My uncle, Jack Lee was a resident at Willow Manor since August until he passed away last April.in April I met with administrator Sherlyn Powell regarding Jack's funds being extremely low and he could not afford to pay for Willow Manor and I would have to move him. She said Willow Manor would be happy to accept his Social Security check only as his monthly payment. She said they "loved Jack and didn't want him to go". I sent Sherlyn a letter thanking her for working with Jack & his financial situation. Therefore, the monthly invoice was paid with his SS check from May until July. Sherlyn knew however, I was working on getting his VA benefits for Aids & Attendance which started in July. I sent WM a check for $10,200, which was back payment to Jack from the VA.
From that point on, the VA & SS checks were enough to meet the monthly bills. At no time did Sherlyn or anyone else say there would be an accrual of monies owed and that he would be expected to pay eventually. Obviously, if she had been honest about the expectation I naturally would have moved him to another lesser expensive facility. The point was, If he couldn't afford it in April he can't afford it in 2007.
There were some incidences at the facility that I questioned and could have made a disturbance over and did not, in retrospect, I wish I had. One incident was when my uncle fell, another was when he was sent to the hospital before I was called, another was when, I was billed for 2 trips to the Dr. When I cancelled one with front desk person.
Another was when I was billed for things I personally brought there for him; diapers & personal care products. A duffle bag was brought to him every year for the hurricane, one of which ended up in NY, FL, Dallas then NY & FL again with someone else's name inside & my name still on the luggage tag. It took me several weeks and a lot of wasted time trying to get the bag to see what it was, to find an empty bag I had locked in his closet in his room. I brought this up to Sherlyn, she blew it off saying the residents get into each others things. The residents answer the phone in the afternoon when I was trying to reach the nurse and say she left.
When my uncle was dying, Hospice was called by their nurse, I agreed; Sherlyn got very angry called me to the office like I was her child and angrily said her people can do the same thing Hospice can, she cancelled them. The nurse & I called several times to find out where they were, and my uncle finally died in pain and could have been spared the anguish. I have notified them by calling, in writing & faxing; they do not respond. I reported this to Consumer affairs 2/27/08, never heard from them. I have even written to "help me Howard" on TV, no response. I tried to get an attorney pro bono via email on web, no response.
All I want is for Willow Manor to write off the $10,000 bill they say my uncle's estate owes them. I also notified the VA and they thought it was a dispicable thing to do to a veteran and said they will make a note to recommend not to send them their vets. Thank you
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