Assisted living facility laws in Minnesota

[thebrain]

I know there are a few lawyers on here and whether or not you know of specific laws in Minnesota, I was wondering if you can shed some light on whether or not this specific home has broken any laws.

My Grandma's 77, lives at an assisted living home since she had her stroke a few years ago. She's in wheel chair and has aphasia which is language disorder where she has difficulty in producing or comprehending spoken or written language. In other words, the wrong words come out yet she knows what she wants to say.

Wednesday, April 7, she was dropped. Assume it was from the wheel chair to the bathroom or the other way around. I don't believe we've been told.

Thursday, April 8, my mom's notified of the drop, grandma's pretty much in bed, not eating, in a lot of pain. Doctor called, nothing is done.

Friday, April 9, around 7:30 PM she's brought to a local hospital. X-Ray taken, nothing is found. They get her some Vicodin and send her back to the assisted living.

Wednesday, April 14, taken back to the hospital since she's still in pain and not eating. Same hospital and ER she was previously at. A CT scan was done this time and it shows her pelvis is broken in multiple locations.

My questions, are assisted living facilities supposed to notify people of a fall, have a police report done, or any other record of the event? From what I've been told, the home hasn't given my parents a whole lot of information and were first told about it around 24 hours after the drop. I understand accidents happen, I'm thinking that's what this is, but not reporting it to my parents has me wondering what was going on. Is there anything we should be doing?

Thanks...

[The Rube]

Re: Assisted living facility laws in Minnesota

1. Contact a lawyer, like yesterday.
2. Contact a lawyer, like yesterday.

Better safe than sorry. I'm wondering about the hospital not finding multiple fractures the first time around, along with waiting on the notification to your parents.

[thebrain]

Re: Assisted living facility laws in Minnesota

They explained it that they missed it because of the advanced age and lack of calcium and that it's common, however, if this was common knowledge, why didn't they order the CT scan to begin with.

I'm thinking my parents and uncle should contact a lawyer now. I'm not wanting money like this, I'd prefer it never to happen again to anyone else.

[The Rube]

Re: Assisted living facility laws in Minnesota

They explained it that they missed it because of the advanced age and lack of calcium and that it's common, however, if this was common knowledge, why didn't they order the CT scan to begin with.

I'm thinking my parents and uncle should contact a lawyer now. I'm not wanting money like this, I'd prefer it never to happen again to anyone else.

Contact the lawyer, because even if you don't want any money, this ensures that if something was done illegally or whatever, it most likely won't happen again because an investigation might find some violations, or something.

As it stands right now, who's to say that this hasn't happened here in the past, and since no one got a lawyer, nothing was done about it?

CYA. I'm sure you're familiar with that acronym. Cover. Your. Arse. If the home has done nothing wrong, then boom, you just paid your lawyer for a good night's sleep. That'd be fine by me.

[thebrain]

Re: Assisted living facility laws in Minnesota

Contact the lawyer, because even if you don't want any money, this ensures that if something was done illegally or whatever, it most likely won't happen again because an investigation might find some violations, or something.

As it stands right now, who's to say that this hasn't happened here in the past, and since no one got a lawyer, nothing was done about it?

CYA. I'm sure you're familiar with that acronym. Cover. Your. Arse. If the home has done nothing wrong, then boom, you just paid your lawyer for a good night's sleep. That'd be fine by me.

That's exactly what I'm thinking....Getting them to do something about it, may be tough.

[The Rube]

Re: Assisted living facility laws in Minnesota

That's exactly what I'm thinking....Getting them to do something about it, may be tough.

Them, as in the home/hospital? If they are staring a potential (I'll stress that word in your case, as I don't think you're gonna do that) lawsuit in the face.....a potential 6-7 figure lawsuit these days.....they'll do something about it.

"Best" case scenario, an investigation finds flaws in the hospital's or home's procedures, they get fined/whatever, and they fix those flaws.

[Twitch Boy]

Re: Assisted living facility laws in Minnesota

Is this an actual hospital, or just an assisted living center?

If it's a hospital, you may want to get a hold of JCAHO. They're the big boss; if a hospital runs afoul of them, it's bye-bye accreditation.

[thebrain]

Re: Assisted living facility laws in Minnesota

Them, as in the home/hospital? If they are staring a potential (I'll stress that word in your case, as I don't think you're gonna do that) lawsuit in the face.....a potential 6-7 figure lawsuit these days.....they'll do something about it.

"Best" case scenario, an investigation finds flaws in the hospital's or home's procedures, they get fined/whatever, and they fix those flaws.

Getting my parents or uncles to contact a lawyer. I probably don't have a lot of say. I think the best case scenario is what I'd like to happen.

[thebrain]

Re: Assisted living facility laws in Minnesota

Is this an actual hospital, or just an assisted living center?

If it's a hospital, you may want to get a hold of JCAHO. They're the big boss; if a hospital runs afoul of them, it's bye-bye accreditation.

She was living at the assisted living center and was taken to a hospital. They're two separate places. I know assisted living centers don't have as many regulations as nursing homes, so I'm not sure what kind of laws they have.

[ScottM]

Re: Assisted living facility laws in Minnesota

You may want to have your family and/or lawyer review any agreements with the Assisted Living Center, as they may specify notification for certain events, duty of care, etc. As well, you may want to check this place out with the state, since it may have other issues as well. At the very least, you may consider filing a complaint with the state health department and/or the Attorney General.

[thebrain]

Re: Assisted living facility laws in Minnesota

You may want to have your family and/or lawyer review any agreements with the Assisted Living Center, as they may specify notification for certain events, duty of care, etc. As well, you may want to check this place out with the state, since it may have other issues as well. At the very least, you may consider filing a complaint with the state health department and/or the Attorney General.

Thanks!

[walrus]

Re: Assisted living facility laws in Minnesota

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My questions, are assisted living facilities supposed to notify people of a fall, have a police report done, or any other record of the event? From what I've been told, the home hasn't given my parents a whole lot of information and were first told about it around 24 hours after the drop. I understand accidents happen, I'm thinking that's what this is, but not reporting it to my parents has me wondering what was going on. Is there anything we should be doing?

Thanks...

When my mom was in an assisted living facility I was called every time a bump or a bruise happened. Usually within hours. I'd guess and say they have 24 hrs to report it. In my case the facility wasn't a hospital so we still had some responsibility in my moms care. They couldn't make decisions about what my mom needed without consulting me or my brothers first. Tough situation for sure