I just received a very, very kind email from Sherri Spillman, the Administrator at Woodland Terrace.

Mr. Gagne,

This is the administrator and yes you have the correct e-mail. As far as what was sent to Sylvia she did receive an e-mail and responded back to you and has not had a chance to get back with your sister. You do have the correct e-mail for Sylvia as well. We are not trying to avoid you and you are not being a pest or a bother. Please understand we want to encourage the communication with you and with your mom and realize how important that communication is. There are times we are more prompt with reading and returning e-mail than others due to the many residents and families and tasks we work with in a day. Thank you for understanding.

I do know that Sylvia has been speaking with a family member who is coming here to visit, but I am not sure of the relationship.

I believe Sylvia has also been in touch with you about the Medicaid application. I know you are aware of the difficulties one can experience with the Medicaid process and would just ask that any time you have questions or receive any correspondence concerning your mother’s application, you contact us immediately. It is a confusing, unfriendly process and we are here to help in any way we can.

I believe it has been decided at this time a phone would not be a viable option for your mom and we will continue to bring her to a phone for calls when possible.

You are DEFINITELY the primary contact on the face sheet and will be able to get any and all information necessary to keep you informed of your mother’s care.

I am working with our IT team to make sure that the nurses know how to pick up a call with the cordless phone and we are working on assuring that we can transfer a call to the cordless phones.

I am very sorry for your experience with staff during your mother’s initial time with us, but I hope you will find that she is in excellent hands with us and we take our responsibility for her care very seriously.

If you experience any further problems, please contact me immediately

You should be very proud of what you are doing to ensure the care of your mother. She is a very lucky woman to have a son like you.

Warmest Regards,

Sherri Spillman, NHA
Administrator
Woodland Terrace Extended Care

I replied (and copied my sister and Sylvia):

Dear Sherri,

Thank you so, so much for your very kind and thoughtful email. Reading something like that truly warms my heart.

More than anything else I simply wanted to make sure I had transcribed your email addresses correctly; thank you and Sylvia for confirming that by responding.

My brother-in-law [name redacted] was there to visit yesterday, Wednesday, July 11th. He brought my mom some clothing and personal items which he had retrieved from Coastal Rehab when she was there for a single week in May.
My brother-in-law told me that someone at Woodland Terrace told him that my uncle (my mother’s brother) [name redacted] had been to visit her on Tuesday, July 10th.

Oh, yes. I am very much aware of how awful the Medicaid application process is. With Sylvia now I am going through at least my third round of “starting from scratch” with it. I have the highest of hopes that your staff will finally be able to help me obtain government assistance for my mom.

I have been keeping meticulous records of everything which has happened in regards to my mother’s care — especially details about medications and financial matters — so please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have. I am available 24/7 via my mobile phone.

Thank you again and again,

David Vincent Gagne