As a result, he could not walk or use his arms and became incontinent. In late October, he experienced spinal cord compression, which affected the nerves throughout his body. They live in Templeton, where they raised three children.įor years, Joe has been treated for chronic back pain, including two surgeries. Cheryl, 53, is a receptionist at a veterinarian clinic. He retired when the facility was closed by the state a few years ago. Joe, 61, gets a modest state pension after almost 25 years working at a wastewater treatment plant. All we cared about was getting his surgery scheduled.” “We were never asked about it,” Cheryl said. They assumed he was being put into the first available bed. When a bed opened up, they were ecstatic. Joe had been admitted to Saint Vincent via the emergency room, where he spent two agonizing days waiting for a bed, the Farrells say. Saint Vincent never discussed room assignment or room costs with the Farrells at the time Joe was admitted or later, during the months Cheryl spent trying to sort things out, they say. “We would have been fine being put in a broom closet,” Cheryl told me. He was in such a debilitated state when he arrived at the hospital by ambulance that he would have accepted any room, so long as it hastened the surgery he desperately needed, the Farrells say. But the Farrells had no say in what kind of room Joe got.
And it’s also true that the Farrells’ insurance policy limited coverage to semiprivate rooms. It turns out that Saint Vincent had billed the Farrells’ health insurer for the cost of a private room, but the insurer paid the hospital only the lower cost of a semiprivate room.
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