EleanorW
New Member
Hi all -
I hope this issue isn't too "heavy" for this forum section, but I tend to think there must be others faced with the same issue.
I have a close friend of about a quarter century who rather suddenly dropped off the radar screen about a year ago. (Meaning, two P.O. boxes shut down, four email addresses shut down, two telephone numbers shut down (she worked from home.) Paper mail rejected but her home was/is still on the tax rolls in her name.) Her place is in Round Rock, Texas.
I had a couple of phone numbers of family members and associates, but all their phone numbers are no longer in service.
I'm up here in the Canadian north woods, retired, in somewhat shaky health, unable to afford to travel or hire a detective.
After a session with (an amazing) psychic, and a friend who was able to get the Round Rock, TX police missing persons bureau to look into my friend's status, we determined that she is in a care facility in Alice, Texas, a couple of hundred miles south, and is suffering from dementia.
The Round Rock police said they were not allowed to furnish more detail.
Now what this means in realistic terms is, I am probably cut off from any communications with my "incarcerated" friend for the rest of her life.
This is due to the medical confidentiality laws.
I have tried calling the nursing homes in the Alice, Texas area, asking for my friend by name in hopes a receptionist might slip up and confirm my friend's presence and let me contact her, with no luck. This is commonly-given advice.
My question is, are there any members of this forum who have faced this issue before, and if yes, were you able to solve the problem and find contact information for your "incarcerated" friend or family member?
Another question is, this seems like rather extreme punishment for both people who are put into nursing home care and friends who want to contact them. Didn't anyone framing confidentiality laws think about this? Are there any organizations working on a solution?
Thanks for taking time to read this,
Eleanor White
Ontario, Canada
I hope this issue isn't too "heavy" for this forum section, but I tend to think there must be others faced with the same issue.
I have a close friend of about a quarter century who rather suddenly dropped off the radar screen about a year ago. (Meaning, two P.O. boxes shut down, four email addresses shut down, two telephone numbers shut down (she worked from home.) Paper mail rejected but her home was/is still on the tax rolls in her name.) Her place is in Round Rock, Texas.
I had a couple of phone numbers of family members and associates, but all their phone numbers are no longer in service.
I'm up here in the Canadian north woods, retired, in somewhat shaky health, unable to afford to travel or hire a detective.
After a session with (an amazing) psychic, and a friend who was able to get the Round Rock, TX police missing persons bureau to look into my friend's status, we determined that she is in a care facility in Alice, Texas, a couple of hundred miles south, and is suffering from dementia.
The Round Rock police said they were not allowed to furnish more detail.
Now what this means in realistic terms is, I am probably cut off from any communications with my "incarcerated" friend for the rest of her life.
This is due to the medical confidentiality laws.
I have tried calling the nursing homes in the Alice, Texas area, asking for my friend by name in hopes a receptionist might slip up and confirm my friend's presence and let me contact her, with no luck. This is commonly-given advice.
My question is, are there any members of this forum who have faced this issue before, and if yes, were you able to solve the problem and find contact information for your "incarcerated" friend or family member?
Another question is, this seems like rather extreme punishment for both people who are put into nursing home care and friends who want to contact them. Didn't anyone framing confidentiality laws think about this? Are there any organizations working on a solution?
Thanks for taking time to read this,
Eleanor White
Ontario, Canada