Metro family experiencing guardianship problems with Meeker nursing home

Story by Mecca Thompson

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — Sharon Blackwell says her 71-year-old brother George Miller has been a resident at the Meeker Nursing Center for nearly eight years.

Recently, Blackwell has run into problems with the facility when it comes to guardianship and seeing her brother.

“I feel like I have the weight of the world on my shoulder,” she said.

Miller suffers from a heart condition and is confined to a wheelchair.

For a few months now, Blackwell said she’s tried getting Miller out of the facility for occasional outings to spend time with family.

“He’s been feeling trapped in the nursing home and it’s depressing him,” Blackwell said.

Blackwell said the Meeker Nursing Center told her she needed to purchase the proper wheelchair and lift to safely get Miller in and out of the facility without injury.

“We just got the equipment and they told hospice, no, you can’t train her with this equipment because we’re not going to allow you to come on to our facility and train her to use the equipment,” Blackwell said.

Blackwell said that is not mentioned in their policy, and that they’ve never had this problem.

News 4 went to the Meeker Nursing Center to ask questions and were turned away.

We also tried to reach out by phone and were told someone from corporate would be calling, but never heard back.

Blackwell said she’s consulted with a long-term care ombudsman, and even called Governor Kevin Stitt’s office for help.

“They [Governor’s office] had us call the nursing board of directors, and the nursing board of director herself called us back and she facilitated with us over the phone and walked us through the steps on how to fill out an online complaint,” Blackwell said.

So far, she says the facility continues to deny the outings and she has no idea what could happen next.

I reached out to a long-term care ombudsman and was told, state and federal law gives residents the right to make independent an personal decisions, and for them to be informed of available choices. This includes if or when they leave the facility.

The law also states that if you are a person’s legal guardian, like in Blackwell’s case, the guardian has the right to make the decision on the resident’s behalf. 

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Metro family experiencing guardianship problems with Meeker nursing home