CBS2 Exclusive: Bronx Family Says Hospital Never Told Them About 80-Year-Old Father's Fall
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- An elderly Bronx man was recovering Wednesday night from a head injury that his family said happened while he was being treated at a hospital.
As CBS2's Valerie Castro reported exclusively, the man's loved ones want to know why they were not notified about the incident right away.
A blood-stained pillow serves as a startling indication that Horace Williams Jr. suffered a head injury. Three staples were needed to close up the wound – the result of a fall while under the care of hospital staff, according to his son.
"All of a sudden, he's got a head injury and I'm like, 'You don't get one out in the street, but you get one at the hospital?'" said Horace Williams III. "That's kind of, you know, upsetting."
Williams Jr., 80, was not feeling well Sunday night, and he was brought to the emergency room at the Montefiore Medical Center Wakefield Campus by an ambulance.
His son believes the fall happened when his father was taken to get a CT scan.
"He dropped me on the floor -- that's all I know," Williams Jr. said.
When his son asked him what test he was having, he said "a scan test."
Family members said they were never notified of their father's injury or the staples in his head, and only discovered what had happened when they came back to see him.
"My brother is the one who noticed that it was blood on his pillow," Williams III said.
They said they have since been told that the incident is under investigation.
"I don't think any family member wants to hear that it's going to be a week before you can find out what happened to their family member," Williams III said. "It's upsetting, because they don't know what's going on in their own hospital."
In a statement, Montefiore Medical Center said in part: "(T)he health and safety of our patients, employees and visitors is our highest priority. We always take patient and family concerns seriously, investigate them and notify the next of kin appropriately."
The man's family said they are considering possibly legal action against the hospital.