Dementia patient disappears, ends up in another borough's hospital during transfer
DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN, New York (WABC) -- James Hamilton can rest easy. His mom is safe and sound, despite a frightening ordeal in which he didn't know where she was for nearly a day.
Last week, 70-year-old dementia patient Cheryl Hamilton disappeared for 18 hours following a transfer from one Brooklyn nursing/rehab center to another.
Mr. Hamilton ultimately found his mother at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where doctors patched up a gash above her right eye. He's still unclear how she got to Queens and how she got hurt.
Hamilton's attorney will investigate how and why caretakers lost track of a 70-year-old patient.
A spokesman for both nursing centers told Eyewitness News that a state investigation cleared them of any wrongdoing.
But the head of the transportation service that transferred Mrs. Hamilton can't make the same claim. The owner of Royalty Transportation acknowledged his driver failed to follow protocol by not physically escorting the senior citizen to a nurse.
Security camera video shows the driver pulling away as the patient walks through the facility's front door. Video inside the center shows Mrs. Hamilton checking her bags before she walks out.
Mr. Hamilton said he's speaking out to help prevent this from happening to anyone else.
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