Mouse infestation in Wasserman Building, Rockville Hebrew House

[Anonymous]

I can’t believe I’m even having to type this.
A warning to any of you that have parents or grandparents staying in the Charles E Smith Hebrew home in Rockville Maryland. Tonight I saw three very fat looking Live mice running around on the third floor between patient rooms. The first one was in my mom‘s room! When I reported it to the duty staff and the nursing supervisor and the nurse manager everybody seemed as if it was normal and said oh OK. Only one person apologized, and that was the front desk person. I made a fuss and asked her to be relocated to a different room, not realizing that they’re actually all over the place. I was able to get my mom moved to a new room, but then 10 minutes later we saw another gigantic fat mouse running right outside her door again. One of the nurses quietly admitted to me that the whole building is infested. I am making a report to the health department in the morning. This is totally unacceptable. There are mouse traps in the patient rooms Hidden behind the beds and in the corners Where are you? Can’t see them if you’re a casual observer. I also found mouse scat lining the areas around the walls. My mom is super scared of mice and she’s upstairs in her bed, shaking and crying. I’m really upset about this. I cannot believe it.

[Anonymous]

Oh my God! I would be so upset!
I hope you have called the health department, I hope you’ve called the state of Maryland nursing home complaint line, I hope you’ve called the Rockville 311, and I hope you’ve called the facility Director as well to make a complaint. This is very serious. Mice carry so many diseases. If they were running into an in the kitchen, it is not too far of a stretch of imagination to imagine they will be contaminating the patient’s food. I pray that your mom is able to get discharged from there today and moved to a different place. Good luck nobody should be having to deal with us. That is just absolutely unacceptable.

[Anonymous]

This is the OP. I wish I could share pictures here. The mice are absolutely enormous. they are obviously very well fed, and the lack of a reaction from the people who are working on that floor tells me that this has been going on for a while.

I called the hospital Social worker back for help to move my mom to a different facility.

I have called all of the places you mentioned above and I have left messages at the facility itself and I haven’t gotten any calls back.

What really is shocking to me is that people are making it sound like it’s MY problem that I’m upset that there’s live mice running in and out of patient rooms and in and out of the kitchen where the food for elderly patients is being prepared.

Since when is it acceptable to have rodents running around in a facility where people can’t get out of bed if a mouse comes up on them? Most of the people in this place are very old and sick and require a lot of help. I feel so upset for my poor mom who had to spend the night there by herself. She is absolutely terrified of mice, it’s her biggest fear. I feel so upset that she is being put through this when this should be a period for her to start resting and recovering so she can (hopefully) go home.

I hope that this place gets shut down and that they can take the patient someplace clean where they are not in danger of having rodents and diseases or biting them.

If you have a parent or grandparent discharging from the hospital and needs to go to a rehabilitation facility Please, for the love of G-d, Do not send them to the Hebrew house at 6121 Montrose Rd. to the Wasserman building. That whole place needs to be completely taken apart

[Anonymous]

I'm so sorry to hear this, OP! Wishing you luck in reporting this and getting the authorities on the case! I'm glad that you are getting your mom moved but it's upsetting to think about all the other patients.

[Anonymous]

"What really is shocking to me is that people are making it sound like it’s MY problem that I’m upset that there’s live mice running in and out of patient rooms and in and out of the kitchen where the food for elderly patients is being prepared."

What's really surprising to me is that you asked that your mother be moved, as though mice can't go from room to room.

That's not to say that they shouldn't be working to get rid of the mice -- they should. And I'm sorry your mother has her phobia potentially in her face.

But also, it's mice. Buildings get mice. They need to be dealt with, but it's not time to burn everything down.

[Anonymous]

who said OP was 'burning anything down'? what an odd comment to make.

I couldn't blame her for being upset or asking her mom to be moved. It is unfortunate there were mice in the other part of the building too. I would have done the same thing, OP!

The health department regularly shuts places down for rodent infestations. This place should be no different. There are vulnerable people there, it is important their environment and food are safe.

If it were my own mother, I would be outraged too. Hebrew House can do better. Time to move all the patients out to another facility and do a thorough job getting the mice out, before bringing anyone back into the building.

Why this facility is currently still accepting new intakes with an active mouse problem, is unclear to me.

I see from reviews online earlier in the year, this mouse issue is not new. There are a lot of complaints. It is unfortunate the facility is getting a 5 star grade from the Medicare site, that is very misleading.

[Anonymous]

It is the state that regulates nursing homes. You want to be calling Baltimore, not Rockville.

[Anonymous]

Just to make her feel better about sleeping there, could you put draft stoppers along the door gap? I know it won't 100% prevent their entry but it might give her some psychological safety. I'm so sorry this is happening! It's awful!

[Anonymous]

My mother has had mice at the Ring House across the street. Any institution needs to have pest control - I'm surprised the Hebrew Home doesn't have a very active pest management program.

The reality is that mice seem to be everywhere these days. We've caught a few in our basement recently, after not having them for 20 years. I saw one in a restaurant recently. The issue here seems to be what the HH does about it, not so much that they have them.

[Anonymous]

OP, no one deserves to have to live with vermin in what is essentially their bedroom / hospital room. It is perfectly reasonable to draw a hard line at not wanting to be in a facility having a rodent infestation in patient rooms. I agree with PP that this facility should stop accepting new patients until they can get everything figured out.

This facility can and should do better. My dad was in the Wasserman building last year. The mice issue is a known problem to at least 2023. Ring house apparently is dealing with this same issue.

My dad raised his concerns about the mice in his room on the second day he was there, citing his discomfort with seeing rodents in his bedroom. The doctor doing his initial assessment chuckled and told my dad "Oh, you'll get used to it." Well, dad was not happy about that, and like OP's mom, asked to transfer to a different facility, which he did.

OP if you are still reading, it took us making multiple phone calls over a few days, doing a little bit of extra paperwork and a further day of effort making sure Medicare would approve the transfer to a different facility, but I am glad we did. When I went into Hebrew House to see my dad, once I got upstairs from the public elevator lobby I was not impressed. It is hot and stuffy. Everything is dingy and wearing out. The rehab facility is new and nice, but, patient rooms are tired looking and the hallways were cluttered with food carts, probably attracting the mice.
My impression is they are under-resourcing building janitorial services and pest control, especially if the problem has gotten to this level. Mice breed frequently, it is a matter of time before the whole place is overrun. Get out while you can.

[Anonymous]

Institutions without a vermin problem are using chemical extermination, so be aware what you are asking for.

[Anonymous]

This is the fourth place I have read some thing very negative about the Hebrew house on Montrose Road. We were looking at this place as an option for my aging mom, but on the advice of a couple of family friends and now reading these online discussions, we have decided to go elsewhere. There’s no excuse for that place adding patients from the hospital while they’re actively overrun with mice. I am sure that there’s probably a violation of a health code. I’ve also heard that the people who stayed here complained about staff issues and the building being uncontrollably hot even in the summer. It definitely sounds like someplace to avoid.

[Anonymous]

Its the time of year that mice are coming inside - for food and warmth. If you have lived in this area long enough, you will encounter them in your house as well. As others have noted the best an only way to deal with the problem is using chemicals - or use baits that shrivel up the mice after they eat it and they die. Moving your mother into an new room won't "solve" the problem if there is an infestation. The center should be on a vermin contract that regularly comes out and deals with the problem.

[Anonymous]

This is who you want to call. https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/HHS-Program/ADS/OMBUDSMAN/OmbudIndex.html

[Anonymous]

Everyone has a mice problem this year. It is the weather.