Nursing Homes in Colorado Springs (Walsenburg, Florence: sale, insurance, how much)

[Absolutkim]

I am relocating to CS, and need to move my grandmother out there too. Does anybody have any info on nursing homes in the area? I've already checked out all the ratings, but I'm looking for personal experiences as ratings can be misleading. I've heard Union Printers Home is good?? Is that true?

Thanks for your help!

[YoYoSpin]

Union Printers is an outstanding home and a fine place as far as I can see. The only issue I encountered was that it is multi-floored with limited elevator service. Having to wait a minute or two for the elevator is pretty common. There might also be some concerns over fire evacuation if you happen to live on a non-1st floor level.

My mother in-law stayed at Colonial Columns on Fillmore (a single floor facility), for about 10 years and was always treated and cared for very well.

Originally Posted by Absolutkim

I am relocating to CS, and need to move my grandmother out there too. Does anybody have any info on nursing homes in the area? I've already checked out all the ratings, but I'm looking for personal experiences as ratings can be misleading. I've heard Union Printers Home is good?? Is that true?

Thanks for your help!

[otowi]

I personally thought Union Printers was run down. My mom used to visit a lady there and she said it wasn't uncommon for people to be sitting in their filth a little too long, waiting for someone to come change them.

My grandparents are both veterans and stay in a VA home in Florence and Walsenburg (they move between the two). They are great - they are clean, bright, friendly staff, tons of activities, very very open to visitors at any time, etc.

This kind of care is soooo expensive - people, invest in insurance or benefits that covers this for you in your old age if possible.

[Mike from back east]

Long Term Care Insurance (LTCI) can be purchased from any number of companies. It's important for most of the middle class to have LTCI as they are not wealthy enough to pay $6000 per month for months or years on end. We've a policy with a subsidiary of General Electric that covers us for a total time of 8 years, indexed for inflation, in a quality facility. The policy runs us about $2700 per year. LTCI is critical to protect the equity in a home and have something leftover for the spouse or children in the way of an estate.

The truly wealthy don't need it, they can take their chances and pay out of pocket. The working poor often cannot afford LTCI or pay out of pocket for long term skilled nursing care, which is where Medicaid comes in handy (NOT medicare). Medicaid is for those unable to pay. If a working class person needs long term skilled nursing care, most states will cover it under Medicaid but they will put a lien on any home the person may own. A spouse may stay in that home, but the state will get the proceeds from the sale of that home, some day.

Before Medicaid kicks in, a person/couple must spend everything they have, down to $2500 and then, as you near bankruptcy, Medicaid will finally kick in. This awful situation is called "spending down to Medicaid" or "Medicaid Impoverishment" and it's no joke. You even have to cash in life insurance if it has cash surrender value. You may prepay your funeral expenses but that's about all. We had to do this for my Mother, but her home was only worth $50k anyway and the state of MD eventually picked up that much more before the end came.

There are other ways to get around "spending down," such as putting assets in a certain type of trust, or gifting your assets to your kids (hah!), BUT these must be done YEARS in advance of asking for Medicaid, else there is a time lapse for Medicaid to kick in. OBVIOUSLY, good legal advice from a lawyer who specializes in "Elder Law" is essential.

Middle class folks with a nice home or other assets at risk need to have LTCI to avoid the Medicaid trap.

MediCARE will ONLY cover nursing home care if it is immediately AFTER a hospitalization, is related to that hospitalization and IIRC, for ONLY about 60-90 days max; after that you're on your own.

Rules vary slightly from state to state. I put together a 3-ring binder of data for the state of MD, but we got Mom covered.

Which gets me to one more soap box. Everyone who is married and/or is a parent and/or has any assets should be all means have the entire package of advance directives completed. Things such as powers of attorney for medical decisions, do not resuscitate orders, instructions for the disposition of assets and collections, who you want to raise your kids if you're not there to do it, etc. All of these need to be done. If you end up in a coma and on life support, you may stay there for a long time before a court order can be issued to pull the plug, but if you have that all spelled out in advance directives, you can pull the plug on yourself and save the horrific expense of life support for months on end, which could save your family from bankruptcy, and one of the leading causes of bankruptcy these days is huge medical bills.

[BabyKong1608]

I will be looking to work in therapy in a nursing home in the Colorado Springs area... any employees of nursing homes in the area have any comments? good or bad opinions? I absolutely love the nursing home I am working at now... great nurses, administrators, etc.

[evangels2]

Originally Posted by BabyKong1608

I will be looking to work in therapy in a nursing home in the Colorado Springs area... any employees of nursing homes in the area have any comments? good or bad opinions? I absolutely love the nursing home I am working at now... great nurses, administrators, etc.

My wife works at a nursing home (colonial columns at filmore, a SAVA corporation). She really likes it there.

[dwtatty]

I'm an attorney who handles cases involving nursing home abuse and neglect. I recommend that you first check the facilities online. Go to Medicare.gov - The Official U.S. Government Site for People with Medicare then under the lists go to "compare nursing homes". You will find an abundance of information on the nursing homes in any desired area. Second, when you find a place, be sure to visit your grandmother regularly and preferably at different times during the day. If staff members know that you come only after work, your grandmother may not be well cared for until just before you arrive. I even recommend going in during the middle of the night to check their staffing levels and quality of staff. Not all nursing homes are bad, but there are more bad ones that most people believe. Be vigilant, raise questions and require answers and visit grandma. That will help regardless of which facility you find. Good luck.

[tijlover]

I work at a nursing home and, due to ever-increasing cuts in Medicare/Medicaid, what would you expect and what's the future hold for these places?

I work the night shift, and at one time, we had 7 Aides covering 100 patients. Then 6, then 5, now 4. And, when someone calls in sick, and they can't find a replacement, well, then it's just the 3 of us. We used to have 1 Charge RN and 5 LPN's, now 3 LPN's.

And who's ultimately to blame for this? Look to the Administrator. She/He is the one who gets a huge bonus at the end of the year for how much money he/she saved the corporation, all accomplished on the backs of the workers.

Good advice: check on gramma in the middle of the night sometime, even though it's past the 8pm curfew for visitors. Oftentimes there's a lot more staff during the daytime because management knows most visitors come during the daytime.