlement (often done to kick the $$$ value up), Medicare has a required Secondary Payer Act which means any $ paid by Medicare - if included in the settlement - must be repaid to Medicare. It’s a strict rule. Plus if ya do a lawsuit, the elder plaintiff can be deposed. Elderly depositions can be pretty brutal as often the elder comes across as unreliable, unlikeable or even incompetent. For the OP, if depositions from others show that her mom was unable to be mindful of “personal space” with others before this incident happened, she will end up looking like the aggressor.
What you can want to have happen is accommodations done and at no or limited cost to the plaintiff. Like the facility places a bed hold at no cost till the resident returns from their hospitalization, or if there are any copays not covered by Medicare and their secondary health insurance, the facility pays those. Facility also does a plan to monitor the residents to keep them distanced & if it means a spotter is hired to do this during group activities the Nh pays. Attorneys can be hired to do negotiations like this. It’s fee based rather than on contingency.
There will be a Duty of Care liability policy. If the MC is part of a chain, all this info will be firmly at the corporate HQ. Your not getting squat out of them unless you have an attorney
You want a copy of that report. ASAP. It likely will have the name of the person who pushed your mom blacked out. To get anywhere in this, personally I think you will have that report to take to a personal injury attorney with expertise in NH & MC facilities and see what their opinion is.
So mom has been hospitalized? She broke her hip, is hospitalized and scheduled for surgery, right? Imho you want to think about having the MC keep a “bed hold” placed on moms room till a determination is done as to the level of care she needs once surgery & rehab is done. And with no billing. Assuming you want her to return to this MC.
There is the strong possibility that mom will not be returning to MC after her hospitalization. As her care plan will be more on the SNF level. But a bed hold gives you all options.
A memory care facility and a daycare center for children are kind of alike. If your toddler gets seriously injured at their daycare, that daycare facility gets sued. If it's another child who hurt them, that kid gets thrown out that very day.The family is not responsible for what the other resident did to your mother. The facility is because it's their job to make sure all the residents are safe. It's the job of the daycare center to make sure all the kids are safe and secure also.
To answer your question as to whether or not the resident who hurt your mother can be forced out of that memory care facility. Yes, they can but that is a matter for the administration of the facility.
You should know that all care facilities lie. The memory care is most likely not being truthful about the other resident never having any history of pushing, shoving, or aggression. They only start getting truthful, less secretive, and cooperative when they hear from lawyers. So you need to consult with one as soon as possible. The memory care may agree to evict the resident who hurt your mother, but the facilty will do nothing unless they start hearing from lawyers.
The facility should have rules and regulations under which someone can be asked to leave. My brother's ALF surely did have, and one of those was any assaultive behavior.
At the time of the shove and fall with severe injury did you file any assault papers at all. That is to say, is there a police report?
I think you need expert advice. Do see someone.
Can we force the offending resident to move out? - You can hire a lawyer to see if you can force the offender out, with your money and time. Probably highly unlikely since the incident is an isolated occurance and the SOP seems to have taken place.
Can we demand that perhaps my mother live in the 'assisted living' community instead if we hire an outside caregiver to gap the services she may need for MC? - Sure you can try to demand. Be aware your demands, especially if presented in an aggressive manner, will create a hostile relationship with the facility.
What about the legal ramifications? - Again consult with a lawyer with your money and time.
What is the family of the offending resident liable for? - Family is liable at all. What are you trying to gain from pursuing liability from a third party?
This other resident caused my mother physical harm and I am not comfortable she is safe living among this person. - Talk with the admin or director about moving your mother to another unit or look into transfering to another facility if you feel her safety is a major concern.
Being violently assaulted and sustaining injuries that require surgery to fix is not an accident. The memory care facility like the daycare center is responsible for the safety of the people they are getting paid to care for.
What would you do if say you had a five-year old in school or daycare and one day another kid attacked him and he got a broken hip that required surgery to fix and suffered months of pain?
Would you still be saying 'sh*t happens' and accidents happen and put it behind you?
I think most people would definitely think it's worth going to war over if it was their child. It's worth going to war over if it's any vulnerable human being. The OP's mother is paying big bucks to be in memory care and because the facility accepts that money every month, they take on the responsibility for her safety. So if the facility chooses to cut corners by not hiring enough staff to maximize profit by minimizing spending, or does not evict violent and aggressive residents because they don't want to lose that cash flow, that's on them. They need to pay the price for their choices.
Not being assaulted in residential care is not an unreasonable expectation.
Every care facility something like this happens in should be made an example of to all other care facilities. When these places learn that they will be held responsible, residents will get better and safer care.