Court Rules Retirement Homes Can Force Residents To Move Levels Of Care

The topic of moving a senior from one level of care to another has always been a topic of conversation and frustruation amongst residents and facility administrators. The court system has ruled that facility administrators has a duty to provide a resident with medical care based upon the level of need and cannot delegate that duty to an outside third party. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California now rules that Channing House has a duty to provide Ms. Herriot with medical care based on her level of need, and that it cannot delegate that duty to private help hired by Ms. Herriot. The court finds that Channing House would be violating its legal obligations by accepting Ms. Herriot’s plan to allow her to remain in her apartment. Herriot v. House (U.S. Distr. Ct., N.D. Cal., No. C 06-6323 JF (RS), Jan. 29, 2009).

Elder Law Answers posted a brief article regarding a resident in a Palo Alto, California facility that had three levels of care. Upon returning from a hospital stay, the facility transferred the resident to the assisted living facility where she could be cared for by a trained nursing staff. The family, physician and resident objected to the transfer and a lawsuit for discrimination against her based on her disabilities by refusing to accept her accommodation of hiring private aides was filed against the facility.

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