Nicest nursing homes in Montgomery County with Medicaid beds?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hebrew Home

No

Another, no.

It went downhill with the pandemic.

It was bad before then too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m a new poster and we had to pull my mom out of Montcare Potomac. They largely ignored her, were inconsistent about medication administration and just mean. We removed her against doctors orders. She was dying in there.

Just had a fairly bad experience there too. First they put my parent (don't want to be specific as this just happened) in their ward for folks with cognitive decline(that's not why they were there for and have no mental issues), I complained and was moved to a normal wing. However, the wait to have diapers changed or medicine brought was at times way too long... resulting in excessive pain and rashes from uncleaned feces. Also, when they did clean, they were rough - to the point that we asked that a specific tech not even enter the room anymore. Some folks were really nice, but they always seemed understaffed and many seemed annoyed to provide the very basic services. My parent hated it and was very glad to leave. We now have an at-home caregiver for the hours we can't be there.

[Anonymous]

After a couple nightmare experiences we ended up with Montgomery Village Health Center. It’s apparently owned by the same company as Montcare Potomac but it’s run better (at least as of Oct - Dec 2024)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why are people surprised at the care? Are any DCUM posters working as care home aides or any of their family? It's a bad job, even if you pay more. You end up physically a wreck and do you really want to do personal care as a job? Nobody wants to.

+1

They are understaffed, underpaid, doing work most are not willing to do (like change adult diapers), doing work that can literally be backbreaking, with a lot of residents who are awful to them. And for what? Pay that is so low that you probably still need government assistance. I’m sure the burnout happens fast.

Clearly it is terribly wrong to move the call button out of reach with a vulnerable elderly person. But I can imagine multiple circumstances under which a staff member might feel the need to do it.

This is the reality. People don’t want to pay for better care. Many families can’t. But many just won’t—little Larla’s travel soccer and little Larlo’s tutors and the weekend out of town for an anniversary are more of a priority. And they simply aren’t willing to let grandma move in. They don’t want to change our diapers either. And there are other priorities. This is the reality.

Bottom line: there really shouldn’t be shock when there isn’t anyone to take your relative in the nursing home to the bathroom. It should dismay, perhaps. But not shock.

There is also plenty of waste in these places. My DH’s nephew is an OTA. They have him doing ADL therapy with residents that will never actually be able to perform that ADL, because they can get away with billing for it. While paying the OTA very little. As you might imagine, he doesn’t care much, and doesn’t work very hard at it. At a certain point, you just stop caring.

[Anonymous]

All of these facilities have the same issues; it does t matter how many stars they get from Medicare.

Autumn Lake facilities usually take Medicaid, but they will have only a certain number of beds for those patients.

[Anonymous]

If they are transitioning to Medicaid at the facility, you can try anywhere - it all friends upon the number of long-term care beds they have available.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m a new poster and we had to pull my mom out of Montcare Potomac. They largely ignored her, were inconsistent about medication administration and just mean. We removed her against doctors orders. She was dying in there.

To be fair, that's what a nursing home is. A place where people go to die. I know that's not what you want to read, but it's the truth. If she's in a nursing home her quality of life is next to nothing, it's cruel to expect her to prolong it.

[Anonymous]

just remember when you vote that there are excellent immigrant health care aides that are doing jobs americans don't want to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a new poster and we had to pull my mom out of Montcare Potomac. They largely ignored her, were inconsistent about medication administration and just mean. We removed her against doctors orders. She was dying in there.

To be fair, that's what a nursing home is. A place where people go to die. I know that's not what you want to read, but it's the truth. If she's in a nursing home her quality of life is next to nothing, it's cruel to expect her to prolong it.

That is not true at all. Lots of people end up needing skilled nursing short term after a health problem such as a stroke.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are people surprised at the care? Are any DCUM posters working as care home aides or any of their family? It's a bad job, even if you pay more. You end up physically a wreck and do you really want to do personal care as a job? Nobody wants to.

+1

They are understaffed, underpaid, doing work most are not willing to do (like change adult diapers), doing work that can literally be backbreaking, with a lot of residents who are awful to them. And for what? Pay that is so low that you probably still need government assistance. I’m sure the burnout happens fast.

Clearly it is terribly wrong to move the call button out of reach with a vulnerable elderly person. But I can imagine multiple circumstances under which a staff member might feel the need to do it.

This is the reality. People don’t want to pay for better care. Many families can’t. But many just won’t—little Larla’s travel soccer and little Larlo’s tutors and the weekend out of town for an anniversary are more of a priority. And they simply aren’t willing to let grandma move in. They don’t want to change our diapers either. And there are other priorities. This is the reality.

Bottom line: there really shouldn’t be shock when there isn’t anyone to take your relative in the nursing home to the bathroom. It should dismay, perhaps. But not shock.

There is also plenty of waste in these places. My DH’s nephew is an OTA. They have him doing ADL therapy with residents that will never actually be able to perform that ADL, because they can get away with billing for it. While paying the OTA very little. As you might imagine, he doesn’t care much, and doesn’t work very hard at it. At a certain point, you just stop caring.

Sounds like someone expects their kids to be their servants in old age. No we can’t pay for my mom’s care. I was not given any help from my parents so I don’t have a fallback if something were to happen. I can’t risk it and I absolutely will spend on my child’s tutor given her learning disability. My mom made terrible financial decisions and my kids shouldn’t have to bear the brunt of that. People think we are on a boat you rescue them but in reality we are in a raft. All of us

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:just remember when you vote that there are excellent immigrant health care aides that are doing jobs americans don't want to do.

Yes, there are some excellent health care aides who are legal immigrants. There are also others who are nightmares (just like non-immigrants) and many facilities do not complete background checks like they should to include verifying identity. It is not unheard of to find out a facility has hired a caregiver (immigrant or not) who is actually a wanted criminal or has felony convictions.

More Americans used to work in facilities when they were not owned by greedy corporate conglomerates. Especially in smaller communities. The workers were treated better because the ownership cared and were known in the community.

One of the serious issues that crop up with immigrant caregivers is many do not speak English or are only semi-literate. If a resident asks for help with something specific they do not get an answer. Medication instructions are not understood which can be disastrous. I've had many residents tell me they are frustrated because there is no communication possible when the staff do not speak English, and I've observed it myself first-hand.

Imagine being wheelchair bound and asking over and over again to please be wheeled out of your room to join others in the activity room and be ignored. Or ask to please have your TV turned on to a specific channel. Instead, you sit in your room alone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Need to find a nursing home with Medicaid beds for mom. She has a little bit of money that she could first put towards a non-Medicaid bed, so maybe that will open the door to a few better options?

Avoid the Hebrew Home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hebrew Home is infested with mice. The rooms are 85 degrees and no way to adjust the temperature. There are multiple complaints about rodents in the rooms, do your research before choosing here.

I thought my parent wanted it that hot. It gave me a nosebleed last visit. I feel awful that I made that assumption.

[Anonymous]

"Clearly it is terribly wrong to move the call button out of reach with a vulnerable elderly person. But I can imagine multiple circumstances under which a staff member might feel the need to do it.

Moving call buttons where they could be reached is an easily solved problem. Disconnecting them (though they may look operable) is very common. When discovered the standard response is "Oh, we'll get that fixed right away!"

I've seen call buttons clipped within reach but when turned over there was no internal mechanism - it was an empty plastic box.

[Anonymous]

This thread is so depressing. It’s not much better in self pay places. I’ve started to wish for my mother’s quick painless end. She has stage 6 dementia and is living her nightmare right now.