Clarkston Specialty Healthcare Center

The following Sun. morning my mother arrived to find him sitting slumped in a chair with a fever and full of diarrh--. The family of the roommate said they had righted him 3 times and had alerted the staff, but they didn?t do anything. She wanted a doctor called who told the nurse that he should be getting Imodium twice a day and the nurse, looking at his chart stated that it had only been given intermittently. His temperature was 102.5, he was incoherent and weak, his breathing was rapid and pulse ox was low. After insisting, my father was taken by ambulance to the hospital and admitted into ICU with pneumonia, severe dehydration from the diarrh--, and a MRSA staph infection. Our only hope is that something can be learned from this experience. Perhaps another person will be spared. I want to say that many of the individuals involved in his care were very kind & seemed competent. It is possible the staff is simply spread too thin. Nonetheless, there were far too many errors and oversights - poor communication between shifts, events/conditions not recorded, basic safety issues not considered? If this facility were any other kind of business ? an auto repair shop for example ? they would have been run out of business, possibly with lawsuits. Our hearts go out to the patients still in their care and especially those without an advocate for their wellbeing. more

My 81 year old father was transferred here in mid September after about 12 days in hospital with pneumonia. The hospital stay wiped out his energy and he had lost a great deal of strength. He went here to get intensive physical therapy and to get strong enough to come home. During the 1st 10 days of his stay he was allowed to fall 3 times; in one fall he cracked a tooth (requiring a root canal) and another gashed his head requiring stitches. 2 falls required a trip to the emergency room. Once he fell out of a chair when he was left unattended in a chair that could not support him. Twice he fell out of his bed which was too high and he fell on the sharp metal edges of his IV stand. There were no precautions taken until my mother insisted. My mother had to ask that he be taken to the toilet. During the heat wave in October, the air-conditioning went out in his room. The fan was blowing 90+ degree heat into the room continuously. Although she complained daily, it took them 3 days to find a repairman to address the problem. My mother finally wheeled him out of the room and told the staff ""he's not going back in that room!"" and insisted his roommate, who had no family, be moved also. more