Patient and Hospital Are in a Test of Wills (defies HMO-stays in hospital)

82 year old "retired gadfly won't loosen her grip on the hospital bedsheets"

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-bed23mar23.story

Patient and Hospital Are in a Test of Wills
For more than a year, a woman has refused to check out of a Bay Area facility. Her HMO tried to evict her but failed.
By Donna Horowitz and Eric Bailey
Special to The Times

March 23, 2005

SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — Ever since anyone around here can remember, Sarah Nome has been the quintessential community gadfly, jousting with public officials in Marin County over issues big and small.

Now, at 82, she's in a quixotic fight over her hospital bed.

For more than a year, Nome has pugnaciously refused to budge from her fifth-floor room at Kaiser Permanente's San Rafael Medical Center. In the process, she has racked up $1.3 million in bills.

Kaiser tried to fix the mess by proposing to move her to a nursing facility across San Francisco Bay. No way, she said — too far from friends. But, so far, no Marin County facility has been willing to take her.

As the stalemate has dragged on, irked hospital officials have taken away Nome's TV privileges and newspaper. They've gone to court to win an eviction notice and asked the sheriff to forcibly uproot the white-haired invalid.<snip>

She's got by all her life by doing just what the hell she pleases and to hell with anybody else.
They should put her out on the side walk and let her daughter take her home in a cab.

At least she picked a good hospital. Kaiser Permanente hasn't forced her out physically, whereas many hospitals would just call the police and have her arrested.

I work in an elder care agency and my favorite clients are the feisty ones. But this woman has gone way beyond feisty to off the reservation in-your-face obnoxiousness.

She has been offered many places in nursing homes in the area and has refused every one. She threatened "jokingly"? to set fire to the one where she previously lived, because they dared to ask her to clean up her mess, and they refused to have her back despite many fines against them. That has to tell you something.

She blames blood thinners for her legs breaking - that's crap - I'm an RN specializing in geriatric care - she probably had osteoporosis from age and poor calcium intake.

As people age their characters become more fixed. The people who were nice when young usually become even nicer as they age, the nasty ones just get worse, and I know that's a generalization but like all generalizations, it's mostly true.

She's playing this game because that's just what it is to her - a game, and everybody with health insurance, the hospital, the HMO and the state are all paying the price of one nasty old woman. Notice how the daughter is also trying to get help for the tree damage to the home? How about getting off her duff and getting a loan from the bank?

She wants to be taken care of like she wants to be taken care of. Not like they want to dictate to her. HEY! GOOD FOR HER! It is time someone stands up to these stupid HMOs take-your-money-give-no-care organizations which are getting even greedier under the bush corporations are gods banner! people here in Florida are protesting because they want to keep terry schiavo alive. they ought to be protesting up there in Marin County to place this woman in a nursing facility in that area where she wants to be!

You can bet Medicare wouldn't have paid this bill after her condition was stabilized.

The nursing homes in the area refuse to take her because she's a known gigantic pain in the ass.

"so far, no Marin County facility has been willing to take her.
and who can blame them. They've had her as a patient and would rather pay fines to keep her out.

You notice she deeded her house to her daughter so they can't get re-imbursed that way. She's gaming the system and it's time she was stopped.

for knowing what she wants and what is right...and people just don't like that. i happen to admire that and still root for the woman from my far away place.

As someone who's had to deal with cases like this, I'd say it's easy to sit back and take the high road when you're a long way away from it.
She's had "real life spirit" her whole life, which seems to have been used to piss people off as much as possible. If she were such a great human being, how come she never got any support from her community when she ran for the town council, for instance?

their rights and are not go alongers do usually piss off people.

The nursing homes in Marin County won't take her, people have bent over backward trying to get her a place but she refuses every one.
Is the HMO and hospital supposed to put her up in a $3000 a day hospital bed just because she's "sticking up for her rights". She's gone way beyond that. They should do a competency hearing and appoint a court-ordered guardian.

area where she grew up,got married, lived all of her life and has her friends in. I think what she is asking for is the right not to be uprooted--which in itself can be pretty frightening and even more so if you are old and have to depend on people. i think she is asking for the right to stay close by to the people who do care for her and have cared for her all of her life.

What is the problem here? Why is this patient not in police custody right now? Where is her doctor-that he or she has not discharged this patient.
If no medical care is needed at this time, this lady is a vagrant, squating in at the expense of medicare-which I may add, that I am being billed for in my medicare policy.
I am a registered nurse, and have seen indigent patients-who are not in need of medical care but have no place to go,are discharged to the county where they are placed in some facility for non-critical care. Sometimes, the authorities will designate a blood relative to take responsibility, such as her daughter. This is a complete farce and should not be allowed to continue.