KUSA — Editor's Note: 9Wants to Know found burnt-out caregivers sometimes abandon family members with Alzheimer's and dementia at hospitals, leaving dozens of patients stranded. The team has taken an in-depth look at that problem in its series, "Stranded."
Social workers in hospitals across the metro area are working to find facilities willing to take in at-risk adults who’ve been abandoned by families and sometimes other long-term care facilities, like nursing homes.
The findings have caught the attention of state lawmakers, including Republican Senator Beth Martinez Humenik and Democratic Representative Jonathan Singer.
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Martinez Humenik said she believes hospitals and nursing homes will need to work together to help come up with a solution - and she doesn’t want to wait until January to get started.
“I would like to get...started now in talking about these issues and what solutions can we come up with, because it shouldn’t just be the legislature that has to find solutions,” Martinez Humenik said. “We need to work together to find the answers that are going work for Colorado and for the people who deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.”
Singer, who comes from a social work background, said he is eager to start exploring ideas with elderly advocacy groups.
“Well the silver tsunami is coming whether you like it or not,” Singer said. “We can either get a head of it or we can let it crash over us. And so this is a real opportunity that you actually helped with.”
“Channel 9 has [shined] a light on something that we as legislators need to step to plate and start problem solving,” Singer said.