‘Families can no longer take care of them’: Seniors stuck at Nebraska hospitals

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — Around 225 patients every month struggle to find a place after a hospital discharge, leaving them stuck there.

That’s according to a survey conducted by the Nebraska Hospital Association. 

“These are patients who have been discharged for at least seven days,” said Margaret Woeppel, the association’s vice president of workforce, quality and data. “The majority of these patients are elderly, but not all of them.” 

Data collected in July shows that 18 patients have been waiting for over six months and that 52 have been waiting one to six months. 

“There are lot of times when patients end up in the hospital because their families can no longer take care of them,” Woeppel said. 

She said finding long-term care takes time, and it gets more difficult if a patient’s family is out of state or cannot take care of them. 

“Sometimes families are out of town, sometimes families are struggling themselves,” Woeppel said. “So it can be a struggle for social workers, case managers to get ahold of or utilize family when they need to find placement or find payment for placement.” 

She said another problem is that sometimes places like nursing homes do not have appropriate equipment for patients with more chronic illnesses and needs.  

And this problem is not only seen at hospitals. 

As family members struggle to take care elderly people’s expenses, shelters like the People’s City Mission are seeing an increase in elderly people looking for a safe place.

Pastor Tom Barber said 24% of the men and 10% of the women at the shelter are over 60.

“And that’s a huge increase from historical numbers,” he said.

For families struggling to take care of the elderly, there are resources in Lincoln.

“The first line of resources should be Aging Partners, their primary care doctor,” Woeppel said.