Omaha Senior AdvisorWhat should we ask before a parent leaves an Omaha hospital?
Ask whether your parent was formally admitted or kept on observation, what the discharge plan recommends (home, home with home health, skilled rehab or a facility), which providers have openings, and who will reconcile medications; the hospital's case manager or social worker coordinates the answers.
The admission status matters because Medicare covers skilled nursing facility rehab only after an inpatient stay of at least three days, and observation days do not count. If the plan says your parent needs rehab, ask which nursing homes have accepted the referral and whether they are in your parent's Medicare Advantage network. You have the right to appeal a discharge you believe is premature; the hospital must give Medicare patients written notice of that right.
Which Omaha hospitals discharge most rehab patients?
Most Omaha-area rehab and nursing home referrals come from Nebraska Medicine's Nebraska Medical Center, Methodist Hospital and Methodist Women's Hospital, CHI Health's Bergan Mercy, Immanuel, Lakeside and Midlands hospitals, and Nebraska Medicine-Bellevue, with Madonna's rehabilitation specialty hospital and Select Specialty Hospital serving patients who need longer acute rehab.
Our nursing home pages list the nearest hospitals for each home by straight-line distance. Proximity to the hospital that knows your parent can matter for follow-up appointments and readmissions.
Can a parent go straight from the hospital to assisted living?
Yes, if an assisted-living facility can meet your parent's needs under a resident service agreement and any complex nursing care can be arranged through home health or hospice; Nebraska ALFs may admit residents with complex needs only under the conditions in 175 NAC 4-006.07B.
Expect the ALF to do its own assessment, often by its RN, before accepting a resident from the hospital. Ask for the medication list and discharge summary early so the ALF can review them. Medicare-covered home health can start in the ALF if a doctor orders it.
What if Medicare rehab ends and a parent cannot go home?
Start planning in the first week of rehab: ask the nursing home's social worker when Medicare coverage is likely to end, whether the home accepts Nebraska Medicaid for long stays, and whether assisted living, home with help or PACE could work instead.
If Medicaid will be needed, apply early through iServe Nebraska or (855) 632-7633. ENOA's Information and Assistance line, (402) 444-6444, can talk through the options and the AD Waiver. A senior advisor can check which nearby ALFs have openings and are waiver-certified.
Sources include 175 NAC 4 (assisted-living facilities), the Nebraska Revised Statutes cited above, Nebraska DHHS program and licensure pages, CMS, CareScout and VA rate tables; see our editorial standards.
