Brownsville’s Brookdale Hospital is rife with violations and dangerous conditions for patients, scathing inspection reports show.
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When Connie Charles’ 4-year-old son Desville “Jomo” Charles had a pounding headache, she took him to the Brookdale Hospital Medical Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. Jomo had a brain aneurysm, but as Charles says in court papers, the hospital called the Administration for Children’s Services and accused the mother of hitting her child. Connie Charles stated, "They said I hit him," and they called the Administration for Children's Services, a sobbing Connie Charles told the Daily News.
"I said, 'Why you call ACS? I don't hit my child. I don't hit him.'" When Jomo died in December 2005, the autopsy revealed the truth. "An autopsy was done by the medical examiner which showed an undiagnosed ruptured aneurysm in the brain," Charles’ lawyer Steven Schiesel told the newspaper. "Brookdale could have discovered this with a simple test, which they did not do. If they did, the child would be alive today.
They were too busy blaming the mother for the child's problems." Brookdale’s lawyer did not return phone calls to the newspaper, and since the case is in court, the hospital's spokeswoman declined to comment.
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The findings are contained in a March survey by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services:
One 63-year-old man with a history of schizophrenia and other health problems who came to the hospital after falling and hitting his head choked to death on a sandwich while in the emergency department waiting for a bed, and the incident was apparently never reported to state authorities, according to the reports. A 13-year-old girl who said she was raped at gunpoint did not get a complete psychological assessment or referral to a social worker. And two infants were left in an “isolation area” with no consistent supervision by staff and no surveillance monitors or alarms.
Based on state Health Dept. inspections of the hospital other problems included:
-A seclusion room in the psychiatry unit reeked of stale urine and the floor was covered in urine stains and debris.
-There was a more than three hour delay in administering pain medication that had been ordered for a patient with back and knee pain.
-Patients’ confidential medical records were left lying around for anyone to see.
-A patient was improperly restrained and fell while trying to climb out of bed.
Multiple patients, including several sexual assault victims, were placed in the wrong triage categories in the emergency department. -The hospital failed to provide instructions for non-English speaking patients entering the emergency department. The federal survey found the hospital violated 14 standards and conditions for participating in Medicare and Medicaid.
Brookdale submitted a plan to correct the problems. Results of an inspection last week to see whether the violations have been fixed are pending, according to CMS. If the hospital fails, the feds could suspend their Medicare and Medicaid funding. The Daily News reported in October that a six-month-old baby boy died at the hospital after receiving an overdose of antibiotics, an incident that prompted additional scrutiny by officials. Michael Hinck, a spokesman for Brookdale’s parent company MediSys, said the state had accepted the hospital’s plan to correct the deficiencies.
“Brookdale continues to work cooperatively with (the sttae Health Dept.) and other agencies for the best outcomes for our patients. Through our skilled staff, Brookdale provides quality services and a continued commitment to meet the healthcare needs of our community,” he said, declining to comment on of the specific incidents due to privacy concerns.
Join! The World Human & Civil Rights Community
When Connie Charles’ 4-year-old son Desville “Jomo” Charles had a pounding headache, she took him to the Brookdale Hospital Medical Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. Jomo had a brain aneurysm, but as Charles says in court papers, the hospital called the Administration for Children’s Services and accused the mother of hitting her child. Connie Charles stated, "They said I hit him," and they called the Administration for Children's Services, a sobbing Connie Charles told the Daily News.
"I said, 'Why you call ACS? I don't hit my child. I don't hit him.'" When Jomo died in December 2005, the autopsy revealed the truth. "An autopsy was done by the medical examiner which showed an undiagnosed ruptured aneurysm in the brain," Charles’ lawyer Steven Schiesel told the newspaper. "Brookdale could have discovered this with a simple test, which they did not do. If they did, the child would be alive today.
They were too busy blaming the mother for the child's problems." Brookdale’s lawyer did not return phone calls to the newspaper, and since the case is in court, the hospital's spokeswoman declined to comment.
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One 63-year-old man with a history of schizophrenia and other health problems who came to the hospital after falling and hitting his head choked to death on a sandwich while in the emergency department waiting for a bed, and the incident was apparently never reported to state authorities, according to the reports. A 13-year-old girl who said she was raped at gunpoint did not get a complete psychological assessment or referral to a social worker. And two infants were left in an “isolation area” with no consistent supervision by staff and no surveillance monitors or alarms.
Multiple patients, including several sexual assault victims, were placed in the wrong triage categories in the emergency department. -The hospital failed to provide instructions for non-English speaking patients entering the emergency department. The federal survey found the hospital violated 14 standards and conditions for participating in Medicare and Medicaid.
Brookdale submitted a plan to correct the problems. Results of an inspection last week to see whether the violations have been fixed are pending, according to CMS. If the hospital fails, the feds could suspend their Medicare and Medicaid funding. The Daily News reported in October that a six-month-old baby boy died at the hospital after receiving an overdose of antibiotics, an incident that prompted additional scrutiny by officials. Michael Hinck, a spokesman for Brookdale’s parent company MediSys, said the state had accepted the hospital’s plan to correct the deficiencies.
“Brookdale continues to work cooperatively with (the sttae Health Dept.) and other agencies for the best outcomes for our patients. Through our skilled staff, Brookdale provides quality services and a continued commitment to meet the healthcare needs of our community,” he said, declining to comment on of the specific incidents due to privacy concerns.
