Jon Verrier, 30, died inside the waiting room of St. Barnabas Hospital in New York on Jan.19. He walked into the hospital requesting to be treated for a rash but after waiting for eight hours, he was found dead and slumped in a chair inside the ER.
According to a staff who spoke to the ABC News and requested to keep his anonymity, Verrier may have been lifeless for hours before they found him. ""He was found stiff, blue and cold. He died because [there's] not enough staff to take care of the number of patients we see each day. We need more staff at Saint Barnabas", the staff said.
Officials of the hospital said that the amateur artist arrived at the ER at 10 p.m. on Sunday and was found dead 6:40 a.m. the following day. Upon arriving at the hospital, he was told to wait until a doctor can see him.
Verrier's name was called for about "two or three times" between 10 p.m and 2 a.m, but he did not respond. At 2 a.m, a guard passed through the ER to wake up the homeless people who sleep there and Verrier was still alive by that time.
Hospital spokersperson Steve Clark told NY Post, "all guidelines were met" by the hospital staff and he also said that, "His name was called several times on several occasions, and he did not respond". However, the anonymous staff said that no one was really "checking" on Verrier and he died untreated and unattended.
"He was not checked on," the anonymous employee stated. "Based on the number of people in the waiting room, it is impossible to check on each person physically."
Patients who go to the St. Barnabas hospital endure a wait longer than they would elsewhere in the country. According to the statistics by Medicare, those who go to the hospital wait an average of 306 minutes to see a doctor and be released compared to the statewide average of 155 minutes and the nationwide average of 137 minutes.
