PETERSBURG, Va. — A Petersburg woman is demanding accountability after she says her father, who suffers from memory loss, was discharged from a hospital without notification to family, subsequently went missing late at night, and ended up with a head injury while wandering the streets.
Nancy Johnson recalled the fright she felt on Halloween night after learning her 74-year-old father Robert Johnson was out on the streets when she thought he was in a hospital.
“It was very scary, very scary," she said. “I was a wreck— a nervous wreck.”
On the evening of October 31, Johnson said she took her dad to Bon Secours' Southside Medical Center for chest pains, at the recommendation of his primary care. At the time, she said she had a grandbaby with her who was not allowed to be taken back with Robert, so she left the facility to take the baby elsewhere.
"Within about two hours, or two and a half hours of me returning back to the hospital, they already discharged him." Johnson said.
Johnson said she immediately became concerned after finding out her father had been discharged, because he has dementia and said a family member needs to be there in order to safely get him home.
But she said a family member was not notified by the facility before Robert was released. Johnson added her father had visited the hospital "several times" in the past and that the facility usually contacted the family before discharging him.
“Did you ever ask anyone at the hospital, 'Why did you discharge him?'” reporter Tyle Layne asked.
“Yes, I did," Johnson said. “Only thing the receptionist said, ‘I’m not the nurse. I'm not the nurse.' So can I get the nurse?”
“Did you ever get any answers?” Layne asked.
“Never got no answers," she responded.
The incident prompted the Petersburg Police Department to put out a "missing and endangered" alert for Robert, asking the public's help locating him. The alert specified that Robert suffered from dementia and was last seen at the address of Southside Medical Center at 10:30 p.m. Halloween night.
Johnson said she and other family members drove around Petersburg searching for him for what she estimates was a couple hours. She eventually found him on the side of the road roughly two miles away from the hospital.
“He was shook up. He had the shakes. He was real nervous. It was cold outside, and he didn't even know where he was really," Johnson said. "That was real irritating, real disturbing."
In addition to the emotional stress, Johnson said her father also appeared physically hurt.
“The back of his head was bust open. He had fell down," Johnson said.
Johnson said she proceeded to take him to the emergency department at a different hospital.
Medical records from that facility stated it "appears the patient was discharged" from Southside "without family there to pick him up" and then wandered away. They further stated "it does appear that he has fallen and had head strike" and that he had a small hematoma to the scalp. He was also described as "shivering."
Records show Robert was then transferred to yet another hospital for trauma and bleeding in the area near his brain. After further treatment, Johnson said that facility coordinated transportation for Robert to be taken back home. Johnson said both facilities that treated her father after he went missing notified the family upon being discharged.
In a social media post, Petersburg Police wrote that Robert had been located "unharmed." The department did not respond to CBS 6's questions about his condition at the time he was found.
Johnson said her father still needs to undergo some follow-up testing and will hopefully make a full recovery from what she believes was an avoidable incident.
“How do you feel like Bon Secours handled this?” Layne asked Johnson.
“Very poorly and very sadly," she said.
“And I want actions done behind this because, that's ridiculous, and that was a very scary feeling," Johnson said. "It's important because I do not want the next person to experience this, and Bon Secours needs to be reliable for what they have did when they discharged him and didn't have no answers. They have nothing to say to the family at all."
CBS 6 asked Bon Secours for an explanation about what happened in this case and to share its protocols for discharging patients with dementia. In response, spokesperson Jenna Green said in a statement, “The safety, security and well-being of our patients, their families and our associates is a top priority for Bon Secours. Consistent with upholding patient privacy, we are not able to discuss specific patient cases.”
CBS 6 is committed to sharing community voices on this important topic. Email your thoughts to the CBS 6 Newsroom.
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