It's standard of care to send a patient to the ER from the nursing home... We may not "know" this but it's also fine to call 911 and get an ambulance especially if the staff on hand is not cooperative. Some nursing homes have a clinic attached to them for daily and urgent care but even if you had a hospital next door they would still have to be wheeled or taken by ambulance. So this specific part of the article is overly sensational.
If the issue was really urgent enough for an ambulance, then "a doctor" probably wasn't what was needed. The doctor would just call for an ambulance - they probably wouldn't have much in the way of emergency treatment equipment on hand anyway.
If the issue wasn't urgent enough for an ambulance, and she just wanted to escalate the issue because she didn't trust the nurses or wasn't happy with the quality of service she felt she was getting, then it would be irresponsible to call 911. 911 is not for the use of impatient rich people.
She could have just called her grandmother's doctor.
