86-year-old Mass. woman forgotten, locked inside dialysis clinic

METHUEN, Mass. -- A woman somehow ended up locked inside a dialysis clinic for hours Saturday after the staff had gone home, apparently forgetting about her.

"She's shaken, but got her all cleaned up put her in bed," Pam Crosby said after getting off the phone with her mother's rehab facility. It was a welcome update about a beloved woman, 86-year old Maureen Perry, reports CBS Boston.

Hours earlier, her granddaughter, Erica Crosby, stood outside of a dialysis center and took a photo of her. The elderly woman was alone, apparently forgotten and locked inside.

"At first, I was enraged, then concerned, and then disgusted," said Erica Crosby. "I couldn't believe it."

Perry was in the Fresenius Dialysis Clinic on Merrimack Street in Methuen that closed three hours earlier. She is temporarily bedridden and at a rehab facility, to which an ambulance transports her. The rehab center alerted the family Saturday that she had yet to return.

"It's about 5:15 and we haven't heard from any place, and your grandmother isn't back yet," said Crosby about the phone call.

The ambulance company told the family the dialysis facility was locked up when its people arrived, so the family decided to drive there.

"I called 911 and I said, 'I can't believe I am about to report this, but my grandmother is locked in the dialysis center,'" said Crosby.

Methuen firefighters transported Perry to her rehab facility.

Crosby is a nurse and cannot wrap her head around someone forgetting her grandmother.

"I am in healthcare and this is disgusting, absolutely disgusting," said Crosby. "Someone needs to be held accountable for this. This is absolutely not okay."

Fresenius Medical Care provided a statement to CBS Boston on Sunday.

"Our patients' care and safety are our top priorities. This is an issue of great concern and we are looking into the matter," a company spokesman said.

Methuen police said they contacted the state Department of Elder Affairs, but the agency declined to investigate saying it wasn't a neglect or abuse case. They also notified the state Department of Health.