Emailed in by: CJ Wisner
Hi Rana,
I am so sorry for the loss of your friend. What a sad thing to have happened. I have a story which came to mind about Sage Creek, but I do not remember all the details. I too had a bad experience with Sage Creek Rehab.
In 2019, our 97 year old aunt was diagnosed with cancer at St. Rose Hospital. That is another story on it’s own. (She was very active and walking a quarter mile every day 2 weeks prior). She was sent to Sage Creek for rehab and to get strong enough to return to our home. We thought it was a good place having visited a friend there in January 2019.
We were wrong. Our aunt was there for about 1 week. We never were able to speak to her doctor. Apparently, he was on vacation and another doctor was doing rounds for him. Our aunt also had a stomach ulcer and had eating difficulties.
I requested that they give her Ensure or equivalent and that she be put on a soft foods diet. It was never done. They told me the doctor never ordered it. I had to bring it on my own from home. They would serve her food like big hamburgers etc. with no one around to cut, or mash the food. I needed to be constantly around to ask for pudding, soup, or other soft foods during mealtime.
We requested to meet with her team regarding her care and situation and was told we had to wait a week. She was sent to St. Rose Hospital for blood infusion, but we were not told if this was beneficial or dangerous for someone in her condition. The day after the infusion her ankles and legs were quite swollen. I mentioned this to the nurse and nothing was done. (I think they could have sent her back to hospital because of fluid overload and given her diuretics but I did not know this at the time).
Our aunt died later that evening. I did not remember problems with the cleanliness of the facility. I do however remember food trays sitting in the room for many hours before being removed.
Our other friend who was still at Sage when our aunt was there, began to deteriorate. I do not know all the details, but he was never encouraged to participate in rehab. If he was sleeping or not feeling up to it at the time they came to his room, they never returned to make up the missed session.
They also hooked him up to a catheter to make it easier on them so they did not have to help him to the bathroom. He ended up with several UTI infections. And went downhill from there. He was sent to a nursing home where he eventually passed away. I believe his downward spiral started at Sage Creek.
I hope this information is useful to you. And again I offer you my sincere sympathies.
Regards,
CJ Wisner