Right now for many people we live in strange and uncertain times. Most of us live in states that have enacted stay at home orders. Some of us live with people at risk for the Coronavirus, and some of us live with those who have been deemed essential and are working harder than ever to keep the country going. What is true for all of us is that we have loved ones that we care about, and are worried about. The last thing any of us want is to have to worry about is our loved ones whose care we entrusted to organizations that hold themselves out as “Skilled Nursing Facilities.” Unfortunately, this is not always the case.
Most recently a nursing home in Southern California had to evacuate all of its residents. The nursing home had 39 confirmed cases of coronavirus. If you thought this was the reason why the nursing home was evacuated you would be wrong. The state had to evacuate the home because staff stopped showing up to work. For two days in a row 13 employees were no shows to the facility. These are the same facilities you checked your loved ones into because they needed the intensive care that requires a full staff around the clock for their care. While the reasons are unclear why the staff stopped showing up, the conclusion is all the same. Those residents, who are the most susceptible to the virus, were abandoned by the staff. These are the same residents who needed a full staff for their medical care before all of this, and then they were forced to face a global pandemic without the assistance from that same staff.
Our loved ones who stay in nursing homes deserve the dignity, compassion, and competent care of a full staff. It is a growing trend around the country that residents at these nursing homes aren’t getting what they paid for. For families, this can be frustrating as they make numerous complaints to the nursing home, and to state agencies just to feel like they fall on deaf ears. It can seem tedious and that not a lot is getting done.
That does not have to be the case. Residents in nursing homes have rights. Those rights and their life deserve to be respected. When you feel like either one of those are in jeopardy that’s when you need to contact a nursing home lawyer. Most nursing home attorneys will offer free consultations, and if they should choose to accept your case they typically accept them on a contingency fee basis. The attorney will typically take some of whatever monetary amount they are able to get for you. A nursing home lawyer can provide you with the skilled representation and legal advice you need to make sure your loved ones are protected during these especially dangerous times.