Life Care Center Of Wilbraham

PurplePetunia

My grandmother was at this facility initially for short term rehab. The nursing staff was pleasant most of the time and the physical therapist was phenomenal but overall we had a very bad experience. For the 3 months she was there we made multiple phone calls on a weekly basis trying to talk the overseeing physician- not once was our call returned even when we begged to speak to her. We never met her or even talked to her once during my grandmother's stay despite all our efforts. Additionally we also had much difficulty discussing her care with the advanced providers who didn't seem to make time to talk with us. She was transitioned to long-term care and a week later her health rapidly declined. During the transition to long-term care which was the last week of her life she did not have a phone as there was a problem with the connection in the room when she moved despite us paying for the service- no one helped her; my father had to figure it out. We went to visit her and she was crying she was so lonely. The worst experience we had was the day before she died. We went to visit her and it was evident she was rapidly declining. We asked to speak to the PA and we waited for ~3 hours before she came to see us. Instead of having a family meeting given the obvious change in circumstances, she spoke with us for less than 10 minutes. We asked about hospice care as my grandmother was clearly uncomfortable. She said she could start arranging it on Monday (it was a Friday) but that they wouldn't do much differently. My grandmother was struggling to breathe and was in obvious pain. We asked for her to be transitioned to a liquid diet as she couldn't swallow her food. As the PA walked out the door, my father asked how much longer she thought my grandmother would live as my mother was planning to travel that weekend and was wondering if she should cancel these plans. The PA told my father her hydration status was good and at least 2 weeks - as a healthcare provider myself I knew this simply was not correct, aside from the fact that you can never truly predict the day or hour and it is irresponsible to tell families otherwise. My grandfather went to visit her Friday evening and was distraught as they still brought her solid food; when he asked for a liquid diet he was told by the nursing staff they would get to it; it had not arrived by the time he left. The next day Saturday afternoon my grandfather went to visit my grandma. He found her unresponsive, notified the nurse and discovered she had passed. He was by himself, there was no hospice, my mother was traveling. It was a horrific experience and the epitome of poor patient and family care. This facility may be good for very short rehab that doesn't require medical decision making as the physical therapist was excellent. But not for any complex medical conditions, long term care, elder care or hospice. Overall we were extremely disappointed.