Nursing home location help

[Anonymous]

Hi all,
Recently found out I was made power of attorney for a former colleague. She has been diagnosed with advanced Alzheimer’s.

We had found a place for her at sunrise in the memory care unit. However after the evaluation by sunrise, the care coordinator told me she needs 1 to 1 assistance. Meaning, In order to accept her to the sunrise memory care facility, we would need to staff someone from an outside agency for much of the day (and maybe night) which’s significantly increases he cost.

She has about 300k in savings/assets, which may or may not be a lot depending on how long she lives. She has no comorbidities.

Sunrise is already 10k a month for memory care. Adding in the 1:1 staffing makes the cost astronomical (I haven’t even calculated the exact number to be honest).

I am in Arlington and was hoping for something nearby. However, now I’m not sure what to do or what I should be looking for. Please let me know any suggestions/thoughts/recommendations.

[Anonymous]

You will be spending down her assets and then Medicaid will pay. It was a surprise to me that a person might needs skilled nursing care + their own attendant but my Dad did (advanced Parkinsons). He did not live too long in that state.

[Anonymous]

Not sure I can be very helpful but a couple of thoughts: she can only go where she can afford. If it's far from you to a rural location where costs are cheaper, so be it. Even if she has no family ... maybe someplace she's from, has some connection to. Though I guess with *advanced* alzheimer's, her knowing where she is, geographically, won't much matter. But again. She has to go where she can afford. I would say the place needs to accept Medicaid. This 1 on 1 ask seems unreasonable.

[Anonymous]

That makes no sense. She should go into a memory care unit and they should provide everything but spend it all down and let medicaid take over.

[Anonymous]

My mom has Alzheimer's and is in assisted living at Sunrise. Sunrise can definitely ask for someone to have 1:1 care, but usually that is for someone who has already been there for a while. If the person needs 1:1 care from the start, maybe it is not the right place. Do they still have their home/apartment? Could they live there with 24/7 care from an agency? That might be cheaper than 24.7 care + Sunrise's costs. Hopefully your colleague won't live much longer. sorry you are dealing with this.

[Anonymous]

I know people who have hired “sitters” on their own for reasonable pay as compared to the amount an agency charges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That makes no sense. She should go into a memory care unit and they should provide everything but spend it all down and let medicaid take over.[/quote

Many seem to be short staffed and cannot provide the level of care needed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My mom has Alzheimer's and is in assisted living at Sunrise. Sunrise can definitely ask for someone to have 1:1 care, but usually that is for someone who has already been there for a while. If the person needs 1:1 care from the start, maybe it is not the right place. Do they still have their home/apartment? Could they live there with 24/7 care from an agency? That might be cheaper than 24.7 care + Sunrise's costs. Hopefully your colleague won't live much longer. sorry you are dealing with this.

OP, did Sunrise say your mom needed a 24/7 additional aide? Or just part of the day?

If you choose to have your mom cared for at home, I would expect it to cost at least 30k/month for a rotating team of caregivers from an agency to give 24/7 coverage.

[Anonymous]

Sunrise isn’t good, and that $300k will be gone in a year. Try the Virginian or the Kensington.

[Anonymous]

I wonder about why they say they are not able to manage the patient. My Father was in a memory facility. The staff managed. This was a more rural midwest location. There was a firm routine in place for the residents. I didn't look like there was more than 1 staff to every 4 residents. I was there enough to know the residents were well cared for and to see how the day operated. I (or no one) was there except to have a social visit -- we were not stepping in to help, and do the staff's job. My Father, who was there for dementia died there so they were managing his condition until the very end. Hospice came in to provide guidance, emotional support, not nursing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My mom has Alzheimer's and is in assisted living at Sunrise. Sunrise can definitely ask for someone to have 1:1 care, but usually that is for someone who has already been there for a while. If the person needs 1:1 care from the start, maybe it is not the right place. Do they still have their home/apartment? Could they live there with 24/7 care from an agency? That might be cheaper than 24.7 care + Sunrise's costs. Hopefully your colleague won't live much longer. sorry you are dealing with this.

OP, did Sunrise say your mom needed a 24/7 additional aide? Or just part of the day?

If you choose to have your mom cared for at home, I would expect it to cost at least 30k/month for a rotating team of caregivers from an agency to give 24/7 coverage.

I wrote the above. Sorry, I must have been confusing your post with another one; I just looked back and saw this is a former colleague and not your mom.

[Anonymous]

is this really a thing? or is this limited to private pay residents? how would someone on Medicaid cover this?

[Anonymous]

That’s a big responsibility to be in charge of your former colleague. Were you very close? It ends up being a lot of work if you are the point person and the one who gets called by the facility

[Anonymous]

These people were recommended on another thread. Could be worth a consult for advice. https://eldercc.com/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sunrise isn’t good, and that $300k will be gone in a year. Try the Virginian or the Kensington.

Terrible experience at the Kensington. Quality of Sunrise depends entirely on which community you’re considering.