The daughter of the woman who died, ignored, in a New York public hospital's waiting room is suing the city for $25 million over her mother's death. Esmin Elizabeth Green, 49, had been brought to Kings County Hospital Center on an involuntary psychiatric hold and had waited 24 hours for a bed. Early in the morning on June 19, Green collapsed face-first on the floor of the hospital's psychiatric emergency waiting room. Despite her distress, she was ignored by staff for at least an hour, and by the time staff attempted to help, Green had already died.
The organization managing the hospital, the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation, has promised to bring in new staff and institute new training and procedures. It has also fired six staff members whom it considers to be at fault in the incident, including clinicians and security guards. Meanwhile, the city Department of Investigation is looking into the case, along with the Brooklyn district attorney's office, which hasn't decided yet whether to prosecute anyone. The Department of Justice had already begun investigating allegations of patients at the hospital earlier this year.
To learn more about the suit:
- read this USAToday article
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