Patient at hospital walks out
 

A villager who was hospitalized got up and walked out of the hospital at 5 am and gets hit and killed on 441.
How does a patient get up and walk out and nobody notice?
The hospital is probably going to pay dearly for this one.
Will it be Newlin or Morgan?
(story is on that other site)

It's a hospital, not a prison.
So, the crux of the matter will probably be: Did that patient have full mental capacity? If he/she simply had an uncontrollable desire for Starbucks, that's on him, not the hospital.

I agree, but still won't stop a lawsuit these days.

I’m surprised the person was actually admitted. From my experiences visiting friends on floors in The Villages Hospital there is minimal staff not counting Covid. I’ve never had the need to visit ICU units which may be different.

The 52-year-old man, who was a resident of the Lady Lake portion of The Villages, reportedly had been a hospital patient when he wandered away at about 5 a.m. into the northbound lanes of U.S. Hwy. 27/441 near the Il Villagio senior social internet cafe, in the Sumter County portion of Lady Lake.

Easy get up, put in you’re clothes, and walk out. Why would hospital be responsible? I do something stupid and it’s someone else’s fault? I don’t understand that concept? But I do understand how lawyers write the laws so they get paid regardless. Remember it always someone’s else’s fault in eyes of law.

LOL. If he didn't have mental capacity, they will probably delete that part from his chart.

They can't. Everything is EMR (electronic medical records) these days. Even if you delete something, the original remains and only the software vendor can retrieve it, the end user has no ability to permanently delete anything that he/she "erased". Another change in medicine that does nothing to cure disease but certainly aids lawyers.

Accident.
 

The really sad thing is, he was still laying in the road at 9:00am. When we passed by this morning.

It was a joke. But, it sounds like you are saying that it could happen before EMR.

The relevant question is why did the patient walk out? Given the location it had to be the Villages Hospital between El Camino Real and 441. Base on many peoples experience there, including mine, he most likely walked out because he got tired of waiting forever for extremely substandard care. It’s an absolute shame that Sumter County is going to great lengths to increase first responder time so that patients can get dumped at that hospital and begin their forever wait a little quicker.

Could, and probably did. Paper records can be ripped up, shredded, burned and otherwise bent, spindled and mutilated. Especially if someone got wind that a lawsuit might be forthcoming. Sad commentary, but well within the bounds of likelihood.

If the patient had been actually admitted, The Villages Regional Hospital is so badly understaffed that he could have gotten dressed, walked out, and not been missed for quite some time, maybe hours!

My own experience recently was having to wait in the ER for about 12 hours to get a 15-minute procedure ordered by my doctor. When they finally performed the procedure they got it wrong, apparently as the result of the incorrect entry of the written doctor’s order into the ER computer. Late at night the halls of the ER were lined with patients on gurneys, presumably waiting for admission to the hospital because of inadequate staffing.

What was even more aggravating was, after the completion of my ordered procedure at about 3:45 AM, they would not discharge me because there was no doctor to sign the discharge order until he arrived at the start of his shift at 5 AM. No doctor in the Emergency Room of a large hospital? Unbelievable!

My primary care physician told me that everyone had hoped that care at TVRH would improve with the ownership and management of UF Health, but that has not happened. In fact, it has gotten worse. With the obvious problems UF Health is having staffing both TVRH and Leesburg Regional Hospital, it’s hard to imagine how they could possibly consider building a new, larger teaching hospital south of route 44.

Easy. Get dressed ( perhaps) and leave. A hospital is not a prison and a patient can simply leave.

That happened many years ago to my father in law. Got up in the middle of the night and wandered out of the hospital, knocked on someone’s door and asked to be taken home. He was returned safely but the hospital was going to keep it a secret. Unfortunately for them, word got around and his daughter in law, who was an employee there got wind of it. People are sometimes sedated and behave, either because of that or related to their illness, may be confused and act inappropriately. I am glad that the snarky stupid remarks here show the lack of understanding I often see. Nasty. By the way, doors cannot be locked from the inside, it creates a fire hazard and the hospital probably does bed checks but would not have guards watching every patient. I hope, when these nasty remarking people are hospitalized, that they get what they give.

Why is everyone questioning how the man walked out? Who cares. He had a right even if it was against doctors orders. The question is why would someone hit and kill a pedestrian. That’s what headlights are for. Poor guy!

nothing lol about this tragedy

I couldn’t have said it better. Perhaps when the new teaching hospital is active they will finally close this criminally operated dungeon.

it depends. S.O.P. states they can sign a release and leave. if that happened there is no law suit.

I agree, if he signed a release. But, I doubt that he signed a release at 5am. If there is a lawsuit, I think it would be based on inadequate observation of a patient who was given medication. The fact that the hospital requires a release form would seem to work against them.

Ama
 

As a retired nurse, I am familiar with the process involved with a patient who wants to leave AMA (against medical advice). If a patient expresses a desire to leave, it is the responsibility of the nurse and physician to explain the risks involved with leaving AMA and the benefits to the patient for staying. All of this should be documented in the EMR. If the patient still refuses to stay, he/she should be requested to sign the AMA form that indicates it is the patient’s choice to leave the hospital. To hold a patient at the hospital against his/her will is considered battery.

We don’t know all of the circumstances in this particular situation and whether this type of interaction occurred with the patient. We don’t know his mental capacity. This incident should definitely be investigated throughly by the hospital’s Quality Department to learn exactly what occurred so that possible changes to processes can be identified. There have been legal cases where nurses and physicians were sued for the death of an AMA patient and won in court because they had followed all of the proper procedures. No one should jump to conclusions without full knowledge of what actually took place. It is indeed sad that this death occurred, but it may not be the hospital’s fault.

Under staffing is a U.S. wide problem, not just here. It isn't just hospitals that are under staffed, have you seen all the help wanted signs posted at businesses in the area. We were in Tennessee a few weeks back and it is the same there, not enough employees.

walked out of the hospital
 

Wow so many opinions...why not wait to see what actually happened. Plus a man died so lets have some sympathy instead of bashing the hospital the patient the staff etc.

I'd go with Morgan and Morgan

I was just released from the Villages hospital after three and a half weeks and received excellent care even though they were short staffed. All doctors and nurses were professional and caring. Sure, had to wait a bit in the ER prior to treatment and admission but considering this is not the Mayo Clinic I haven’t any complaints.

Even if a person passes away at home, it takes forever for the medical examiner to complete the report and transport the body. (5 to 9 hours)

Soooo, if you're stupid enough to spill coffee in your lap that you know is extremely hot, then it's the restaurants fault?? Laughing all the way to the bank..
:shrug::pepper2::shrug::eclipsee_gold_cup:

I don't think I would go with them. I saw in last years DS paper for delinquent taxes, Morgan & Morgan Law Firm was behind in property taxes for a huge sum...
:thumbup::(

But what do you really think of TVRH????:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

You can call them a "criminally operated dungeon" until the day you drop dead in front of their hospital, get resuscitated and live another 25 years.

The patient could have walked out onto the road right in front of the car and the driver did not have any time to react. That is usually how pedestrians are struck by cars, especially at night. I feel more sorry for the driver who will probably live with the guilt for the rest of his/her life.

TVRH wasn’t a teaching facility when UF took over. I am surprised your PCP didn’t have input in your care.
However the new UF will be a teaching facility.

Non teaching hospitals have employed staff. So you may only see your physician, once per day, or their partner, the nurse assigned to your room once or twice, and the PCA multiple times, in a 12 hour shift.


Teaching hospitals you get your physician, up to 10 residents, or students. So visits could top multiple hours in a day of Hi I’m ______ could I just ask a few questions, listen to your vitals, and so on.

I personally love working at teaching hospitals, new faces who are eager to learn, because their careers depend on it. Even though as a patient you have a revolving door in your room.

Wow. Just Wow.
Totally different situation, but like 50 percent of this thread responses, this case has absolutely nothing to do with your scenario. I'm sure his family feels so much better for your totally irrelevant reply.

If you’re truly concerned about how the family feels, maybe starting this thread isn’t a great way to show it. I know I wouldn’t want a bunch of strangers on an Internet forum discussing how my recently passed family member died.

I wish my experience with TVRH was as perfect as those who defend. I was presented with heart attack symptoms. (it wasn't and they didn't care to explore what it actually was, they just wanted to keep me for a night, run all kinds of tests and then "sorry you're having heart attack symptoms we ruled that out, and we don't really care what is wrong. BYE!) A friend of mine who was a head nurse (and left because of the incompetency) actually advised me to go to Leesburg in the future.
Sad this is what we have, but I'll never darken that door again.

Took me 3 months of pain and going to Leesburg hospital (where a friend of mine had same symptoms and was diagnosed within 6 hours) to find out it was gall bladder.

My own experience recently was having to wait in the ER for about 12 hours to get a 15-minute procedure ordered by my doctor. When they finally performed the procedure they got it wrong,

You went to the EMERGENCY ROOM to get a15 minute procedure, and you waited 12 hours? Shame on you.

First, we have no idea why he was in the hospital, so we can not say he had a "right". If he suffers from dementia and the hospital knew it, or if they had reason to believe he was a risk to wander out, they do have an obligation to ensure he is protected while in their care. So, his "right" is limited and we do not know the circumstances.

Second, I read the article and didn't see anything describing the accident (maybe I missed it) so, any comment about the driver and headlights is also assumption.

Sigh, the article was very limited, and that media has a long history of publishing anything they can that might make TV look bad. So, I will wait to draw a conclusion about anything until there are some facts made public.

:agree:

I passed hy this tragedy on the way to BJ's.

Daily Sun said a young woman, maybe 22 years old, hit this person at about 5 AM.

I personally will reserve judgement until all the facts are in!