http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/09/29/MNFM1LAQGA.DTL
After my Grandmother's stroke in October of 2010, the doctor's at UCSF recommended in home care, however, her conservator, Herb Thomas, ignored their medical expertise and instead moved her to a vial nursing home. He not only ignored the doctors, he violated California Probate Code. He had no right to move her to a nursing home without the Court's approval!
He also had a stomach tube inserted eventhough my Uncle and I had told him of our wishes to have a less intrusive procedure during a family meeting at the hospital. I taped the meeting. The Doctor at the meeting agreed with my Uncle and I. He not only ignored our wishes and the recommendation of the doctor at the meeting, he did not get the Court's approval for this procedure and violated California law once again.
My Grandmother's doctor of many years recommended in home care, hospice intervention and comfort care on January 6, 2011, however, her conservator, Herb Thomas, ignored this medical advice, too.
From January through April she was sent to the emergency at St. Mary's three different times. Two times she had pneumonia and the third time she was bleeding internally. During the first visit at St. Mary's in January, the doctor's at St. Mary's recommended comfort care but the conservator once again ignored the advice of the doctors and had her returned to the nursing home. The staff at St. Mary's was shocked by his actions.
It wasn't until her birthday on April 13, 2011, after her third trip to the emergency that the conservator called hospice...three months after her doctor recommended it. Hospice then put her on comfort care at the nursing home but some of the nursing staff did not follow hospice's orders.
This article is right on the money! My Grandmother suffered needlessly so that the conservator and the nursing home administrator could make some additional money. It is disgusting and absolutely true!
In a future post, I will share the letter I received from the State of California Department of Public Health. They acted on my complaint and cited Laurel Heights Convalescent Hospital.
