Paralyzed man dies after spending years pushing Medicaid to let him stay in his North Bethesda home

BETHESDA, Md. — There's a sad update about Patrick Durkin, the North Bethesda with quadriplegia who spent years trying to convince the government to let him stay in his home.

The former federal government investigator passed away on Easter Sunday without ever winning his struggle with Medicaid.

Friends said Durkin, 69, always gave more than he took.

Even though he was paralyzed from the neck down, he could still feel pain. As nurse Judy Pangborn leveraged him from bed into a wheelchair, he was invariably pleasant. "How's that feel?" Pangborn asked him as she adjusted his arms last year. "Good Judy," he replied with a smile.

Durkin was paralyzed by a rogue wave in Ocean City in 2009. 

"It crashed and knocked my forehead into the sand," he said. His fiancé found him floating face down in the water. At first, she thought he was playing around. It was only after a few seconds that she realized he was injured.

For years, Durkin's pension from the Customs Service and FDA, along with long-term care insurance, paid for his treatment at home. But when he turned 65, he had to move to Medicare, and when he exhausted his resources, Medicaid declined to pay to keep him home.

Andy Owen, a spokesman for the Maryland Department of Health, said last year that privacy laws prevent him from talking specifically about Durkin's case, but he said it’s a priority to keep people in their own homes if they want to stay. But “individuals must meet a cost-neutrality test.”

"I've cried, I've screamed, I've yelled. I just can't afford to stay here," Pangborn said last year after caring for Durkin for months on donations from his friends.

"This strong man, who has fought drug dealers and apprehended them, is reduced to tears because of what the current Medicaid law is going to force him to do. It's pitiful. It's pitiful," said Anne Engel, a friend.

While Durkin struggled to convince the bureaucrats that it would be cheaper for Medicaid to keep him at home than in an institution, a massive church community stepped in to keep him alive.

"No one was Black or white; no one was Republican or Democrat. Everybody was a person of God. It made a huge difference. It made a huge difference," said Tom Mitchell through tears Tuesday. Mitchell helped coordinate dozens of volunteers from St. Jane de Chantel, Holy Redeemer, and other Catholic churches.

The volunteers kept Durkin alive for about a year after Pangborn, the nurse, had to give up her work with him.

Deeply religious, Durkin passed away on Easter Sunday.

Mitchell said an infection forced him into the hospital a few weeks ago, even as he continued his appeals.

"I'm still optimistic. I'm going to stay home," Durkin told WUSA9 as his options ran out. "God willing."

Mass of Christian Burial is scheduled for Thursday at 10:45 a.m. at St. Jane Frances de Chantal Catholic Church, 9601 Old Georgetown Road,
Bethesda, Maryland, 20814.