Retirement facility didn't notice man was dead for two weeks

[left-of-center2012]

The coroner told family members that Paul Patterson’s body had been decomposing for two weeks before anyone at the facility noticed he was dead. Management finally noticed when someone complained about the smell. SEM Manor describes itself as a "retirement & assisted living facility" on its Facebook page.

"That it took somebody next door to say there's a foul odor is very upsetting," Foster said.
Patterson's family feels he was not taken care of.

Patterson's family was stunned when they recently received a call from a detective stating that he had died. "Nobody ... should hear something like, 'Your brother has been dead for two weeks ...'" Patterson's sister, Martha McKee, said.
"Somebody laying there for two weeks, it's just wrong," McKee said.

The sheriff's office said the death is still under investigation. The coroner's office has not yet determined a cause of death.

http://www.mynbc5.com/article/family-retirement-facility-didn-t-notice-man-was-dead-for-two-weeks/21058824

[Aristus]

1. I will take all necessary measures in my old age to ensure that I die at home.

Several members of my wife's family were able to arrange, after their final illness was diagnosed, to die at home surrounded by loved ones.

They had the wealth to be able to plan it, but not everyone has that resource.

I don't want to fade away in a horror-house of a nursing home.

[panader0]

7. Me too.

I have wondered if that would make me weak (suicide).
But I have seen some horrible demises. Pain and money for everyone.
Lose the land and house trying to live a bit longer in pain.
No, I think it's best to call it quits when you choose.
My sweetheart's dad is 85 and has dementia. Her mom is 79 and can't handle it.
They have limited money. Not a good scenario. I don't want that to be me.

[Hoyt]

9. Some day, we'll see Jack Kovarkian as pioneer. People should have assistance in dying with dignity.

This poor soul was in assisted living, which is a bit different from a skilled nursing home. But, a skilled nursing home is not where I want to die.

[Nay]

10. You know what else is totally sad? That a 79-yr-old woman has to care for

an 85-yr-old dementia patient 24/7. THAT'S A CRIME, AND THIS COUNTRY SUCKS AT HEALTH CARE.

[Solly Mack]

2. I believe it.

Yes, I know it happened and therefore doesn't need anyone's belief to make it so.

Just saying - I can believe that happening and am surprised it doesn't happen more often.

[saidsimplesimon]

3. Not to paint a broad brush,

ending up in a nursing home seems more cruel than death by a thousand cuts. just imo

[RandomAccess]

8. That IS death by a thousand cuts

[Beakybird]

4. Not here!

The nursing home close to me takes measures to make sure that these things never happen. They put a harmonica in every resident's mouth to make sure they are still breathing. The residents seem happy, but the therapy dog looks miserable.

[appleannie1943]

6. That is hysterical.

[appleannie1943]

5. My father, my mother and my father in law all died in my home.

I cared for my father when prostate cancer went to his spine paralyzing him. My father in law had a massive stroke and we put a hospital bed in the dining room. When my mother was diagnosed with cancer, we put a second hospital bed in the dining room. I had months with two of them and years with my father in law that we would not have had if we had chosen a nursing home. None of them had so much as a bed sore and all 3 got complete baths and 3 cooked meals with the family every day. The one week I had to put my F I L in a nursing home to prepare for my daughter's wedding, he was dehydrated to the point I had to take him from the nursing home to the hospital when I went to pick him up. Never again.