Emergency - I need a patient advocate for my Mom is Apple Valley, California!?

Question

She spent 16 hours in the ER and the nurse was not very quick to respond to the constant alarms (BP 60/0) etc., etc. and then spent 4 days in ICU, then Kaiser Fontana requested she be moved to them, 50+ miles away, well she never made it and the paramedics turned back. Now another 5-6 hours in ER AGAIN, and they had to put her on a ventilator. She has upper GI bleeding and they still have not scoped her, we are still waiting for them to identify the bug as well as do a brochoscopy. She has had ARDS twice before and MRSA from the last hospital stay. This woman is going through hell and we can not get concrete answers and the doctor does not seem to be proactive. We even warned them all this was going to happen, because we'd been through it before. The other hospital though (300+ miles away) we were kept informed and they were all over it. Here it seems she is not a priority. What can we do? We have money. I have talked with everyone I can and no one can help. What are our choices here?

Answer 1

You can have her flown out to another hospital, but she must be stabilized first. speak with the hospital supervisor right now and tell her your concerns and that everything has been documented (even if it's not) this will make her nervous there will be a lawsuit and it should help get everyone into action to get you guys out of there safely. No one wants to be sued. I hope you have been documenting everything!

Answer 2

You need to be your mom's advocate, since she is unable to stand up for herself.

If I were you, I'd find the hospital supervisor, and talk with him about your concerns. If it would help, you can see if another doctor can be assigned to your mom's case.

You can always request that she be transferred to another hospital that you feel more comfortable with. Of course, she will have to be stabilized first, and insurance will most likely not pay for the transfer, unless it is an upgrade in care for services not available at the first hospital.

In all honesty, it's impossible (as far as I know) for a BP to be 60/0. If that's what the BP monitor read, it was most likely an error. It's hard to remember when it's your family member in the ER, but those nurses are assigned several patients (sometimes 10 or more) that they have to care for, too. Sometimes, they are critical trauma alerts or cardiac arrests that come in as an immediate priority and take up at least half the staff's attention.
When the alarm starts beeping, sometimes you have to take it upon yoruself to hunt down a nurse and bug them until they do something. It's not that they are trying to be rude; they are just busy.

It's up to you to be the squeaky wheel in this situation! Do whatever it takes to get your mom the care she deserves, even if it means getting her transferred to that hospital further away.

Hope this helps...

Answer 3

How about an air ambulance to UCLA or USC University Hospital? Apple Valley is Podunk, USA. Get her to a teaching hospital, dump Kaiser and get her back on Medicare with a supplemental policy (AARP, Blue Cross, etc.). She's got serious pulmonary issues, as you know, and hanging out in a small community hospital is NOT going to work.

Answer 4

talked to everyone in the ER or hospital admin.?
Go back up to ICU and tell them she is there. Who was her attending? Do you have a gastroenterologist from the other hosp. that can call the er md? I would get her old dr's on the phone and have them talk to the er physcian, request a GI Dr. consult STAT and keep at them. Good luck. Hope your mom recovers!

Answer 5

Blood pressure of 60/0?????????? My moms last blood pressure reading before she died was 60/30 thats how the docs knew she was gonna die in a few minutes.60/0 is dead.If you are not happy with her medical care then travel till you find good help.She is worth it,right?

Answer 6

I think your best bet would be talk to a malpractice lawyer

Sounds awful border line to me