Ruth Lieberman’s Medical Fund

Hi my name is Joanna and I started this for my mother in law Ruth Lieberman. Ruth had a massive stroke on December 16th. Ruth has worked as a mental health therapist and a nurse for over 25 years. She works for RUMC and is even in the calendar for January. Ruth’s job found her unconscious on the floor unaware of when the stroke took place. She was transported to RUMC hospital in critical condition. Upon regaining consciousness Ruth was unfortunately unable to speak. Ruth’s entire right side is paralyzed and she is only able to move her left side. When a stroke takes place, there is two types of rehab which is acute and sub acute care. Due to Ruth having aphasia and right side paralysis, she only qualifies for sub acute care. Her insurance 1199 does not cover sub acute care. Ruth’s son Ben has spent countless hours on the phone going back and forth with RUMC trying to find a rehab for her to go to. She was continuously denied from rehabs. It felt like every time we applied her for a facility, she was denied almost instantly. Ben called different rehabs daily trying to get her accepted. There is honestly nothing more frustrating then getting a new social worker and having to re-explain the entire situation week after week.

Even though Ruth cannot speak, every nurse has recognized her from the calendar! After a month of being in the hospital we were finally able to get her into a rehab facility in New Jersey. Unfortunately after a day of being there, she stopped attempting to speak and making any progress. She was transferred into the hospital wing at the rehab center, where they thought she had another stroke. Thankfully, she didn’t have another stroke and it was a small bleed. A week later, today (1/20/23) she was transferred back up to the rehab floor. This has been quite the roller coaster and Ruth is going to need long term care. She only has 30 days in the rehab facility and will need 24/7 care after.

This has been difficult to navigate since Ruth is so young and was actively working. The funds raised are being used for her legal fees, medical care that is needed as well as her bills. Since she was actively working, her disability is only short term combined with her insurance not covering the care she needs.