ASA members work relentlessly to help preserve people’s humanity, especially in the face of the unrelenting pandemic. Last week Jeff Klein, President and CEO of Nevada Senior Services, Inc., in Las Vegas, was inspired to send us what he called “some good and beautiful news.” Goodness knows we all need some. Take a look:
Mary F. is a client of ours who lives alone but has been hospitalized, is medically compromised and experiencing memory loss. Her family is in California, and her husband of 45 years has been hospitalized and in long term care since June due to COVID-19.
Mary has not seen him since the day she called 911. He is at a sub-acute rehab facility, fully oxygen dependent and unable to receive visitors due to lockdown. It is likely he will not be able to return home, even on hospice. The Hospital2Home (H2H) team has been visiting with Mary for the past month as she hoped for some sort of miracle and for him to come home. But yesterday, Jackie, our respite coach, was at home with Mary when she received the news that he will not be returning home.
She was devastated and feeling lost. Plus Mary has become too fragile to live on her own any longer, so she needs to make plans to move back with family in California. Yet she refuses to leave her husband.
H2H social workers have been fighting and advocating for her with the rehab facility, which has to limit access to patients and implement restrictions. Finally, a plan was agreed upon. Her daughter is setting up an Uber for Mary, Jackie will meet her at her home, ensuring she and her walker make it into the Uber, and meet her at rehab where they both will take rapid COVID-19 tests. Then Mary will be allowed to see her husband. This small holiday miracle has uplifted both Mary’s and my team’s spirits, as they have worked so hard and are fully invested in this client’s quality of life.
I hope this story reminds ASA members of the amazing work being done under dire circumstances. We are proud of the work we do together. It truly makes a difference in our community. It is wonderful to be on this journey with great compatriots.
Thank you for all your wonderful work and for making ASA an even more impactful and meaningful community!
—Jeff Klein
