Help Willis Come Home

Denise Dillihay Mamula is organizing this fundraiser.

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On November 12, 2020, my husband, Willis, had a stroke. On November 16, 2020, he was transferred from Wheeling Hospital to Forest Hill Continuing Care Center in St. Clairsville, Ohio, where he was to receive both speech and physical therapy. This was the last day that we spent together.

The policy of the care center is that all new patients are quarantined for the first 14 days due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Even though he did received some physical therapy during those 14 days, he was unable to take advantage of the equipment in the therapy department, as he was not permitted to leave his room. Once the quarantine was lifted, he started to make some progress toward being able to stand and take a few steps with the help of the therapists. Making these small strides really lifted his spirits as he worked toward recovery.

On December 3, 2020, I received a call from the care center informing me that my primary insurance company, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, was refusing to pay for any further expenses toward my husband’s stay in their facility. They had reviewed his progress during the first two weeks of his stay and made the determination that, according to their “guidelines”, he was not making the progress he should be making and therefore his stay in the care center was deemed “not medically necessary”. Forest Hill appealed that decision on our behalf, but the appeal was denied.

Although my husband has Medicare coverage, we were told that if the primary insurance denies coverage, then Medicare, as the secondary insurance, will not provide any coverage for his treatment. They follow the lead of the primary insurance agency. He has now been forced to apply for Medicaid and must sit and wait until a decision is made. If Medicaid turns him down, then the entire bill falls on our shoulders. It costs almost $6000 per month for him to stay at Forest Hill Continuing Care Center. The cost of physical therapy is an additional charge.

As a result of these circumstances, my husband is no longer receiving the physical therapy he so desperately needs to recover.

He has the option of leaving the care facility if he chooses, and I am currently working on bringing him home, however there are some necessities that need to be in place before that can happen. He would need equipment such as a hospital bed, a Sit and Stand lift (this is used to move a patient from bed to chair, etc.), and a wheelchair, plus anything else necessary to accommodate his recovery. A medical transport would be needed as well.

Valentine’s day (February 14, 2021) will be our 24th wedding anniversary. It is my wish that my husband, Willis, can be home with me so that we may celebrate it together. Any and all help is immensely appreciated. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you. God Bless!

Below is an example of the Sit to Stand Lift that Willis needs to move from his bed to his wheelchair...