December 23, 2008
Lakeview Nursing and Rehabilitation Centre, Inc.
Mr. Michael Elks, Administrator
735 West Diversey Parkway
Chicago, Illinois 60614
Re: Eddie Nance – Patient
Mr. Elks:
On December 17, 2008 LPN nurse Ms. Marie called informing me my uncle Eddie Nance (Uncle) was scheduled to see dentist Dr. Horace Broy on December 23, 2008 at 8:30 am. Ms. Marie requested I accompany my uncle due to lack of personnel for transportation trips from Lakeview Nursing and Rehabilitation Centre, Inc. (Lakeview). At approximately 8:15 am, I arrived at Dr. Broy’s dentistry office.
At approximately 8:20 am, I received a call from Ms. Marie stating my uncle would not be coming to his dentist appointment because there was no transportation for him. No one from Lakeview called Dr. Broy’s office informing them that my uncle was not going to be present for his dentist appointment. I informed Dr. Broy’s assistant that my uncle was not coming in for his dentist appointment.
Ms. Marie informed me that Lakeview had engaged the transportation services of Lakeshore Medicar (Lakeshore), located at 2640 West Touhy Ave., Chicago, Illinois 60645. Ms. Marie informed me Lakeshore stated that taking my uncle to Dr. Broy’s office was “too far to go”. Mapquest reports this trip would be 11.24 miles and approximately 22 minutes travel time.
I called Lakeshore. I spoke to a person who informed me he was one of the owners. His name is Jimmy Syfu. Mr. Syfu informed me he received a fax from Lakeview reporting the pick-up for my uncle was 7:30 pm on December 23, 2008. Mr. Syfu states he immediately called Lakeview upon receiving this fax to inform them that Lakeshore closed at 6:00 pm, and that they could not fulfill the duties of picking my uncle up at this time. Mr. Syfu faxed me the document Lakeview sent to him. The document faxed to me from Ms. Syfu has the date December 22, 2008, 3:17P, Lakeview Nursin next to a schedule of names. My uncle’s name is on this schedule for pick-up on December 23, 2008 at 07:30 PM. The pick-up time should have been 7:30 am. Either Lakeview or Lakeshore should have been thinking “outside of the box” on this matter. It was not rocket science. It is a matter of discernment. It appears that no one cared.
I talked to Mr. Syfu who reports calling Lakeview on December 22, 2008 at approximately 2:26 pm asking for Lily Gonzalez. Ms. Gonzalez works for Lakeview. Mr. Syfu informed me he was told that Ms. Gonzalez was gone for the day. Mr. Syfu states he talked to the afternoon office manager informing them that picking up my uncle at 7:30 pm was too late because their business is closed at that time. No one called Mr. Syfu informing him that the pick-up time on the fax he received from Lakeview had the wrong time on it. I asked Mr. Syfu if he could pick-up my uncle since he knows what is needed. Mr. Syfu informed me that due to scheduling he had no drivers for the pick-up on December 23, 2008.
I talked to Ms. Gonzalez on December 23, 2008 at approximately 8:35 am. She reports calling Lakeshore on December 23, 2008 asking them why they did not call her this morning. Ms. Gonzalez informed me it was “just a mistake.” I talked to Ms. Marie at approximately 8:40 am. Ms. Marie informed me she does not do transportation. Ms. Marie states one of her duties is that she schedules appointments for patient transportation and passes it on to the transportation department of Lakeview. On December 3, 2008 I met the manager for the transportation department. Her name is Maricel. I talked to Ms. Maricel on December 3, 2008 informing her my uncle needed transportation to his dentist appointment. I gave her the address to the dentist. Ms. Maricel informed me there would be no problem. Ms. Maricel stated that she only needed to know the appointment date and location. I have been told by Lakeview staff that Ms. Maricel is presently on vacation.
At approximately 8:50 am, I called Ms. Kathy Koenig, Lakeview’s Director of Nursing. I left a message on her answering machine requesting she call me about this issue. As of December 23, 2008 at 11:25 am, I have not received a call from her. I guess this issue is not important to her.
At approximately 9:00 am I received a call from Ms. Marie. She stated that Lakeshore had agreed to come and pick-up my uncle and take him to the dentist. I requested Ms. Marie to call the dentist to see if my uncle can still come for his dentistry needs. Ms. Marie called me back informing me my uncle would have to reschedule his appointment. Ms. Marie reports she rescheduled my uncle’s dentist appointment for December 30, 2008 at 10:00 am.
My uncle is 85-years-old. My uncle was transferred from Warren Barr Pavilion (Warren Barr), located at 66 West Oak Street, Chicago, Illinois 60610, on or about May 21, 2008 to Lakeview. Since May of 2008 I have been requesting dentistry needs for my uncle. Lakeview personnel have told me numerous times that he would be scheduled for his dentistry work. My uncle was never scheduled for dentistry work by Lakeview.
On December 3, 2008 at my uncle’s quarterly care plan meeting I informed Angela Vetrovic, David Barecki and Ann O’Donnell that I would schedule a dentistry appointment for my uncle with a dentist I know, which was Dr. Broy. Dr. Broy’s office called Lakeview. Lakeview, in turn, called Dr. Broy and scheduled December 23, 2008 at 8:30 am.
I want to suggest my uncle’s dentistry needs were not taken care of in May of 2008 because his financial base and nursing home payment had not been established. When my uncle was transferred from the VA hospital to Warren Barr then to Lakeview he did not have his Medicaid application filed or confirmed. The VA, Warren Barr and Lakeview knew my uncle received VA benefits totaling $680.00 and a form of Social Security with the acronym RSDI totaling $251.00. Since none of these entities took time to establish the relationship needed with Medicaid for payment of services for my uncle, I took the initiative upon my uncle entering Lakeview to establish a relationship with the State of Illinois, Department of Human Services (DHS). Even with my 14 years of social service work, this was a tedious task. On August 27, 2008 I received notice in the mail that my uncle had been approved for medical assistance.
In or about January of 2008 when my uncle was admitted to the VA hospital located at 2122 West Taylor Street, Chicago, Illinois 60612 due to complications from a stroke that has affected the right side of his body, the VA did not file an application for medical services with DHS. Warren Barr did not file an application for medical services with DHS when my uncle was transferred to their facility. For reasons unknown to me, the VA hospital put my uncle out and sent him to Warren Barr. Today, my uncle does not have movement of his right hand or right arm and he cannot speak, but Lakeview has stopped his speech therapy reporting there is no more they can do for him. I asked for documentation reporting this prognosis. Lakeview has suggested I call my uncle’s doctor to get this report. This is absurd.
If my uncle’s speech therapy has stopped because there is nothing more that can be done, it should be noted in his medical file. There is much more to tell, but I will not do it here. It may cloud the present issue of dentistry work and “real” speech therapy. I was told the speech therapy my uncle has received from Lakeview was concentrated on clearing his throat so he could reach his potential for “swallowing” food and liquids. This is ludicrous. On December 3, 2008 I requested speech therapy for developing speech patterns. I suggested at this meeting that my uncle’s dental issue may be a contributing factor to speech improvement.
Therefore, I am requesting Lakeview respond to the needs of my uncle in a timely and orderly fashion. I request appropriate action plans for assuring my uncle will not miss his scheduled appointments. I request my uncle’s doctor contact me about my uncle’s speech therapy and overall prognosis. Since I have not had appropriate attention to my uncle’s needs and communication from management regarding my issues, I am posting this writing on my blogs at http://clickforjusticeandequality2.blogspot.com/, http://clickforjusticeandequality.wordpress.com/, http://click.townhall.com/, and http://www.frednance.newsvine.com/. I will fax this correspondence to the Director of Nursing, Ms. Kathy Koenig; to Administrator Mr. Michael Elks; and to Lakeshore’s Mr. Jimmy Syfu.
I hope my uncle is not retaliated against by any entity listed here. If there are retaliatory acts of character and behavior from any entity, I will address them in the appropriate venue.
Respectfully submitted,
Fred Nance Jr., ABD, MA, CADC, NCRS
