By Jack Halpern, CEO, My Elder Advocate

On a recent Friday afternoon Martin D. was resting in his private room at NY Presbyterian/Cornell Hospital recuperating from a MRSA Infection that he contracted at the hospital because of the negligence of one of the staff physicians. Suddenly 3 burly ambulance attendants came into his room with a stretcher, and very unceremoniously announced that he was being transferred to a nursing home in New Rochelle.

 

Martin an 85 year old, weighing only 95 pounds, seriously ill gentleman almost had a heart attack. He informed these bullies that he was not made aware that he was being discharged, and he did not wish to leave. His wife Anne did not tell him about any discharge either. As the bullies began to remove him from bed, he grabbed the wall. They forced his hands from the wall. He called his wife on his cell phone, but they tore the phone from his hand. All the time these bullies were verbally abusing Martin. He was treated like a criminal. Martin was restrained on a stretcher and taken away.

Carol DeJesus, Director of Social Services, who has been trying to throw Martin out of the hospital for weeks, orchestrated this hasty eviction before the weekend. DeJesus, a nasty, unprofessional, and dispassionate woman was becoming increasingly frustrated with my insistence that Martin can’t leave until he has completed his full complement of intravenous antibiotics in a safe environment instead of being sent to a sub-standard nursing home, with poor infection control. DeJesus did not even have the courage to be present during this eviction, nor were there any staff members available who could calm Martin down. It was a horrible scene. 

Before being admitted to NY Presbyterian, Martin had spent 5 weeks at just such a facility. While at that facility he lost 22 pounds, had numerous seizures, was gashed on his arm, and sustained many more indignities. Yet, after 7 days at NY Presbyterian, DeJesus was insisting that Martin go back to the same nursing home. 

The receiving facility admitted Martin only because they were told that Martin and his wife had agreed to the transfer. When they found out the truth, they were appalled and very apologetic.  It was too dangerous to send him back.

The day of this horrible event was a day, when many of Carol Dejesus’s co-workers were ashamed of their hospital, and ashamed of Carol DeJesus. One coworker suggested that she should lose her license. I agree. Martin could very well have died as a result of this hasty move. Lucky for the hospital, he survived.

My Elder Advocate responds nearly instantly to any elder or eldercare crisis… in order to provide nursing home intervention, arrange for immediate placements, prevent evictions from nursing homes, handle a hospital crisis, and respond to other eldercare challenges.

 

 

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