Here in Albany, it’s no secret that our local hospitals, of which there are many, are always filled with patients in their emergency departments. Depending on the hospital and situation, one could wait as much as 14 hours to just be triaged. Why is that? Staffing issues, but that’s something for an entirely different post.
No, today, I’m focusing on a lawsuit filed by the grieving mother of a three-year-old’s death. Keri-Sue McManus alleges that she and her son, Micah McManus, waited for 17 hours in November of 2022 at Albany Memorial Hospital. In the lawsuit, Keri levies accusations of wrongdoing over the source of time by the hospital.
WNYT, the local NBC affiliate, reported on this story and is the source for this article. However, it is unclear what the actual allegations are, because whomever wrote the article linked not to the PDF file, but to their local Windows desktop. I tried to alert the newsroom about this, but all I got from the assignment desk was something similar to, “duhh!”
McManus swears that this lawsuit is about justice and for the benefit of others who might suffer the same fate. The problem that I have with that is that I believe lawsuits are always about money, and more than that, greed. I truly believe that this woman is trying to profit off of her son’s death. Also, I have a problem with the fact that these numerous visits happened in 2022. Why file the lawsuit now? Why wait so long?
It’s my opinion that McManus is after money, not justice. She wants to financially benefit from her son’s death, at least to me. That’s what lawsuits are always about, as I said. I’m assuming that if she gets a settlement, that she’ll donate to worthy like-minded causes. Or will she blow it all on herself? You know, a fancy house, maybe a fancy car. I guess time will tell on that one.
I have no way of knowing whether the accusations are true or not. I do know that I’ve never had an encounter with Albany Med, so I have no first-hand experience to use here. What I do know is that I’ve been told by numerous people that if you want to live, don’t go to that hospital because of the lack of proper staffing and because of outrageously long wait times.
To me, a reasonable wait time in an emergency department is a couple of hours. But 17 hours? If her accusations are true, then that’s completely unacceptable, especially since McManus used the pediatric ED and not the main one. If what she’s alleging is true, then the hospital, in my opinion, must be held accountable.