Chuck S.
Yelp
Today on the one year anniversary of my father's passing, I feel compelled to write this message.
Before August 15th of last year (2024), I would have said that the care at Cedars was top notch, but last year my father passed away after choking on some food while in the care of the hospital. A little backstory here. 6 days before my father passed away, he was discharged from Cedars. He had been in the hospital previously because of internal bleeding. He had 12 blood transfusions over the course of a few days. The doctors said it was an ulcer. On Saturday the 10th of August of 2024 my father was discharged from Cedars. They said that they had cauterized the ulcer and they gave him a clean bill of health; they were mistaken. The next day, Sunday the 11th, my father was bleeding again and was terribly weak. We brought him back to the hospital where it was determined that while the ulcer had been cauterized, a vessel next to the ulcer was still bleeding.
After undergoing more transfusions, it appeared that my father was finally on the road to recovery. Unfortunately, while in the hospital my father contracted Covid. Considering that he had just turned 83 and his health being in a precarious state, it was determined that he should spend an extra day in the hospital for additional monitoring. Apparently, it is also standard protocol to remove a patient who is being discharged the next day from all monitors. This standard protocol is absolutely ridiculous based on the fact that my father had endured a dozen blood transfusions, had just turned 83 and had recently contracted Covid. On his last night in the hospital, my father was served his evening meal. Again, no monitors on him whatsoever because he was being discharged the next day (even though he had just contracted Covid!). The food server closed my father's hospital door behind them after his meal was served. 40 minutes later my father was discovered dead in bed, having choked on his meal. No monitors on him whatsoever! According to the doctor, the entire reason they decided to keep him for the additional night was to monitor him. They left him in a room with the door closed (makes sense with Covid), but with no monitor on him for any hospital staff to know what was happening with him behind that closed door.
You would think that some exceptions would be made in certain cases, like when a patient is 83 years old, had just endured a dozen blood transfusions, sent home while still bleeding internally, sent back to the ICU and was just diagnosed with Covid. But, alas, there are no exceptions and because apparently their conduct did not rise to the level of Gross Negligence (the standard that hospitals are held to before tortious liability sets in), my family had no legal recourse against them. My parents were one month away from celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary but instead my mom had to mourn the loss of her life partner and my sister and I had to mourn the loss of our father.
To add insult to injury, when the doctor called my mother on that Thursday evening of his passing, he indicated to her that my father had passed from cardiac arrest. In some respects, I guess he was correct. But the truth of the matter is that my father passed away because he choked on a meal and it caused his heart to stop. If a simple monitor had been placed on him, they would've had a chance to quickly address the issue and possibly save his life. Instead, my father was found dead in his hospital room. Is this the extra monitoring they had suggested?
I think this hospital is severely understaffed, underpaid and overworked. I understand that, but it doesn't bring my father back and they aren't liable. @CedarsSinai, we would love to hear back from you.
R.I.P. Dad
