Friday, August 28, 2009

Referee: Woman Can Visit Mom in Hospice

Nursing home says daughter's visits are disruptive. But the daughter says she's "scared for my mother's life."

A probate court referee ordered a St. Paul nursing home to allow the daughter of an ailing woman to visit her mother in hospice care, despite the nursing home's claim that the daughter's conduct is "severely detrimental" to Edna Wigen's health and "disrupts the orderly and safe operation" of the facility.

Judy Luzaich, 66, of Stillwater, and two of her mother's longtime friends were barred from St. Mary's Home in St. Paul's Highland Park this year after complaining that the 91-year-old woman was receiving substandard care.

St. Paul police and officials from the state Department of Health are investigating allegations of suspicious injuries to Wigen's head, arms and legs that were photographed by her longtime friends Patty and Al Noren. Nursing home officials deny that Wigen was mistreated, saying everything done was necessary and appropriate.

Ramsey County District Court Referee Dean Maus said that Luzaich should be allowed to visit her mother three times in the next week but he didn't address future visits, leaving that to a state judge who is expected to conduct a hearing on the dispute sometime next month.

Full Article and Source:
Referee: Woman Can Visit Mom in Hospice

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Gee, thanks to the probate court referee for making a just decision now let's hope this stands firm for this family.

I've heard this sorry song before. Always blame others, like the family for being a risk to the nursing home resident.

Nursing home records are not always truthful, I know how that sorry story goes, it happened in our family. What is written in records is not what happened.

Anonymous said...

This is what nursing homes do - they say the family upsets the patient.

No - the truth is that the family is in the way. Nursing homes don't generally like family.

Not all of them, of course, but most.

StandUp said...

If you complain about abuse, neglect, or substandard "care", you can count on getting booted out of the nursing home.

Thelma said...

There are many nursing homes with problems.

Check them out very carefully.

Anonymous said...

Boy oh boy, they should all just read from the script: "...everything done was necessary and appropriate..."

It's so very transparent.

annie mckenna said...

Instead of three time during the next three weeks, visitors should be allowed 24/7. If the woman is in hospice, her days are numbered and she will probably die before any hearing can be held.

Only after going through a guardianship proceeding brought by my sisters against my mother, did I realize how correct the catholic school nuns were when they used to say that the devil roams the world seeking the ruin of souls. He found fertile ground within the area of guardianship/conservatorship. annie mckenna

Anonymous said...

Guardians who isolate their victims tend to "kindly" allow the family in when the victim is about to die.

I am not sure if it's to rub in to the family that they are totally helpless, or could there be an ounce of compassion?

I just don't know.

It's so very cruel.

Anonymous said...

What no one knows is this daughter has severe psych issues. Another daughter came and went freely.