The Hunt...

So I spent pretty much all day yesterday running around the Bronx like a madman. I had to visit four different nursing/rehab facilities in order to choose which one I would want to send my father to.

I spent about 45 minutes to an hour at each place, asking questions and taking tours. I also had to swing by Montefiore to have a meeting with a social worker to get more details about his health insurance, trying to find out exactly what it would and wouldn't cover (and I have to admit, I'm still a little confused on that end, but I'll deal with that shortly).

The four facilities that I went to were Daughters of Jacob, Jewish Home & Hospital, Beth Abraham, and Morningside House.

My top choice was Morningside House (which is on Pelham Parkway between White Plains Rd & Williamsbridge Rd). It is an excellent facility. It's in a nice neighborhood, the building is well kept, and the facility really stresses rehab (which is what we really want for my dad and they offer it 5 days a week as opposed to all the others which only offer it 3 times a week). It is accessible by both the 2 and 5 trains (the 5 to Pelham Parkway and walk 3 blocks south, or the 2 to Pelham Parkway and walk 5 blocks north). The #12 bus also runs right up Pelham Parkway and stops nearby. Another great thing is this is the ONLY facility with 24 hour visiting hours, which is great.

Jewish Home & Hospital is also one of the better facilities I have seen (both for the staff & how it's maintained, as well as location). But it depends if they have a bed available for him (which they said as of yesterday they do not). I've also heard mostly good things (although there was one or two people who gave me a really bad story, but overall it has gotten positive reviews). One major thing going for the place is accessibility- it is near the B, D and 4 trains as well as a few buses. It's also close to Ariana and near Lehman College where I go to graduate school.

Beth Abraham is very nice as well and definitely has the best reputation. The only thing I didn't like about it was that there is one section of the home where they put 4 people in a room. Dad might not be in that section, but there is a chance he would be depending on his evaluation, so that's the only thing about the place that has me tentative. It is fairly accessible as it is only 2 blocks away from the 2 train on Allerton Ave, as well as right off the Bronx River Parkway (plus there is plenty of parking).

Daughters of Jacob I wasn't overly thrilled with. it didn't look as clean as the other facilities, and it's not in a very good neighborhood and is the most out of the way place for me to get to (although it is accessible by the B & D train and the 4 is not too far but you'd probably need to transfer to the bus). The good things about the place though, were all the patients looked very happy, and the staff seemed very nice and helpful.

The only issues with any of the places were that some expressed concerns about bringing him in under hospice care- mostly due to the fact they are not sure both would be covered by insurance. I have been assured by his CMO case worker it would be, and for a very long basis, but it is just something that keeps coming up.

My hope is that they will put dad either in Morningside, Jewish Home & Hospital or Beth Abraham (but only if he is in the section where he will be in a private or semi-private room), but it depends on bed availability so at this point all we can do is pray that God puts him in the place that will be best for him.

If any of you have any further information, please let me know as it will be greatly appreciated. God Bless!

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UPDATE!

My dad was accepted into Morningside House, and he is being moved probably as we speak (they told me they set up the transport around 4:30pm). So I'm gonna call around 6pm to make sure he is settled in and then I'm gonna go visit.

I'm just so thankful to God that things seem to be going well. There's still stuff to deal with (like having to obtain guardianship over my dad ASAP) but things seem to be working out little by little. So thank you for all your prayers and please keep it up, b/c they are working!