The system has been created to devour our elderly whole.
The old man sat through his lunch with his pants down around his ankles, while confined to a wheelchair. Every time he hailed a Nurses Aid to get help, he was ignored.
When I came into the room, he greeted me and asked if I'd seen his Aid.
I asked him why his pants were around his ankles, he looked embarrassed.
"The girl went to get some help."
"When was that?"
"Before lunch."
I hit the button to summon help. It was ten minutes to 2pm. We tried to get his pants back on, but he wasn't able to stand. Every time he tried, his fall alarm went off.
Twice an Aid looked in to turn off the alarm, and vanished. Finally, I left the room and brought someone back. She called the Aid, they came in to, to find he was sitting on a soiled pad. It was 2:30 pm.
I was furious.
I'm still furious, because time has run out on his 'Golden' 20 days of Medicare. There is no way to care for him at home, and no other nursing home will take him after 20 days. Because after that, there's a steep co-pay. The nursing home has swallowed him, now it's coming for all his assets.
It's legal.
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