Review of Thomasville Medical Center
No admittance to Geratric Unit with dementia!
Public Service Announcement: if your loved one has dementia, the Geriatric Psych Unit WILL NOT take them. We learned this the hard way after being advised by his neurologist and Memory Care Unit Executive Director to check him into the ER to get evaluated and admitted to the GPU due to his aggressiveness. They use to accept dementia patients apparently, and we could find nothing online that said that they now do not. We even called on this specifically, but they would not give us any information until we brought him to be evaluated, almost like they still want the business in the ER, so they’re not letting the word get out. Their reasoning was that dementia is “incurable”, and they only admit patients with a diagnosis that can be improved, and another stated reason was that he would not be able to join the group activities. Long story short, he got stuck in the ER for medication regulation a week because memory care unit would not take him back with his aggressiveness, then he got admitted to the regular hospital after contracting pneumonia in the ER. In the hospital, miscommunication between the psychiatrist and caretakers caused his meds to be wrong and he was overmedicated. After 2 weeks, he was released, but has now permanently lost his ability to walk because he was in the hospital bed without them letting him get up for 2 weeks. He was perfectly ambulatory going in. Came out much worse than he went in, so will avoid coming back. I have to say, most caretakers, and 1 doctor in particular in the hospital was very sweet and helpful to him and us, and for that we are appreciative.
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