Kathleen A. Gagne

Kathie Gagne died 4,642 days ago.

January 19th, 2012 @ 4:00 pm

Rodney Curtis, the discharge coordinator at Stewart-Marchman ACT called me at four o’clock this afternoon and we had a lengthy conversation. Here are my notes from the call:

1600h

Rodney called

said an ALF was found in Palm Coast

said that in the last 3 or 4 days (01/16-01/19) mom has gotten worse, she’s unable to bathe or dress herself, is not maintaining her hygiene

noted that her meds had been decreased

said a representative from “Daytona Rehab” visited, but that he (Rodney) can’t “place her” because she has no insurance and is not receiving disability

said they are transferring her from Stewart-Marchman-Act to the Halifax Hospital Geriatric Ward

Rodney said she was sent to the Halifax ER “last week” and I freaked out

reviewed his notes, came back about five minutes later and realized/admitted mom was not sent to Halifax ER at all

Rodney was clearly shocked to learn that I call my mom every day

said Jan. 18th was last day of Respirdal

Rodney had no idea that I was working on applying for financial aid; clearly not ever talking to Sophia Mas

said mom being transported to Halifax today, sometime after 7PM ET

said no ALF will take her because she can’t bathe or dress herself, and no nursing home will take her because she has no insurance

Rodney asked why she’s not receiving social security; I explained that she has been receiving social security since NOVEMBER ’10

said Halifax & Stewart-Marchman are only two “Baker Act Receiving Facilities” in Volusia County

noted that Halifax is a hospital and Stewart-Marchman is not

said Stewart-Marchman is a state-funded, non-profit facility

Rodney told me he would call me tomorrow (Jan 20) when he knows she’s transferred

386-254-4080 is psychiatric unit “A”, and she would probably be transferred by 5:30PT/8:30ET

ElderSource Call

January 19th, 2012 @ 1:30 pm

I spent a long time on the phone this afternoon in yet another fruitless attempt to get my mom approved for Medicaid:

Timothy Jefferson @ ElderSource 904 391-6650

said he received an email from Linda Kattenoff and had Deborah‘s supervisor on the phone listening

said CARES is the only agency that can do assessments

said we need to do an “intake referral” by ElderSource

said based on results of assessment, mom will be placed on a “wait list” at ElderSource

said no idea how long it could be before funds are released, made available to people on wait list

said funds are based on what’s available @ ElderSource

said the Director of Operations is in charge of releasing funds

said the order of the list is based on need/frailty

told me to call 8882424464 between 7:30A-6:30p ET and say I need to do an intake referral for a Medicaid waiver

all of this is managed by CARES and the Department of Children & Family Services

said CARES administers “nursing home diversion” wait list, which is another very similar program

Waiting List Mistakes

January 19th, 2012 @ 8:51 am

I just received a very disturbing email from Sophia Mas at Stewart-Marchman:

David,

I called Cares at 904-238-4946 & they told me they had spoken to you yesterday & that your mother was not on their waiting list because their waiting list is for long term diversion age 65 & above – I called the Elder Helpline #888-242-4464 – Their Medicaid waiver is for assisted living facility w/age limit of 60 – talked to Jeremy – he remembers taking the call on Thursday 12/22/11 – He told me that his job is to submit the phone Intake – that is to be followed by “a specialist” calling this facility and doing a more in-depth assessment of the need for the Medicaid waiver and any other need your mother may have – once that process is completed then she will be put in the waiting list – I asked how we can speed this process – He said “you can’t” & added “It can be a lengthy waiting period for the call / 2nd assessment & for the waiting list” – So I misspoke by saying she was on the waiting list – I misunderstood & thought that meant she was on the waiver waiting list – she’s not – She’s on the waiting list to have a more thorough assessment which will put her on the waiting list – This is as clear as I can get w/the information I got today.

– Two of our very caring staff just finished giving your mother a bath & changing her into fresh clean clothes – I found her glasses they were under her pillow – I attached a tag w/her name to the R leg of her glasses & tried giving them to her but she declined – I put them in her room in her bin – thought that would put your mind at ease – She is not very talkative today – she is up & walking w assistance when she needs it –

Take care,

Sophia
386-236-3260

A Call from Sophia

January 18th, 2012 @ 1:15 pm

Sophia Mas from Stewart-Marchman ACT called me and said that she would call Elder Care to see why mom was not on a waiting list.

She also told me she would check on mom’s eyeglasses. My sister and I were concerned because mom is basically blind as a bat without them, and if she didn’t have them it was probably greatly contributing to her level of anxiety.

Sophia confirmed that mom was no longer being administered the Risperdal, and I was very happy to hear that.

Looking for Answers

January 18th, 2012 @ 1:12 pm

I sent the following email to Sophia Mas at Stewart-Marchman:

Dear Sophia,

I spoke with both the Elder Help Line at (888) 242-4464 and C.A.R.E.S. at (386) 238-4946 and neither one of them has any record at all of my mother.

I spoke with a woman named Linda at C.A.R.E.S. and a woman named Deborah at Elder Help Line. They both told me that they do not have my mother listed on any of their wait lists. Is there any way you can confirm that you were able to add her to the Waiver Program “waiting list” in early December? Do you remember to whom you discussed this? Do you have any email confirmation or anything like that?

Is there any possibility that you provided them with information for my mother that does not match the following?
Kathleen Gagne
AKA: Kathie Gagne
DOB: [mom’s dob]
SS#: [mom’s social security number]

I appreciate any help you can give me with this.

My uncle — [name removed] — told me that he and his wife [name removed] visited my mother on Saturday afternoon. He indicated that she seemed incredibly lethargic and apathetic, and barely raised her head to acknowledge them or speak with them.

My mother’s friend from church, [name removed], told me that she visited my mom on Monday and that she seemed somewhat more alert, but still very dazed and confused.

Can you confirm that my mother is no longer being administered the Respirdal or the Aricept? On Thursday, January 12 you said that Dr. Caliendo, at your suggestion, had decided to stop all of the anti-depressants and anti-psychotic medication completely. Was that accomplished?

Thank you for your help,

David Vincent Gagne

Re: Kathleen Gagne

January 18th, 2012 @ 12:06 pm

I sent the following email to Judy Martin at Hampton Manor. For a few days she seemed to be very caring and interested in helping, and then she simply completely stopped responding to phone calls or emails.

Dear Judy,

Thank you for the information and for continuing to help me help my mother.

I spoke with a woman named Linda at C.A.R.E.S. using the (386) 238-4946 number you gave me, who said that — despite what I have been told by her care manager at Stewart-Marchman ACT — my mother is not, in fact, on any waiting list as far as she can tell.

Linda said that she would do her best to get my mom on the waiting list at the Department of Elder Affairs (which is the same thing as C.A.R.E.S. as far as I can tell) but that I also needed to contact “ElderSource” to have her put on the waiting list for an “assisted living waiver” there.

I’m not really clear on the difference between these two government organizations, but I called the “elder help line” at (888) 242-4464 and talked to a woman there named Deborah. Deborah told me also that my mother is not on any waiting list as far as she can tell.

Deborah said that she can’t put my mother on a waiting list until an “assessment” is done, and that is handled by C.A.R.E.S., and that this situation didn’t make any sense to her because my mother doesn’t have a physical address right now because she’s at Stewart-Marchman ACT, and I needed to call C.A.R.E.S. to get the ball rolling. Deborah also said that her manager is out of the office today, which makes it more difficult for her to get anything done.

I called Linda at C.A.R.E.S. again — which was complicated because they do not provide their last names and there are three different women named Linda working today — and she said that Deborah was incorrect and that she was going to email a woman named Helen, who is Deborah’s manager’s superior and that I didn’t need to do anything else, they would call me as soon as they could to let me know what the next step is.

Both Linda and Deborah, though, said that it could be “months” before any additional resources are released by the State of Florida for them to distribute to the individuals on their many waiting lists, and that there is no guarantee that my mother will be “high enough” on either of the two lists to enable her to receive any funds.

Right now I am scared to death and beside myself with worry. This is all very confusing and inefficient, sadly. My mother has already been institutionalized at the Pinegrove/CSU Stewart-Marchman ACT facility for almost two months now, and that facility supposedly normally only holds individuals for three or four days. They are desperate to discharge her because they tell me their administrators are concerned about how long she has been there, and I fear that — in addition to keeping her overly sedated constantly and not in any way providing any therapeutic or rehabilitative care — they are going to attempt to discharge her to what I feel is an unacceptable assisted living facility before I can manage to find someplace better — like your Hampton Manor facility — for her.

I am going to send an email right now to Sophia X. Mas, her care manager at Stewart-Marchman ACT. Sophia has told me repeatedly that she herself placed my mother on the waiting list at C.A.R.E.S. back in December, but that appears to not be the case. I am going to BCC (blind carbon copy) you on the email so you will know what I’m discussing with her. I’m sending you the email as a BCC because previously you indicated that I shouldn’t let anyone at Stewart-Marchman ACT know that you are going to visit my mother.

My mother’s information:
Kathleen (Kathie) Gagne
DOB: [dob]
SS#: [social security number]

Again, thank you for all your help with this,

Sincerely,

David Vincent Gagne

ElderSource

January 18th, 2012 @ 9:40 am

I called the Elder Help Line at ElderSource at (888) 242-4464 in an attempt to have mom placed on a wait list for an “assisted living waiver”.

I spoke with Deborah who said that this was, “confusing.” She said C.A.R.E.S. needs to do an assessment before ElderSource can add mom to any wait list.

So I called C.A.R.E.S. again at 9:45 AM and tried to get the same Linda on the phone from my earlier call. It was a serious pain in the ass because they don’t reveal anyone’s last name there, and there are three different women named Linda that work at that number.

While I was trying to find the original Linda, though, my other line started ringing from a number I didn’t recognize. It was a Florida area code so I switched. It was Deborah from ElderSource. She was calling to ask for mom’s birthday, which I gave to her.

So then I called C.A.R.E.S. back and got the wrong Linda again. This new Linda was somewhat helpful and told me that 701-A is the “assessment tool” which they use on the phone to have someone added to the wait list. She also told me that it would be “at least a month before anything will happen.”

Linda said she would email Helen at ElderSource who would then contact me to do the 701-A assessment.

C.A.R.E.S.

January 18th, 2012 @ 9:30 am

I called C.A.R.E.S. at (386) 238-4946 and talked to Linda in the Department of Elder Affairs.

She said there are two wait list programs, but mom is only eligible for one of them because of her age, and that she needs “assisted living assistance”.

Working on Medicaid

January 18th, 2012 @ 7:43 am

Judy Martin <Judy.Martin@HamptonManor.net> send me this email with the subject line “telephone # for CARES”:

386-238-4946. Good luck David. Hope this will have a good outcome so we can consider placement here at Hampton Manor for your mom.

A Call from Rodney

January 12th, 2012 @ 12:45 pm

A discharge coordinator, Rodney Curtis, called me from Halifax Hospital. He said that he called “a few other” ALFs but that he keeps “encountering the same resistance” when trying to find a place where mom can go because of concerns about paying for her prescriptions.

Shady Oaks was one of the places he called.

Rodney told me that Leo is a temp nurse.

I felt like Rodney was really trying to convince me to have mom discharged to Lakewood Retirement.

He said that he would call Dr. Shoemaker to see if he would see mom pro bono until her Medicaid “kicks in”. He also told me that Halifax has a pharmacy on site.

Update: To the best of my knowledge, Rodney never contacted Dr. Shoemaker. I should also note that as of August 2, 2012 — almost eight full months later — Medicaid still hasn’t “kicked in”.