As to the article concerning one of our residents, Bernard Liles (“At 101, kicked out of retirement home,” WJW, Aug. 1), I would like to respond as a resident of Maplewood Park Place for almost three years.
I’ve had occasion to recuperate in the skilled nursing section of our facility after undergoing minor surgery. Also, I visit friends frequently (three to four times a week) in skilled nursing and assistant living, both of which are on the same level. I have seen the care, concern and patience shown to Mr. Liles day in and day out. He was always in an area where he could be monitored. On occasion he was taken to social gatherings and always to Friday Shabbat services. He truly received skilled nursing.
Maplewood is open to all who qualify financially. We are a co-op, a “private, for-profit” senior living facility. We own our apartment, then pay a fee which pays the cost of our skilled nursing care. Everyone who buys in knows the arrangements for when that time comes when we can no longer take care of ourselves. There is not a supplemental fund set up for a “shortfall.”
If Mr. Liles’ family felt that “this was his home,” then the family should have provided the funds needed in order for Mr. Liles to remain here. If the family couldn’t do this, then where was their moral foresight, the concern, the preplanning to make other arrangements for Mr. Liles’ final years?
Maplewood is to be commended for its part in meeting Mr. Liles’ needs until his demise.
DIANE SAHR, Bethesda
