What to Do If Your Loved One Was Abandoned by Their Nursing Home

Posted On January 29, 2019 Medicare/Medicaid,Nursing Home Abuse

When you entrust your elderly loved one to a nursing home, you expect that the nursing home will take care of them to the fullest possible extent. Unfortunately, many nursing homes do not truly care about their residents, especially the poor ones.

Nursing homes often abandon residents they no longer wish to deal with, either refusing to take them back from a hospital stay or dumping them on a relative who can’t look after them properly. Some residents have even been unceremoniously dumped on the street.

If you find out that your elderly loved one has been abandoned by their nursing home, you have options. Call Tustin elder abuse lawyer Travis Siegel today at 562-372-6904 for your complimentary consultation.

Why Do Nursing Homes Abandon Residents?

Nursing homes are often underfunded and understaffed, and this leads to cutting corners with resident care. If a resident is low-income or becomes low-income after the nursing home eats through all of their savings, the home may start to look for ways to get rid of that resident. Many nursing homes do not want to take residents on Medicare or Medicaid, because the fees they pay are much lower.

The most common way that nursing homes abandon residents is when a resident needs to go the hospital for emergency care. Many elderly men and women have found that after their care at the hospital is over, they have no bed to return to at their former nursing home. They are now in a very bad place, with no home or savings, and they may simply be abandoned on the street if they have no relative to take them in.

Nursing homes are allowed to evict residents, but they must give 30 days written notice so that the resident has time to find a new place to stay. Reasons a resident may be evicted include:

• The resident poses a danger to staff or other residents at the home
• The nursing home cannot provide sufficient care to the resident
• The resident no longer needs the care the nursing home provides
• The resident cannot or will not pay for their stay, whether by themselves or through Medicare or Medicaid

Nursing homes may resort to underhanded tactics to get a resident out, including falsifying reports of dangerous behavior or falsely stating that the resident no longer needs their care. If you think your elderly loved one’s nursing home evicted them improperly, call Travis Siegel to see what can be done.

Your Legal Options for Nursing Home Abandonment

If your loved one has been abandoned or wrongfully evicted from their nursing home, you should take the following steps:

• First, make sure your loved one has a safe place to stay. This could mean finding them a new nursing home, taking them in yourself, or finding another relative to take them in.
• Call California’s Adult Protective Services.
• Call Tustin elder abandonment attorney Travis Siegel.

Nursing homes behave poorly because they know they can get away with it. Suing a neglectful nursing home sends the message that this type of behavior won’t be tolerated. In addition, elderly men and women often lose all their savings paying for their nursing home. Through a nursing home neglect lawsuit, you can recover compensation that will allow your loved one to live comfortably once again.

Schedule Your Nursing Home Abandonment Consultation Today

If your beloved parent or grandparent has been mistreated at a nursing home, call Travis Siegel today at 562-372-6904 to schedule your complimentary, no-obligation consultation. We serve clients in Tustin, Santa Ana, Long Beach, and other nearby areas of southern California.