Lansing Nursing Homes Information

Nursing care is most broadly broken into short-term or long-term care. Some Lansing skilled nursing facilities have the capabilities for both types of care. Many institutions also care for specific medical conditions, like memory loss, diabetes or kidney disease, via specialized care units.

Short-term care is for patients who need to rehabilitate from an acute medical event. Strokes, aneurisms and falls are the most common causes for a short-term visit. Prior to their nursing stay, a majority of patients are hospitalized for a few days. To ensure a full recovery, further medical treatment in a nursing home will allow them to regain lost strength and function to a certain level. Nursing professionals and therapists help patients through a prescribed path of recuperation that often includes physical, occupational, speech or respiratory therapy. Full recovery is not reached under short-term care. The goal of this type of care is to get patients to a point where they can move to in home care, assisted living care or another less comprehensive option.

Hospital care is the first component in the recovery process for short-term patients. Receiving quality hospital care can affect how a patient heals down the road. It also gives them access to well-informed recommendations and referrals to area nursing facilities. Lansing’s best hospitals, as rated by patients’ previous hospital experiences, are Edward W. Sparrow Hospital and McLaren – Greater Lansing.

Long-term care gives extended and extensive treatment to patients that need high levels of health management, evaluation and observation. These patients have serious physical and mental conditions like dementia, Parkinson’s, cancer, cardiovascular disease, hypothyroidism or multiple sclerosis. Under long-term care, the whole multidisciplinary team of personnel collaborates to give complex and elaborate treatment. Doctors and nurses are on call to perform periodic to around-the-clock check-ups and medical procedures such as medication dosage, blood testing, colostomies, intravenous therapy and injections. Non-medical caregivers attend to patients that need help completing activities of daily living. Recreational and social workers try to keep patients engaged through daily interaction and planned events, dinners, activities and trips.

Lansing’s nursing care costs are quite inexpensive relative to the Michigan median level. Semi-private SNF accommodations cost $6,235 per month, almost $400 per month lower than the state median. Private SNF rooms have a monthly cost of $6,464, over $800 less than the state median.

The cost of skilled care is a burden to many patients and their families. Traditional health insurance does not cover nursing care. Long-term care insurance is an appropriate option for seniors looking to prepare for skilled care costs before the need arises. Although this option costs relatively little compared to the annual out of pocket costs of nursing care, premiums are still expensive. Not everyone can afford it. Recently, those without such a safeguard have had to find private ways of financing the cost of care. They often dip into their retirement savings or borrow against their homes and assets.

Those eligible for Medicare and Medicaid also need to be aware of their limitations. Medicare only covers 100 days of nursing stays in one benefit period. It also does not accept patients only in need of custodial care. Medicaid is not accepted at all institutions.