They were scared they might have to pay back Medicare
My mother had been discharged from SSM Hospice of Oklahoma May 19, 2023 because, in their opinion, she was getting better and no longer needed hospice care. SSM would put her in Home Health. I was put in contact with Enhabit Hospice in June, 2023, and they said they would be glad to sign her up into their hospice program. The day SSM Home Health came to do an intake, Enhabit hospice came at the same time. I was called by both entities and I told SSM to close the application because I would rather keep mom into hospice. Enhabit Hospice signed mom up and in the meantime we discovered mom had Bed Bugs in her bed. We began treating them very aggresively with several approved compounds and insecticides. We threw away the complete bed and bought a brand new bed. It was only a week into the program and the nurse that conducted the intake and a lady that worked in the office of Enhabit came over to mom's house and told us they were going to have to discharge her because her diagnosis didn't meet the criteria to keep her in. I was totally blindsided by this revelation and asked why did you sign her up in the first place? They told me the same doctor mom had with SSM Hospice was on the board of Enhabit. I told them we had discussed that in the beginning and I was told by an employee that it shouldn't matter that they had the same doctor. The Nurses that came to tell me of the pending discharge told me they would call me that evening of their final decision and that they would do their best to find a suitable diagnosis. That evening I got a call and the lady told me they were going to keep mom in the program. However, they kept her in the program for about a month and they never brought her a hospital bed, transport chair, or bedside commode they had promised us. The nurse came sporadically; sometimes once in a week and one week she never came. The CNA who gave mom her baths came a few times at first, but then started calling and tried to schedule late in the evening as late as 6:30-7:00 of which I declined because mom was already in in bed asleep. This entire routine was adhered to until her discharge of Enhabit Hospice the last week of July. I might add, nobody bothered to bring discharge papers for me to sign and to notify me of my right to appeal. The entire ordeal was from approximately June 21 to July 26, 2023
By Wayne