KRMC Home Healthcare review: Wound care, shower services and physical therapy

Patient Dale Davis has had services with Kingman Regional Medical Center (KRMC) Home Health Care since April 2021. As a diabetic, Mr Davis developed sores across the heels of both feet that required wound care (cleaning and changing bandages). KRMC Home Health Care traveled to our home where cleaning and changing bandages was administered. Another team, physical therapy, was conducted as well. The regimen of these services for Dale occurred twice a week. As his wounds were nearly healed in September 2021, Dale came down with COVID and was hospitalized. Home Health Care was canceled until Mr. Davis returned home from rehabilitation January 8th, 2022. At that point, KRMC Home Health Care was reinstated for wound care and physical therapy. It was brought to our attention that bathing services were available which was added to the weekly regimen.

The first shower assistance was initiated as Diane advised Dale's wife, Louise, that she was doing too much for him. Thus, Dale learned that he needed to clean himself in the shower. Wound care had it's challenges as the bedsore was quite ugly and the wound had covered a good portion of his heel. On the other hand, Andrea, with physical therapy, informed Louise that the VA can provide Caregiver services so she can go into town run errands and grocery shopping. At first, the conversation was considered informative, but grew to become a demanding and threatening aspect to Louise during physical therapy sessions. Louise told Andrea on several occasions that the neighbor was always available to provide assistance at a moment notice. But Andrea was insistent that a Caregiver from the VA was necessary or there will be consequences.

When Mr Davis was released from the Rehabilitation Facility on Saturday, January 8th, there were no instructions given where Mr Davis that he required continuous care. He was able to prove his ability to transport himself in and out of bed, on and off the toilet and in and out of the home if necessary (in the event of a fire, etc.). If Mr Davis required continuous care 24/7/365, he would not have been released from rehabilitation in the first place. The exercise, therapy regimen is not as intense at home as it had been during rehabilitation, but Mr Davis is still capable of these basic functions. Unfortunately, KRMC Home Health Care deem themselves Gods where they become Judge, Jury and Executioner to Client/Patient Caregivers.

On Friday, January 21, 2022, Louise left the home to run errands in town. But before her departure, she and Dale had a nice breakfast together. She also changed his bandage on his bedsore (originiated by KRMC Hospital during his treatment with COVID - complaint filed October 2021) and placed "press and seal" plastic wrap over the dressing in anticipation of the arrival with shower services. Dale fell asleep after Louise left the home, but before KRMC Home Health Care arrived. Dale did not hear them knocking on the door of the home so concern grew with shower services. Other members of KRMC Home Health Care were contacted where they managed to come into the home. Dale was just waking up when they approached him and it took a little bit of time for him to participate with shower services.

Louise was not prepared to find the residual chaos upon her return home shortly after their departure. She found Dale in bed where the bandage of his bedsore was removed and exposed. Only the back side of his diaper was protecting the wound from contamination. She also noticed that his heel was recently bandaged. There was a great amount of difficulty finding tape to secure the dressing as she applied a fresh bandage to the bedsore.

Dale proceeded to tell about his ordeal with KRMC Home Health Care to Louise. For one, they claimed the bandage was badly soiled. Two, all bandages are to be removed for shower services. Three, during the shower, Dale was scrutinized excessively for his conduct of cleaning himself. This was extremely alarming to Louise because the wounds on Dale are not to get wet as it would cause additional damage to the wound and exposure to infection. The "badly soiled" bandage was not contaminated. If KRMC Home Health Care looked at the wound care dressings and applications on the dresser next to the bed, they would have found the solution to their suspicions. A patch for wound and burn dressing called "MediHoney" is a yellow/orange in color which discolors the white patch that is placed over the dressing which is secured by tape. Thirdly, shower services were probably in a hurry to have Dale shower as so much time was utilized to get him started with the bathing regimen. After all, Staff Member with KRMC Home Health Care had a full schedule of other clients. Later that evening, Andrea with Physical Therapy called and spoke to Louise about her schedule for the following week. As a conversation was attempted to get clarity on what happened earlier in the day. But Andrea was insistent that Louise was to reach out to the VA system and get a caregiver to accompany Dale when she leaves town to run errands.

Throughout the weekend, Louise got the impression that KRMC Home Health Care had made her a moving target for revenge with the inconvenience they had experienced. A voice mail message was left with Home Health Care voicing concern about the no bandage requirement for shower services. Another voice mail message was left with Home Health Care requesting that the Director, Candy Haurte, was to return my call. None of these voicemails were ever returned. Thus, the decision to terminate shower services was necessary has Dale's wounds were getting wet, creating more damage to the lesions.

Monday, January 24th, Evan, Physical Therapist of KRMC Home Health Services arrived at our home unexpectedly. Apparently he had a conversation with Dale over the phone about the time he would be arriving and it was not communicated to Louise. This is considered deliberate sabotage for Louise so she can prepare Dale to be ready for his appointments. Dale had not waken up yet for the night, so it took some time for him to get out of bed and participate in therapy. Considering the time restraints of therapy, Louise had to use a belt to assist with stability and assistance to get Dale out of bed. Louise had a brief conversation with Evan at that time expressing her disappointment involving what happened on Friday, January 21st. He knew what Louise was talking about as word gets around quickly with this group. Evan responded by indicating that KRMC Home Health services does not have the authority to initiate anything, worst case scenario is that they will call the Police. It appeared that Dale was able to participate with a number of activities with Evan during his physical therapy without issue. (as in no concerns were expressed by Evan to Louise or Dale).

Alarmed with that response, Louise called KRMC Home Health Care, Candy was not available, so she spoke with Supervisor, Yvonne. A review of field notes was conducted. There were false claims made, one in particular was a soiled dressing on the bedsore. As mentioned before, the Medi-Honey dressing patch was dissolved to protect the wound and made the top dressing layer look soiled. Blood sugar test results were inconsistent, Yvonne first advised Louise that the reading was 256, then later on told her it was 226. Regardless, Dale had been on a steroid, pretizone, to help build platelets while recovering from COVID. This caused his blood suger readings during his stay in rehabilitation within 300 and 400. Thus, 226 was considered high, it was also considered an improvement since his release from rehabilitation. Furthermore, Dale had access to his insulin which was not mentioned. After reviewing the filed notes of Friday's visit, the conversation become one of the most frustrating experiences Louise has ever had in her lifetime. This Supervisor, Yvonne, conducted a bunch of deflecting maneuvers and would not address the issues. Recognizing that the conversation was so ridiculous, Louise thanked her for her time and terminated the conversation. Clearly, the preconceived impression of having Home Health Care services was to help the patient, as it was experienced April - September 2021 before Dale was taken to the hospital with COVID, no longer existed. And since his return, KRMC Home Health Care was creating more problems with very little or no solutions. Regardless, there was an ugly gut feeling after the conversation with Yvonne that something was brewing in the background

These suspicions were confirmed when Jennie Haro, Human Service Specialist III with Adult Protective Services called announcing she was two minutes away and I needed to "unlock" the gate. Upon her arrival, she described the complaint that mimicked the conversation with Supervisor, Yvonne with KRMC Home Health Care. What disappointed Dale and Louise the most was the allegations of soiled bedding, the inability of any food or drink for Dale and my return home projected to be late in the afternoon. When the interview was completed, Jennie advised Louise and Dale that she did not see any issue with our situation. She also turned to Louise to indicate that she needs to take care of herself as it is justified to go into town to visit friends, etc. Relieved to hear this from Jennie, Louise told her that she felt that KRMC Home Health Care is trying to make her a prisoner in her own home.

Patsy with KRMC Home Health Care called shortly after Jennie left to come over and conduct wound care for Dale. Louise confronted her about the report to Adult Protective Services in which Patsy denied. Louise responded to her indicating that she did not believe her. Regardless, the schedule is open for Patsy to arrive and administer wound care services with the disclosure that the visit had to be professional without any personal inquires. The phone went dead, but shortly thereafter, Yvonne of KRMC Home Health Care called moments later to scold Louise for her "attitude." She denied anyone from Home Health Care has always conducted services with the utmost professionalism. Louise responded by informing Yvonne that this was not the experience she and Dale have had with KRMC Home Health Care. The conversation got ugly at that point where Yvonne took everything Louise said out of context. In the attempt to clarify any misunderstandings, Louise repeated what she said and now Yvonne processed the information was inaccurately. This had to be conducted throughout the conversation until Yvonne interrupted Louise announcing that she was severing all ties and canceling all services. This is an acceptable solution for Dale and Louise. They are happy to hire another service through the VA and learned that absolutely no personal conversations are to be conducted.

Later in the evening, Louise was changing the dressing on Dale's bedsore and heel. She became very alarmed when she uncovered the heel. The wound grew much worse, which is a result of it getting wet with shower sessions. Louise is quite frankly relieved that KRMC Home Health Care will no longer performing services. However, she is terrified to go into town alone and experience additional scrutiny if a member of KRMC Home Health Care were to see her without Dale. Clearly, KRMC Home Health Care has hidden agendas to initiate and maintain heartache and unrest with the patients and their caregivers. It's a shame that the once excellent healthcare experienced with them has vanished.

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