I Can't Stand By And Let People Die

I am a health advocate in San Diego, CA. I love my job because I solve people’s health care problems. But recently I got involved in a client situation in which an 80-year-old woman, who was a mother, grandmother, mother-in-law, and friend, passed away from Corona virus. This woman lived in her own home but had broken her leg and was put in a nursing home in May for rehabilitation services. Let’s call this woman Deb.

Deb did not want the rehabilitation because she was in a lot of pain. She would do it sometimes and refuse at other times. By the end of September, she developed Covid-19 with about 19 other residents in this facility. She was transferred to Kaiser Hospital and was there about 5 days when the Hospital wanted to send her back to the Covid-19 filled facility.

That is when my client hired me. We both thought is was highly inappropriate for a patient to be transferred back to a Covid-19 hotspot. Deb went into the Hospital on the last Tuesday in September. We were involved in applying to Medicare to let her remain in the Hospital until we found an appropriate alternative. 

By Sunday, October 3rd she took a turn for the worse, and was placed in Compassionate Care, and died by Monday. On Sunday, I spoke with Deb’s Kaiser Hospital physician who explained in detail what had happened to Deb. I also spoke to the doctor about why she would want to send a patient with improving Covid-19 symptoms, back to a nursing home that had a Covid-19 problem.

The doctor explained it was the only facility that had private rooms and once someone had Covid-19, she told me that a person cannot get it again. Really?

That is not what the experts are saying.  This is the first concerning thing about these events and the next concerning issue, is that the number of Covid-19 cases in this nursing home has skyrocketed in just a few days! As of Friday, October 2nd, this nursing home had 31 staff with Covid-19 and 36 patients with Covid-19. Two or three days prior to October 2nd, 19 patients had Covid-19.

After Deb died, I could not stand idly by and allow older patients to die. I phoned 3 different San Diego Public Health Facilities, getting nowhere. I also called the Director of the Public Health Service in San Diego, Dr. Wilma Wooten and did not hear back from her. 

I have so many questions that are not being answered, like:

1. Who is taking care of the patients if so many of the staff have Covid-19?

2. Have any of the patients passed away from Covid-19 in the nursing home?

3. How is the nursing home handling Covid-19 patients?

4. What kind of care are they receiving?

5. Who is providing care?

6. What protocols are being put in place to keep patients and staff safe?

7. How did Covid-19 spread in this Nursing Home?

8. Why would a major insurance company transfer patients to a place that has a huge Covid-19 outbreak?

These are just some of the questions. I have others. I can’t stand idly by. I need answers. 

One thing that stands out to me is why during Dr. Wooten’s Wednesday TV appearance about the Corona virus she did not bring up this nursing home or any others that are hot spots, when asked about hot spots in San Diego.

Let’s keep our eyes out to see if she mentions any nursing homes this week.