Woman Found Wandering Along Parkway After UPMC Visit
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – The Parkway East, Monroeville, three miles from the Rodi Road exit, where a woman found herself walking a few weeks ago.
"I just stayed focused on the road and prayed I'd get home safe," she said.
Her journey to the parkway started a few miles up the road at UPMC East.
She was taken there by ambulance with heart attack symptoms and treated. Determined to be OK and released, it was just about 2 a.m., she had been given several drugs and says she was woozy.
"I staggered into the wall because I was so dizzy," she said.
She had no money, she asked security if she could stay.
"Told me if I didn't leave the property they would escort me off," she said.
The woman, who suffers from depression and anxiety, is on full disability. She started having an anxiety attack; she was then given hand written directions from the security guard to walk home. Those directions led her to the parkway, 6 miles from her home.
"He wrote the directions down on a piece of paper," she said.
So there she was, at 3 a.m. with traffic flying by on the parkway. The State Police pulled up and saw her on the side of the road.
When asked if she believes they saved her life, she said "I do."
State Police drove her safely home.
In a letter sent to the woman, UPMC said:
"We failed to act in a manner that is consistent with our high standards for care and compassion. I wish to extend our deepest apologies for your experience that evening."
UPMC also released a statement saying:
"UPMC is actively working with all of our staff members to ensure that the safety and security of our patients and visitors is top priority in every decision that we make."
"All I wanted to do was get home for my daughter, for my family," she said.
Sources close to the investigation at UPMC say this should never have happened.
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