Focused Care of Gilmer

Our Dad (Papa, GGrandpa, Uncle, Father-in-Law, Brother, and Friend) entered this facility April 1st of this year after triple bypass in Longview on March the 10th. Before he left the hospital, he was walking the hallway to the nurse's station and back to his room and looking forward to coming home. While realizing that we, his family, were unable to visit him due to this Corona Virus situation, we took into consideration that he may not progress as he did in the hospital. As the days went by, his health declined. We found out that the first (and only) weekend he was there, he had fallen...he was found on the floor. The nurse wasn't sure exactly what day he fell (Sat. or Sun.). In fact, we were not notified that he had fallen. On April the 7th, we decided we were going to check into having him moved to another facility and planned on calling the caseworker the next morning. We informed the nurse of our decision after she told us that he hadn't made any progress since his arrival, in a tone that I would describe as unfeeling...no compassion. When she was informed of the progress he had made before leaving the hospital, she had no response. Before we could see about having him moved, he passed away...2:20 a.m....on April the 8th. We were called at approx. 2:44 a.m. and simply told that his heart had stopped. That he had been 'looked in on' at 2:00 a.m. By 3:00 a.m. the funeral home had already taken him. After talking with a Funeral home employee, he wondered why no one from the 'Nursing Home/Rehab' facility had not let us see him before they picked him up...he said that was usually what was done, so that the family could see their loved one....it was not. While we DO understand that the current 'Pandemic' has changed everything, isolation is NOT best for the patient's physical or emotional healing. Our opinion, and our experience. We accept that Dad is in a much better place and that God is in control. We are so thankful that Dad had the care in Longview that every patient deserves.