Review of Professional Post Acute Center

A good friend, 63 years old and a veteran of the US Army, has been a patient at what is now Country Villa for over 13 years. He has a degenerative muscle disease and can only control several fingers on his left hand. Last night at midnight he used those fingers to call me on speed dial as he couldn't dial 911 on his own. He sounded panicked and was having serious trouble breathing. He asked me to call the facility's front desk and tell them to send a nurse to his room. He had turned on his call light at 11:15 PM and was no one had responded for more than 45 minutes. The woman who answered the phone hung up on me. I called back and read her the riot act demanding medical help for my friend. My wife called several minutes later and she was hung up on too. She then called 911 and and when the emergency techs arrived, they took him to the nearest emergency room where he was evaluated and admitted with suspected pneumonia and possibly an intestinal blockage . What makes this worse is a similar incident took place just 3 weeks ago, the first time my friend had to call me for help because no one responded to his crisis. After I filed a complaint with the county ombudsman, the facility director called me to apologize profusely and promise it would never happen again. The promise lasted 20 days. If you love someone… keep them out of this place if you have any other reasonable options. If you don't have options… you cannot trust this place and need to be constantly vigilant. My friend could have died from this incident. I'm now looking into the laws regarding criminal negligence. If you have a reasonable alternative, consider it very carefully. I'm looking to help my friend find a different facility where he will feel safe.