| rev:text
| - My dad passed away in October of 2013 less than 24 hours after being released from Heath South on Valley View.
I had written a letter to the Health South management team a few months after he passed. Here we are a year and a half later and they are just now calling me back. Talk about adding insult to injury. I have returned the call from them and left them a voicemail. I haven't spoken with anyone yet but the annoying phone tag and extreme delay to my letter has finally motivated me to make this public. Hopefully this will help other families make the right choice in what facility they choose for their loved ones rehab services.
To get us to how rehab even came about-- My dad was fighting colon cancer that had spread to his spine. He began experiencing difficulty walking, getting to the restroom, or even rolling over in bed. I scheduled an emergency appointment with his oncologist and showed up with my brother and not my dad so we could have a serious talk with his doctor. This was his fourth battle with this disease and the doctor really seemed to look at him as a lost cause. My brother and I were struggling to care for him, were not doctors! We were 21 and 23 year old kids! During this appointment, he told us my dad needed to go to rehab to learn to walk again and after three hours of trying to convince my dad to go to Health South as his doctor directed, he finally agreed. At this point he wasn't all there mentally and the doctor knew this based on his one on ones with my dad as well as the information my brother and I had provided to him (we were his care takers with the help of two visits per week from a nurse that would take vitals, etc.). My dad gets into rehab and they literally put him in the last room at the end of the hallway, I'd say we saw the nurses about twice a day in the three days he was there. On 10/28/13 a nurse told us he was "refusing" to do the rehab tasks they needed him to do. In reality, the cancer had completely taken over his spine and he was incapable of even trying to walk. He also had radiation damage (his lower back was black from radiation). This nurse also told us that he needs hospice not rehab but that she couldn't recommend that because she isn't a doctor (OK? So you're going to just let this fly?). It was about 7 pm on the same day 10/28/13 when a male nurse came in and I asked him for the supervisors information who he said would return the following morning. I wanted to talk to her and get him released to a hospice as soon as possible so he would at least pass comfortably. He reluctantly gives up her information and starts checking on my dad. I told him, "It sounds like he is drinking out of an empty soda can with a straw when he breathes", I now know this is called "the death rattle". He said he would let the doctor know and sends me on my way as it was 8:30 pm and "visiting hours" were ending. I'm sorry but if you think a patient needs hospice, you think they are dying-- you shouldn't kick their family members out if you think they may only have a limited amount of time left. On my way out I see a gentleman with "respiratory therapist" on his name tag and of course I stop him and tell him my dad's breathing doesn't sound right and asked him to go check on him. An hour after I leave, I get a call saying my dad was being rushed to Mountain View hospital and I needed to get there (I'm assuming the respiratory therapist stepped up and told them to call an ambulance). 10 minutes after that I get a call saying they had to re-route and take him to a closer hospital, Valley hospital. We get there and the ER doctor tells us he has the worst case of pneumonia she has seen in her 5 years of being at Valley hospital. Tell me why a rehab with an ONSITE RESPIRATORY THERAPIST couldn't figure out that he had THE WORST CASE OF PNEUMONIA AN ER DOC HAS SEEN IN 5 YEARS?!?!?!?! He also had septicemia among other things caused by the cancer. He passed away 21 hours later.
I understand the oncologist made the wrong choice sending him to rehab.. but HEALTH SOUTH ALSO MADE THE WRONG CHOICE ACCEPTING HIM AS A PATIENT. They have a responsibility to say, "NO-- THIS PATIENT IS DYING AND NEEDS HOSPICE!" But instead they took him on as a patient and in my opinion kept him as long as they could without him dying on their watch-- all for the money. The quality of care is terrible, the guest/customer/patient service they provide is terrible, and frankly the fact there isn't a supervisor there at night is downright irresponsible. When I drive by this place, even the other locations, I tear up every time. My dad was the best dad and the best friend anyone could ask for. People in healthcare should treat every patient like they would want their own loved ones to be treated in a time of need.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)