During a Feb. 2 City Council hearing, the chief operating officer of Aria Health, the parent company of a Northeast Philadelphia hospital where a patient died in November while waiting for treatment, said the staff did not follow company policy, which requires periodic checks in the waiting room.
The three-hour hearing discussed the Nov. 28 death of 63-year-old Joaquin Rivera, who came to Aria’s Frankford campus, formerly Frankford Hospital, at 10:45 p.m. complaining of pain in his left side, reports Philly.com.
According to security footage, Rivera died 11 minutes after he arrived at the hospital.
Linde Finsrud Wilson, COO of Aria Health, said a triage nurse first called the victim’s name 14 minutes after he arrived. However, an earlier state investigation suggests that Rivera’s name was not called until 18 minutes after his arrival.
Per the American Heart Association’s 2008 Handbook of Emergency Cardiovascular Care for Healthcare Providers, an EKG is recommended within 10 minutes for someone with non-trauma chest pain. The victim was not examined until 50 minutes after he had slumped in his chair.
The hospital has until March 1 to implement new plans that address the Pennsylvania state Health Department’s findings. Wilson said the hospital has trained staff to keep better track of waiting patients, as nurses must now go into the waiting room to call patients’ names. If there is no response, the nurse must walk to the other end of the room and call the name again.
Furthermore, the hospital is working on ways to improve patient flow and is discussing a redesign for the waiting room so staff can keep a better eye on patients.
Additionally, the hospital has added a second full-time security officer in the 25-seat waiting room.
A wrongful-death lawsuit has given it to the hospital; however, it has not been filed.
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