PHOENIX — Like most families who have parents in care facilities, it's been tough to visit or even catch up because of COVID-19. One Valley family is now having to put their elderly mother into hospice care and can't get in to see her.
"She's just taken a turn for the worst," Bruce Daugherty said.
He and his siblings have been trying to work with Brookdale Nursing Center. His 82-year-old mother, Avalon's health is hitting hurdles.
"Mom's mental capacity is deteriorating and she's lost a considerable amount of weight," he added.
He says they haven't been able to visit even via Zoom with their aging parents and now her health is slipping even further with no changes in site on visitation.
"Of course, it's going to get worse because you've taken the element of the family away from the situation.Now they don't have any family interaction," he added.
The couple has been married for 65 years and recently tested negative for COVID-19, leaving the family optimistic.
"We'll glove up, mask up, do whatever we need to do. We'll wear a hazmat suit if we have to just to see mom and dad -- stay six feet apart, no hugging, no kissing, just get to spend some time," he said.
The care facility, like so many across the Valley, is adhering to CDC guidelines and suggesting social platforms as a way to interact with loved ones.
"But now since mom is on a hospice if this becomes where mom is actively dying then at that point they will allow family in," he said.
Sadly, he says that's when it's already too late.
"We just want to see our family, and mom and dad and to put the element of family back into the situation, I think things would improve," Daugherty said.
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