Leewood Healthcare Center

Staff team was very welcoming. Explained everything that needed to be completed.

Review of Leewood skilled nursing facility dated 24 Mar 2024 My husband, Bob Whatley was rested in peace at the Quantico National Cemetery on 19 March 2024. I feel obligated to write about those 53 days while he was in the SNF. Bob was admitted on 8 January 2023 from INOVA Hospital with heart condit...

Review of Leewood skilled nursing facility dated 24 Mar 2024 My husband, Bob Whatley was rested in peace at the Quantico National Cemetery on 19 March 2024. I feel obligated to write about those 53 days while he was in the SNF. Bob was admitted on 8 January 2023 from INOVA Hospital with heart conditions and few minor complications. The nursing staff was good and attentive in caring for him except till the end of his stay. The therapy team was wonderful in recovering his speech and physical capabilities. The attending physician Dr. Pham came in to meet us three days after his admission and said he would be taking the place of Bob''s family doctor. However, his care did not measure up what he is supposed to do as a family doctor for the following reasons: 1. Over 50 days my husband stayed in Leewood, I went to visit him and stay with him almost whole day each every day. Dr. Pham came to his room to check or examine on him no more than 5 or 6 times during his 53-day stay. As a rule, we were told that the attending physician was supposed to check on the patient at least 2 or 3 times, if not every day, in a week. 2. A couple of weeks into Bob''s stay, he had bad abdominal pains constantly. When I requested Dr. Pham offer remedy or refer my husband to another GI doctor because his GI doctor Dr. Malhortra wasn''t available, his response was, "he (your husband) is here for rehabilitation only, because this is a Rehab facility." which isn''t correct simply because Leewood is a Skilled Nursing Facility first then Rehab center second. Therefore, no action was taken on Dr. Pham''s part. My husband had to suffer moderate to severe abdominal pains often. 3. On Monday 2/19/24 (Day 42), Bob started coughing after his roommate in Room 130 caught a cold on Sunday, 2/18. Tuesday morning of 2/20 when arriving at the room, the roommate said, "No one came to help the whole night when I asked for attention.." This means neither he nor my husband had any cold remedy for over two days. I went to the nurse asking for cold medicine and was told that she had to get the nurse in charge or the attending doctor to prescribe cold medicine. It surely didn''t make any sense that the nurse needs special permission just for common cold medicine. Nevertheless, for the most part of morning till 2:15 pm I had to chase the nurse in charge Agnes for cold medicine to give to Bob and Resident 130A. Finally, at 4:15 pm, Robitussin DM was given by Agnes. It was to be given every 6 hours. During this period, Dr. Pham didn''t show up to check on the patients. A week went by Bob''s cold condition didn''t get better. I requested a new medicine and a chest X-ray, which was taken on the afternoon of Tuesday, 2/26. But to date I still do not know whether a different or better cold medication was provided to Bob. The next day I saw Dr. Pham at the Nurse Station working on paperwork. I asked about Bob''s chest X-ray. His answer was overall the report was good. No pneumonia, only a little water in his lower lung area. Again, he didn''t go into Bob''s room to take a look or examine on Bob. And at this point, Bob''s legs, ankles and pretty much his body was somewhat swollen from excessive water in his body including his lung. The bottom line: No intervention or attention from Dr. Pham''s part since the day of Bob''s cold and coughing caused fluids in his lung gradually building up over 10-day period and might have contributed to his acute heart failure on the tragic day of his passing on 1 May 2024. The tragic lesson learned in those 50+ days when my husband stayed in Leewood SNF was critical for the families in the future to be always aware/vigilant of the care by the medical staff and demand the staff in SNF to have urgency when caring for the patients/residents in the facility.