My wife and I have received fine outpatient treatment at Baptist Hospital ("East") for many years. But on Sept 30, 2010, she was admitted with chest pains. No heart trouble was found but she weakened rapidly, perhaps due to narcotics administered. A nurse, having been warned that the patient was unsteady, dropped my wife (or allowed her to fall) while moving her from bed to toilet. My wife had extended unconsciousness and delirium.

The fall was apparently unreported and there was no exam for concussion or broken bones. Our complaints to the nurses and doctors and swelling in my wife's foot were not charted.

Increased painkiller was administered. After my wife was released from the hospital and I took her to a doctor, she was diagnosed with a broken foot, broken vertebra, dislocated vertebrae, serious digestive complications (gastroparesis, presumably caused by narcotic painkillers administered without stool softener) requiring drugs with bad potential delayed side effects. My wife was in considerable pain for two months and unable to resume normal life for three months; I lost three months of my usual life caring for her.

Many thousands of dollars of medical expenses were met by the taxpayers (Medicare), not by us, that should have been paid by the hospital.

The hospital refused to give any help or information; it refused to return phone calls for months. After I wrote to city council members and legislators, I received a letter saying that my wife had been treated according to Baptist Hospital standards.