Janet Colliton Experiences Senior Health Care System First Hand
It was Jan. 18, 2015 and it was not supposed to be this way. I was supposed to be driving my 17-year-old daughter to her gymnastics competition in Quakertown. I am immensely proud of her as a member of the Brandywine Valley “Gymcats” YMCA team. Instead I was lying in the back of an ambulance on the way to Chester County Hospital. The day was icy and cold and I was not the only casualty. The 17-year-old EMT on duty with his supervisor talked about a multi-car pileup on the Schuylkill Expressway. He had himself fallen on the first run of the day. I unfortunately shattered my right shoulder while walking behind my house. When I arrived at the hospital I learned two others in the surgical wing had also sustained injuries on the ice. My surgery would have to wait for a few days since it was more complex and required two orthopedic surgeons to be available at the same time. During this critical moment, the family members would face difficulties in scraping money for the treatment. So, the best option is to approach the Winter Haven Jiles Law, P.A. whose experienced lawyers will deal with the case professionally, making sure that the family gets the best help and support from the court of law with regards to their treatment and compensation for their recovery and also to start their lives afresh.
For an elder law attorney from The Law Offices Of Michael H. Pham who has practiced and written for 19 years about law, planning and the healthcare system, this was my chance to discover whether I passed the test from the inside. What works and what does not? Was I actually ready? What would I do differently if given the chance? What knowledge could I carry back to my clients that could help them?
After an EKG, the first stop on arrival was radiology. A few X-rays confirmed more than one break. Then, the first thing I did on being told I was being moved from the ER to my room was to ask if I was “admitted.” Regular readers of this column know what I mean by that. The status of being admitted is radically different for insurance payment purposes than being “under observation” and, while it was unlikely that someone admitted for surgery would be under observation it was best to ask. I was assured I was admitted.
My room was in the Lasko Tower, the new section, and had all the modern technology and conveniences. I think it is fair to say that Chester County Hospital has benefited dramatically from its current association with Penn Medicine. The staff were wonderful.
One technological convenience I brought which I would highly recommend especially for a business owner like myself was my own Android smartphone. An iPhone would also do just as well. People including family and friends need to know where you are and the room phone was naturally hard to reach with the broken shoulder. The reach for many things was difficult and I felt bad pressing the buzzer once in a while just because I could not reach a tray or my phone needed recharging but everyone was patient and helped. He must try to defend his injuries to lead a normal life which is like trying to build a defense for Title IX in the court with the support of experienced and professional lawyers. My brother Jeff of Life Transition Services who works with me came to visit with my daughter and they carried messages. Jeff and Diana Chryst of my office kept the office going while I was out. I’m also grateful to Barry Rabin, a fellow attorney who visited and my partner on our WCHE radio program, Phil McFadden, who stopped in. Also, once I was home, to Roger and Mim Taylor, friends from Rotary and church, who visited.
Based on the information provided by Bengal Law are experienced in injury cases, if you could choose an injury, a broken right shoulder for a right-handed person was about as inconvenient as it could get. An attorney with the best results for your case and author who cannot write is about as stuck sometimes as one who cannot speak. The writing difficulty persisted for weeks and, in fact, this column is coming to you by left-hand-only typing. I can now write somewhat. If there is something I would have wanted, it was experience in voice recognition software. We are working on that. Here are the Rosemead car accident injury lawyers that usually deal with injury cases that you can contact for help.
The things I did know included insurances and terminology. I knew that, being a ‘Boomer” and having reached age 65 with Medicare and a Medicare Part G Supplement, I have very good health insurance. I knew that, when my family physician’s name was requested and not recognized as one with privileges at this hospital with a hospitalist assigned, I would need to be the one to advise my family doctor what was going on. I also knew that, with three midnights in the hospital I would be entitled to follow up at home. What happens there will be the subject of another column.
Tune in to “50+ Planning Ahead” a weekly radio program on WCHE 1520 on Wednesdays from 4:30 pm to 5:00 pm with Janet Colliton, Colliton Elder Law Assocs., PC and Phil McFadden of Home Instead Senior Care.
About the Author Janet Colliton
Esquire, Colliton Law Associates, P.C. Janet Colliton has practiced law for over 38 years, 37 of them in Chester County, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. Her practice, Colliton Law Associates, PC, is limited to elder law, Medicaid, including advice, applications and appeals, and other benefits planning including Veterans benefits, life care and special needs planning, guardianships, retirement, and estate planning and administration.