NEWARK, N.J. (1010 WINS) -- An elderly woman, rushed to a Newark hospital after suffering an acute stroke, was forced to wait more than six hours before receiving the vital critical care she desperately needed.
Steve Sandberg's full interview with Geraldine Robinson
The woman, Bessie Ferguson, never recovered and died a few weeks later.
Dr. Alexander Salerno says Ms. Ferguson suffered an acute stroke June 13th during a routine evaluation. He says he immediately dialed 9-1-1 and called ahead to St. Michael's Medical Center, where he's affiliated, and advised the attending physician in the emergency room that his patient was en route and required immediate treatment.
Relatives say the 99-year-old East Orange woman arrived at St. Michael's around 4:30 p.m., but according to hospital records obtained by 1010 WINS, she was not seen by a doctor until 10:00 p.m. and only after numerous complaints to hospital staff from family members.
Records show she was finally admitted into the critical care unit just before 11:00 p.m.
"I don't know if she was ignored or not," says daughter Geraldine Robinson. "We were looking around trying to find someone."
Hospital records show Ms. Ferguson was first assessed in the emergency room within 45 minutes of her arrival. They checked her vitals hourly, but left her sitting in a pool of her own urine for hours.
"She was soaking wet," says Robinson, who with her daughter, had to change her mother's bed pan several times when hospital staff ignored her pleas for help.
At one point, she says a security guard came in and told them only one family member could stay. At 8:00 p.m, Ms. Ferguson was sent for a C-T scan.
Hospital records show the technician reported she was "saturated" and her "bed linens wet." Robinson says the technician ordered she be cleaned up and changed when her mom returned to the emergency room.
"It was heart-wrenching to see someone you love suffering like that," says Robinson. Spokesman Brendan Middleton says: "The hospital's sympathies are certainly with the family.
Based on the information we've looked at, we're confident that the appropriate protocols and procedures were followed regarding this patient.
And ultimately, the hospital doesn't feel that the patient's eventual death could be attributed to the care the patient did or did not receive at St. Michael's."
The great-great grandmother suffered partial paralysis to her right side. Her face drooped and she lost the ability to speak or swallow. She was eventually transferred to the Kessler Institute in West Orange for rehabilitation.
After developing pneumonia, Ms. Ferguson was re-admitted into a hospital and later a hospice.
She died August 4th, just weeks shy of her 100th birthday.
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