METHUEN, MASS. (WHDH) - A dialysis center in Methuen has apologized for locking up for the night with an elderly woman inside and the woman’s family said they want to know how this was able to happen.
Maureen Perry, 86, was going through treatment at the center when the employees closed the building and locked up. The grandmother, who is now temporarily bedridden, was left in a cold and dark room for three hours.
Perry stays at a rehab facility that brings her to the dialysis treatment center. When staff from the rehab facility went to pick her up, the door was locked and the lights were off. Staff alerted Perry’s granddaughter Erica Crosby and Crosby’s mother.
“We got there by 5:30 and she was sitting in the chair still siting in the dark,” said Crosby. “What went through my head is ‘how does this happen? This is patient abandonment.”
After calling 911, firefighters got into the building and took Perry back to her rehab facility.
“If their top priority is their patients, their safety, all this other stuff, then why did it happen?” said Crosby’s husband Jeff Crosby.
In a statement, Fresenius Medical Care told 7News: “Our patients’ care and safety are our top priorities. This is an issue of great concern and we are looking into the matter.”
The center also released a statement Monday morning:
This past Saturday, a staff member at our Methuen dialysis facility closed the clinic following the completion of our second shift treatments. He did not see any patients in the treatment room and mistakenly believed that all of our patients had left the facility.
Unfortunately, one of our patients remained in her dialysis chair at the time. She was later safely returned to her residence.
We deeply regret what occurred and have spoken with the patient’s family. Our patient’s 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. We apologize to the patient, her family and the entire community.
The Department of Public Health said Monday it is “conducting a thorough investigation into the situation.”
The statement does not give much comfort to Crosby, who says she still has not been given an explanation.
“Everything in that is a complete lie,” said Crosby. “If their top priority is their patients or safety then why did it happen?”
According to Methuen police, they have turned this investigation over to the state.
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