HealthQuiet 27d · day 27
For-profit hospital's cost cuts preceded patient's death on roof
Vista Medical Center East in Illinois furloughed staff including sitters days before a disoriented patient wandered onto an unsecured rooftop and froze.
What to know
- A for-profit hospital operator furloughed 78 staff including sitters—workers who monitor high-risk patients—days before a disoriented patient died.
- Chelsea Adolphus, admitted with severe bleeding and adverse medication effects, repeatedly wandered unsupervised and eventually accessed an unsecured rooftop with a malfunctioning alarm.
- Court records and police reports show the hospital halted its search for her at 4:30 a.m. and marked her discharged before staff found her body on the roof in freezing temperatures.
“When she left her room again in the middle of the night, nurses radioed for security. A guard coaxed Adolphus back to bed and told the nurses that she would need a sitter, which hospitals employ to stay with patients at high risk of wandering off or getting hurt. But no one was available.”
Mother Jones (from court and police records) · Mother Jones
Chelsea Adolphus PatientAmerican Healthcare Systems For-profit hospital operatorVista Medical Center East Emergency department in Waukegan, Illinois
The record 2 articles and posts · last 27 days
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- Aug 29
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A for-profit hospital slashed costs. Then a patient froze to death on its roof.