Last Friday afternoon I received a call from an associate stating that a film crew was needed straight away to document a woman's condition for a press conference that would be held the following Tuesday (10/20). I was not clear on the details at the time, but we did have a crew available and scheduled for the next day (10/17). I went to the shoot to assist in any direction that may be needed, and to get a first hand sense of the story.
All I knew clearly at the time was that Amelia had been injured on the job, was being cared for at home and this video was to help share her story in a visual way with the press. What I witnessed in person is not so easy to describe. I know there are many terrible stories of people being abandoned when they need care, due to our lack of real health care in America that puts the public first. I do not imagine that her story is more or less important than another's, but it is real, I have seen it first hand and while I/We cannot help every person in a dire situation due to our healthcare crisis without Government intervention, we can help Amelia and her family.
Here are the facts:
Certified nurse assistant Amelia Mendoza, 52, of West Covina, was physically attacked by a patient while working at Huntington Hospital in Pasadena earlier this year, suffering injuries to her head and neck. Amelia was examined in the hospital’s Emergency Room and ordered back to work. After a second attack by the same dangerous patient, Huntington Hospital turned Amelia away from their in-house workers’ compensation clinic. They were "too busy" that day, and told her to come back tomorrow. But within hours, Amelia's injuries caught up with her -- she had a hemorrhagic stroke, collapsed into a vegetative state, and has not recovered.
This is a portion of the video we shot:
We have put her story and the video are online at HelpAmelia.com
Time for a disclosure: The "We" that was hired to film her condition is my media firm, DMedia. DMedia was paid for the film and edit. The "We" which has put up HelpAmelia.com and is trying to bring more attention here (other than myself personally) is truthandhope.org. After witnessing Amelia's condition first hand and now the continued denial of care (updates below) I am committed to at least trying to help them directly and share this, yet another story of someone finding out in their moment of greatest need that care will be denied. Neither my firm nor my IE is under contract for this, it is simply part of the advocacy work truthandhope.org has always done and I feel it is timely both to help the family and as part of the national debate on healthcare reform.
Some News article links: Here, Here, Here, Here
Local Television News Coverage Here and Here
Now what the video did not show in this edit is that Amelia's husband Ralph is taking care of her 24 hours instead of the hospital and without professional help. What this means is he has not slept more than two hours since she was sent home. Every two hours the alarm rings, and Ralph who sleeps on a futon by her side wakes to turn her, so she can avoid bed sores. His care includes feeding, bathing, etc. I witnessed how he fed her through a tube and how he is caring for her lungs as pneumonia tries to set in. Ralph remains in good spirits grateful that he can care for his wife best as may be, but breaks down at moments knowing that without help he cannot go on. The care he provides is based on his best knowledge from observation while Amelia was still at the hospital and doing his best to recreate the work done there.
It goes without saying that regardless of what one may consider her prognosis (which there is conflicting information about her prospects for degrees of recovery), no one should be sent home in such a state, and in this case it is Amelia's own employer Huntington Hospital which has sent her away in this state. If a Hospital employee can be turned away, what chance do any of us have when the bottom line is dictating our care?
The update to the story from the news articles above is that yesterday I was with Ralph, his family and their attorney in Van Nuys at the workers comp hearing. Once again the defendants have succeeded in delaying things. The hope was to at least set a trial date, but instead the same hearing will be had again on Dec 9, as the defendants attorney has asked for yet more time to gather paperwork and tests. During that time, Amelia will continue to be at home with only her husband to care for her best as he may.
Ralph's love for his wife is keeping her alive, but it is not reasonable to think he can go on like this waking every two hours for months on end. I have promised to at least try to do what I can, how I can to help which is through sharing the story, stating the need and asking:
Most urgently home care assistance is needed - this is a note from their attorney which I just received to explain the detail better than I am:
We appeared for a priority conference. A priority conference is where a judge determines whether a case is ready for trial ( on the issue of whether or not her condition is work related) or if more discovery (medical reports or depositions of doctors or witnesses) is needed. Our position is that a regulation, Regulation 30, precludes the defendant (hospital) from obtaining a medical opinion as to whether the injury is work related once 90 days from the date of notice of injury have lapsed. The reason for that is because defendants have 90 days from date of notice to accept or deny liability for an injury. In this case, Defendant denied liability for both the April 12 and 14 attacks within 90 days of notice of injury. Therefore we contend that since they have already completed a "meaningful" investigation they don't now get another opportunity after the 90 days have expired to get a medical report -- they should have done it within the 90 days. However the Judge does not believe in Regulation 30 as he contends that it is in violation of the Labor Code. This is a new regulation and has not been litigated. This might be the case that decides if Regulation 30 is valid or not. As a result he set the matter for a status conference to check on the progress of discovery. A Status Conference was set instead of Trial so that Defendant can obtain a medical report, take the deposition of Dr. Lipper (the primary treating physician who has already reported that the stroke was caused by the attacks), and perhaps any witnesses such as co-workers who can speak to Amelia's state of mind during the week that the attacks occurred. They're looking to find another reason that Amelia was upset and could explain her high blood pressure. In the meantime, we will immediately get started on a Petition for Removal asking the higher court to examine what happened today and rule on its appropriateness. Since it looks like we're set up for a long fight we are seeking nurses who can help provide Amelia the round the clock care that she needs.
I know it is a longshot but if anyone reading this can help with care or knows someone please contact me directly: eugene at truthandhope.org
Also, we need your help now to keep this story alive. Press picked it up before the hearing, now that legal games are being played to delay the process we are editing the video above to :60 in order to air it locally and keep the pressure on the hospital to at least provide her care during the process. It's the greater Los Angeles area, so air time is not cheap, but with a good micro-targeted buy we can force another press event and keep the story alive, so we have a goal of $10,000 to make that small buy and earn additional media. Help us reach that goal by contributing here!
I have been asked about direct support for the family and have set up a separate paypal account to take contributions for those wishing to help in that way. 100% of the funds collected, less the paypal fee go directly to the Mendoza family: Click here to donate to the Mendoza family
A brief version of Amelia's story, the video and the contribution links are on the site HelpAmelia.com, please share this widely.
We will also edit this story to shine a spotlight on it as an example of the need for a public option, but our first task is to have the local attention so Amelia and her family get the help they need so urgently.
Please DIGG
Thank you for all that you do,
Eugene Hedlund
Founder/Chair
TruthandHope.Org