Laura
10-10-2007, 01:39 PM
http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=9&aid=74274
Brooklyn
Exclusive: Man Claims Queens Nursing Home Did Not Notify Him Of Mother's Death
October 04, 2007
A Brooklyn man who says he was not notified of his mother’s death until months after her passing demanded answers Thursday from a Queens nursing home. NY1’s Ruschell Boone filed the following exclusive report.
Huberto Garmon says when his mother died on July 15th no one from the Resort Nursing Home where she was staying contacted him to let him know.
“Not only did I find out that she passed away, but she passed two and a half months ago,” said Garmon.
In fact, Garmon claims staffers told him on several occasions that his 86-year-old mother, who was suffering from kidney failure, was either getting treatment at the nursing home or at Peninsula Hospital. He says he found out only this week that she had died.
“I went back and forth between the hospital and nursing home about seven times before they even told me what happened,” said Garmon.
Garmon says he visited his mother twice in July. On July 4th, he said he went to Peninsula Hospital to sign a "do not resuscitate" form, so the hospital would not perform CPR if she stopped breathing. He saw her again on July 12th at the Resort Nursing Home – three days before she died.
He said he did not think she had long to live.
“I'm thinking that she's at the nursing home,” he said. “I know they're going to call me, because if they contacted me for an authorization for an operation, they'll contact me if it happens, so we didn't know nothing until I called to say I wanted to go and visit her.”
Garmon says when he tried to get to the bottom of what happened, both the hospital and the nursing home began pointing fingers at each other.
NY1 spoke to a nursing home official who told the station they did try to reach Garmon, but the phone numbers he had listed were not working. The home says it was the hospital's responsibility.
"Hospital protocols and procedures were followed,” said hospital spokesperson Liz Sulik in a statement. “The attending physicians were notified and the hospital attempted to reach the family with the limited contact information provided by the nursing home. The nursing facility was immediately notified for further follow-up."
Garmon says he believes both facilities had the right contact information and he's planning to sue one or the other or both.
“After experiencing what he did, my client wants to make sure no one else will experience what he did and very often that cannot be accomplished unless some appropriate action, some formal action is taken,” said his attorney Everett Hopkins.
Garmon says he also wants to retrieve his mother's body from a cemetery for unclaimed remains, and give her a proper goodbye.
- Ruschell Boone
Brooklyn
Exclusive: Man Claims Queens Nursing Home Did Not Notify Him Of Mother's Death
October 04, 2007
A Brooklyn man who says he was not notified of his mother’s death until months after her passing demanded answers Thursday from a Queens nursing home. NY1’s Ruschell Boone filed the following exclusive report.
Huberto Garmon says when his mother died on July 15th no one from the Resort Nursing Home where she was staying contacted him to let him know.
“Not only did I find out that she passed away, but she passed two and a half months ago,” said Garmon.
In fact, Garmon claims staffers told him on several occasions that his 86-year-old mother, who was suffering from kidney failure, was either getting treatment at the nursing home or at Peninsula Hospital. He says he found out only this week that she had died.
“I went back and forth between the hospital and nursing home about seven times before they even told me what happened,” said Garmon.
Garmon says he visited his mother twice in July. On July 4th, he said he went to Peninsula Hospital to sign a "do not resuscitate" form, so the hospital would not perform CPR if she stopped breathing. He saw her again on July 12th at the Resort Nursing Home – three days before she died.
He said he did not think she had long to live.
“I'm thinking that she's at the nursing home,” he said. “I know they're going to call me, because if they contacted me for an authorization for an operation, they'll contact me if it happens, so we didn't know nothing until I called to say I wanted to go and visit her.”
Garmon says when he tried to get to the bottom of what happened, both the hospital and the nursing home began pointing fingers at each other.
NY1 spoke to a nursing home official who told the station they did try to reach Garmon, but the phone numbers he had listed were not working. The home says it was the hospital's responsibility.
"Hospital protocols and procedures were followed,” said hospital spokesperson Liz Sulik in a statement. “The attending physicians were notified and the hospital attempted to reach the family with the limited contact information provided by the nursing home. The nursing facility was immediately notified for further follow-up."
Garmon says he believes both facilities had the right contact information and he's planning to sue one or the other or both.
“After experiencing what he did, my client wants to make sure no one else will experience what he did and very often that cannot be accomplished unless some appropriate action, some formal action is taken,” said his attorney Everett Hopkins.
Garmon says he also wants to retrieve his mother's body from a cemetery for unclaimed remains, and give her a proper goodbye.
- Ruschell Boone