Medicare warns U of C Medical Center after ER death

Medicare officials are threatening to take away the University of Chicago Medical Center's certification after the death of a man who sat in the emergency room for hours without being logged in, a center spokesman said Friday.

Medical center spokesman John Easton confirmed that in the Feb. 3 incident the 78-year-old man's wheelchair was parked within sight of the triage desk for "a few hours" but that he was neither triaged nor logged in.

When the patient's daughter finally brought him to attention of the triage nurse, she discovered that he wasn't breathing, Easton confirmed. After further examination, the patient was pronounced dead.

Easton said the warning that the center's Medicare certification could be lifted came in a March 17 letter from the federal government.

He said that such a warning was standard whenever such an incident took place and that the center was already drafting a plan to assure there will not be a repeat incident.

The medical center issued a statement saying that its "investigation found that proper policies and procedures were in place but staff members may not have followed the protocol."

"Appropriate disciplinary actions are being taken," the statement said.

The statement described the man as "an elderly, debilitated patient."

"Our hearts go out to the patient's family for their loss," the center said. "Emergency department physicians and nurses and hospital administration have met with the patient's family to explain the event and express their sympathy."

It said that the plan being prepared for submission to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services "includes greater emphasis on monitoring patients in the waiting room and establishes a quality committee to make certain that the emergency care meets the highest standards."