An 86-year-old dialysis patient receiving treatment was mistakenly locked inside a Methuen building by staff members who were leaving for the night.
On Saturday, Chelmsford resident Maureen Perry was undergoing a four-hour dialysis treatment at Fresenius Medical Care when the staff locked the building, forgetting she was inside, Fox 25 reported. The woman’s granddaughter, Erica Crosby, took a photo of her grandmother through the window before firefighters unlocked the building to let her in.
86yo grandmother left alone for hours in #Methuen clinic after it closed. Family demands answers on @fox25news @ 10 pic.twitter.com/mJ42lBP71l
— Christine McCarthy (@ChristineMFox25) August 15, 2016
“We pulled up to this facility. I get out of the car and she’s in there,” Crosby said to Fox 25. “The lights are completely off, the building’s locked up, and I’m banging on the window, ‘Are you OK? Can you hear me?’ And she’s shrugging her shoulders.” Firefighters transported Perry to her rehab facility,CBS Bostonreported. Police contacted the Department of Elder Affairs, but because the incident was not a case of neglect or abuse, the agency did not investigate. RELATED:NJ man accused of hiding camera in medical center restroom On Monday, Fresenius said that a staff member had “mistakenly believed” all the patients had left when the clinic was closed, CBS Boston added.
“We deeply regret what occurred and have spoken with the patient’s family,” a statement from Fresenius was quoted by Fox 25. “Our patients’ care and safety are our top priorities, and we have initiated additional processes and safeguards to ensure that an incident such as this does not happen again.”
