My father (79M) is in an skilled nursing facility in New York. He has strong cognition but uses an electric scooter to get around (can barely walk which is why he is in skilled nursing).

My father wants to check himself out of the facility for a few hours a week to go to the store or visit a family member at their house. He would be leaving the facility for a couple hours at a time. I would hire the bus that takes him places (I live 400 miles away so can’t take him myself).

However, the facility won’t let him out of the front door. He’s only allowed outside if it’s on the enclosed back patio. They said no one has ever asked to go to the store before. They said it’s not allowed.

My father said it’s starting to feel like a prison because he can’t go anywhere by himself.

Is this really OK? Or do his unit nurses just not really know what is and isn’t allowed and they just don’t want to deal with the worry of “did he come back yet?”