I was recently with group of Case Managers at a nearby hospital. We were discussing ways to reduce Hospital readmissions. I explained how our integrated services work to keep Agape referrals from readmitting. Monte, one of the Case Managers, offered this story:

Monte recently referred a patient to GIP at Agape. When she was being moved to her new bed, her son became agitated and believed she was in distress. He kept demanding she be sent back to the hospital. The care givers at Agape took her vitals and tried to reassure her son that she was fine and would soon be resting comfortably. However, because Agape did not send her back to the hospital, the son became angry and had her moved to a different facility.

Once at the new facility the same thing occurred. This time, however, the care givers called 911, put her on an ambulance, and sent her back to GSRMC. Once there, the son related the story to Monte and a CNA. When hearing what happened, the CNA agreed with the son saying, “That’s terrible! I would never recommend Agape!”

Later, Monte pulled the CNA to the side and asked if she believed the patient needed to be in the hospital. The CNA answered, “I guess not.” Monte then asked what she would do if the son began insisting that the patient was in distress. The CNA replied, “There’s nothing we could do.” Monte replied, “Exactly. And that is why the patient was better off at Agape. They did everything right.”

At Agape we always act in the patients’ best interest. Sometimes family members don’t understand that hospitals are not the best place for comfort measures and end of life care. Our staff specializes in this care, and we are the experts in this field.