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Top of Mind: Emotional and financial toll of memory care

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KATHY AND JACK
KATHY-AND-JACK

LA CROSSE, Wis. (WXOW) - Kathy Lucey and her husband Jack have called the Coulee Region home all of their lives.

WATCH: TOP OF MIND PART I

They bonded over sports. Both were and still are very active people. Eventually, they married here, raising two daughters.

WATCH: TOP OF MIND PART II

About ten years ago, Jack noticed something felt off.

"He felt that there was some change in his speech," said Kathy.

A psychiatrist would diagnose him with the earliest form of aphasia that she had ever seen.

"She told us at one of our earliest meetings that in 10 years he would not be able to speak, and that’s exactly what happened," said Kathy.

LEARN MORE: DEMENTIA RESOURCES

Jack was later diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Kathy eventually had to move Jack into memory care after experiencing struggles in taking care him.

"We’re able to provide those services to those individuals, but we usually have quite a wait list of people who are hoping to get in, who need our services, and don’t have any place to go right now,” said Wanda Plachecki, Executive Director of Long Term Care Services in La Crosse County.

Plachecki added assisted living facilities with memory care often have to be more selective as bed space tightens which is leading to more people being denied.

"I see it in people finally ready to make that move to assisted living or nursing home level of care and having three or four referrals denied. No bed space or we are not equipped to care for your loved one," said Kelsey Flock, Dementia Care Specialist of La Crosse County Aging & Disability Resource Center. "I’m seeing that now so what is going to look like when we double our numbers in 2040?"

"A lot of them have waiting lists right now," said Cheryl Neubauer, Supervisor, La Crosse County Aging and Disability Resource Center. "There’s a few that have some random openings, but again, they’re very expensive, so unless you have the financial means to just start to pay for them, they are difficult to get into without public funding or they can be $8,000 a month.”

Due to the intensive care needed for dementia patients, costs can average anywhere from $4,000 to $15,000 a month. The average in La Crosse County centers right around $4,000.

"Many people start out self pay, so they might have some savings, retirement savings, they may have some property, things of that nature and so they have assets, and so they may start paying for it in that way that typically does not last a long time," said Wanda.

Those people then turn to Medicaid and other aid options for assistance.

"When you’re talking about those long term residents that have a dementia diagnosis, we could be talking two to four years or more and that really puts a stressor on that system," said Plachecki. "Especially because Medicaid does not cover the full cost of care, so for all of us in the long term care industry, we know that we are going to have to subsidize the care that is provided under the Medicaid program with some other types of pay source."

At the La Crosse County Aging & Disability Resource Center, they work to help keep people in their homes as long as possible.

"That’s part of the dementia care specialist, to help preserve, keep people in their homes longer, safely, living a high quality of life to delay this early entry into the long term care system,” said Flock.

kathy-and-mike

However, the journey is different for everyone. Lucey said moving Jack into memory care was an extreme help.

Kathy will go visit Jack in the afternoon. She still spends time with him and still strives to create new memories. She always thinks about him and told News 19 that she always remains in caregiver mode.

“If someone comes in and says, "This is your wife!" and he says, "Yeah." Do I know if he knows I'm his wife? No, but it makes me feel good and I hold on to that,” said Kathy.