SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A North Highlands family battling the coronavirus said conditions at UC Davis Medical center were, in their words, disappointing.
Shelly Peters and her entire family are battling COVID-19, but it’s her 25-year-old daughter, who suffers from asthma, hospitalized in an overflow room.
"Bare walls," said Shelly Peters. "A shower curtain that didn’t completely close so she could have privacy to use the commode next to her bed.”
"You have somebody in crisis with oxygen levels and COVID pneumonia," Peters added, referring to her daughters claims that she'd go hours without seeing anyone. "Why are you leaving them alone for hours?”
Peters said her daughter spent 30 hours staring up at an open ceiling with exposed pipes and ductwork.
"My lungs are not good because of the COVID, and I’m an asthmatic as well. And so it’s a very challenging to have a child there," Peters said. "I know she’s an adult child and people are not going to understand that, but she’s still my family, my baby.”
UC Davis Medical Center released this statement saying, in part, "We provide the highest quality and compassionate care to all patients, as we continue to manage more than twice the number of COVID-19 patients today as we had at this time last year."
“No patient should have to go into that basement room and face the inability to get to a restroom if they need it or have to holler for a nurse and not have enough oxygen to yell because they are not given a call button,” Peters said.
Peters said the family is not vaccinated, but noted that they are still doing their research. Meanwhile, a UC Davis patient relations analyst released an apology to the family and said that Emergency Department leadership is now reviewing the case as the daughter continues her battle against the virus.
In response to an inquiry regarding the overflow space, UC Davis Medical Center said they've made use of a "specially-prepared section" inside the hospital near the Emergency Department.
"While some hospitals set up outdoor tents and place beds in parking garages for overflow space, UC Davis Medical Center has been able to use a specially-prepared section inside the hospital, next to the Emergency Department, to accommodate a growing number of patients," Stephanie Winn, spokesperson for UC Davis Medical Center, said. "The space exists precisely for situations such as the coronavirus surge. This treatment area is separate from the rest of the hospital beds, has its own air supply, and can be reconfigured easily to meet patient care needs. We are proud that this area has been delivering high quality care since March 2020, and it has been inspected and approved multiple times by state regulators."
READ ALSO:
WATCH ALSO:
