Englewood Hospital Killed My Aunt

I am looking to expose Englewood Hospital for the shoddy treatment my aunt received, leading up to her death while in their care. I have consulted with several attorneys who do not feel I have a case because the legal costs would far outweigh any damages that might be awarded. I am not in it for the money, and am not looking for any monetary awards. I simply want to expose Englewood Hospital for the treatment they provided my aunt while she was in their care.

As the result of a NJ Department of Health investigation I requested, Englewood Hospital was cited for numerous violations that no doubt led to my Aunt's demise. Among other things, they had her in restraints against her will, and they left her in these restraints night and day. They had specific orders from her Doctor to keep her under constant observation, yet they let her go to the bathroom unattended and she fell on the floor hitting her head. They never informed me about this fall, but when I went to visit her I saw her head was all bruised, her eye was swollen shut, and she looked like someone had beaten her up.

At a high level I need to know how my Aunt could have walked into Englewood hospital under her own power for a mental health adjustment, and less than four weeks later be carried out by a funeral home employee. She was fully ambulatory at the assisted living facility she was living at, and simply needed her meds adjusted because she was getting a bit aggressive with the staff there. In fact when I informed the staff of her passing they were shocked and felt very badly because they were the ones who recommended Englewood Hospital.

Here are some details leading up to her death that force me to question how someone who was very healthy physically, could have passed away so suddenly while in the hospital's care.

9/23 - entered ER. Upon admission there was a rather large black security guard who tried restraining my Aunt and he found out quickly enough how strong she was. She insisted on walking back and forth and he wanted her to sit down. Once Anne was admitted, we were placed in a locked room outside the nurse's station where we spent the next three hours. While in that room my Aunt repeatedly banged on the window to get the security guard's attention, because he was sitting right outside the room. While in the room she was constantly pacing and wouldn't sit still. She was very aggressive towards the nurse that came in to take her BP. Later on she was given a tray of food which she devoured immediately. She met with Dr. S and chatted with him for a bit. He ordered an Adavan for her which seemed to calm her down. When it was time to get her to 4th floor an aide insisted my Aunt get on a stretcher. My Aunt physically resisted being placed on the stretcher and there was quite a scene, until I yelled towards the nurse's station for some help. A nurse came over and said to use a wheelchair instead, and the aide complied. By the time we got to the 4th floor my Aunt's pacing had subsided and she had a nice conversation with one of the male nurses who was trying to get some information from her. I do not remember his name but I think he may have been of Filipino descent. He escorted us to a room and even ordered dinner for Anne. When the dinner came she ate with no assistance or prompting. I stayed about an hour more and when she appeared settled in, I left. On my way out I met the very same security guard that was outside the ER room. He was now stationed at the ER parking lot and asked how Anne was doing.

9/25 - came to the hospital to being her some night clothes and found a security guard outside her door. Anne was sleeping and I did not get a chance to speak with her. I met with Dr. S and was told Anne was under 24x7 supervision because she fell out of bed the prior evening.

9/27 - Anne fell again and I was not notified.

10/1 - I visited Anne and saw her sitting in the TV room with a large bruise on her face and a black eye. No one seemed to know what had happened until I demanded an explanation and a nurse named Judy was nice enough to talk to me. I learned about the 9/27 fall and Anne's subsequent transfer off the 4th floor to treat her injuries. Judy also mentioned that Prednazone had been added, Depacote increased, and Buspar discontinued. I tried getting Anne out of her chair so she could walk a bit but she was so weak I could not do so.

10/3 - Received a call from a Dr. St who informed me that Anne had a choking episode at dinner and was on an oxygen supplement. I was asked for permission to restrain her because she wouldn't leave the mask alone. Did she have this episode because she wasn't given soft food as per her chart?

10/4 - Talked with Dr. K who was asking questions about DNR orders. She said Anne wasn't looking all that good.

10/5 - Talked with Dr. S who said Anne was looking better and he was going to move her back to the 4th floor for additional observation. He also said he was going to take her off all meds.

10/6 - Got another call from a nurse asking for permission to restrain Anne. I was also told she was moving back to the 4th floor as per Dr. S's orders.

10/7 - Got a call from a social worked named Theresa asking me about discharge planning. I spoke with her for quite awhile because she had several questions pertaining to family history.

10/8 - Got a call from Dr. S informing me that Anne had a fever and was being moved off the 4th floor again. He spoke about getting her back to the 4th floor as quickly as possible and thought another 10 days of observation might be in order. He also asked me about sub-acute rehab planning.

10/11 - Spoke with Dr. K who said she saw Anne on 10/10 and she was doing better once the fever had broken. She wondered however if the 4th floor would take her back again.

10/16 - I visited Anne on the 5th floor and she seemed a bit groggy but I was able to communicate with her. At one point I asked if she wanted to go dancing and she laughed.

10/18 - Got a call from Dr. M who seemed to feel Anne did not have long to live. Also had a discussion with Pat  about discharge planning. At that point I was getting tired of hearing conflicting stories as to Anne's condition so I asked Pat to set up a meeting with all the doctors involved with Anne's care. I also spoke with Michelle at that time. We were planning to meet that Thursday.

10/19 - Got a call from Dr. K who said Anne was not doing well at all and suggested I get there ASAP. I met Dr. K at the hospital at noon and Anne did not look well. I got a call at 8pm from Dr. K telling me that Anne's vital signs looked very bad and she might not make it through the night.

10/21 - Got a call from Dr. K at 1am that Anne had passed away.

10/27 - After a week of phone calls someone was finally able to locate Anne's personal belongings. She was shuffled around from floor to floor so much that the hospital lost track of her things.