Most people hear of “The Hamptons” and the first thing they think of is celebrities, sun & money.  Not necessarily in that order. Yes, it’s wonderful place to live, but if anyone really spent any decent amount of time here they would realize that it’s a completely different world to the locals.  Yes, we have the best beaches, the best restaurants, blah, blah, blah! Would you ever in a million years think that it’s almost impossible to get decent healthcare?  Of course you wouldn’t.  But it is! I can tell you first hand being that my Father passed away Monday morning in Southampton Hospital and they DIDN’T CALL ME!  (feel free to scream now) My Father was admitted last week by Hospice at my request because he was in pretty bad shape. ( We won’t mention right now that a lot of that had to do with almost 2 years of improper health care at 2 of the local nursing homes.) He was awake for the first 2 days and then he started to crash and fast. My son and I were lucky enough that he was awake last Saturday and we were able to spend the entire day with him reminiscing the happier moments of our lives.  Sunday I knew in my heart that the day before had been his last hurrah. Monday morning started out just like any other manic Monday in our lives.  My son and I got up at 6 am, both complaining that it was still dark out and as usual asking why every Monday just can’t be a Holiday so we can have off.   I went to work with my son in tow. I work at the school he goes to so I’m lucky enough to be able to bring him in with me in the morning.  At about 10:45 am I ran out to my car to get something and saw the Nurses Aide from Hospice outside the school. She had stopped in to see her husband who happens to work at the school. I took the opportunity to run over and give her a well deserved hug and thank you for making the extra effort to take such good care of my Father .  She went up to the hospital just about every day to give him a bath, a shave, etc. and most important make him comfortable.  How she visits with patients that she knows are dying on a daily basis is beyond me. She’s a wonderful woman, and she’s left more of a mark in my life than many.  She told me that she was on her way to go see Dad at the Hospital.  About 20 minutes later she was standing at the back door. I ran to let her in and by the look on her face I knew it wasn’t going to be good news.  I opened the door and  asked her what happened and if he was gone. She said yes, and asked me if they had called me. As I began to sob and scream I told her no, they hadn’t! I asked her what had happened. She said  that she had gone up to see Dad and as she was getting to his room she was asked by Hospital Staff where she was going. She told them room 2xx to see Mr. O. They told her that he had passed away that morning. She asked them if they had called me and they said NO! They said that they had called Hospice.  They asked her of they should call me and she said no, that she would come and get me. I told her to wait and that I had to go grab my son out of class. I knew if I didn’t take him with me I would probably leave there in handcuffs. Driving to the Hospital I clearly understood the meaning of the expression “see red” . I marched myself down the hall to Dad’s room and as I passed the Nurse’s Station they all seemed to just look the other way.  I walked in and just lost it. I asked the Aide to get a Supervisor because I wasn’t leaving until someone explained to me how such a f*ckup could have happened. The Supervisor came in with I guess another Nurse and his response to my hysterical questioning of how my Father could have died at 9:10 am ( That was the time he was prounounced-and in my opinion who eknows whether that’s accurate.  He could have been gone before that and  that was just when they bothered to take notice.) and at now 11 something I still hadn’t been notified.  He proceeded to tell me that it was a communication error and that he was sorry.  Are you kidding me? Sorry?  I wish he was kidding! I told him that his explanation was completely unacceptable and that they needed to get their act together before they do this to anyone else and that sorry just didn’t cut it.  What if I hadn’t seen the Hospice Aide while she was at my job? She wouldn’t have known to come and get me and I would have gone up to see Dad after work at 2pm and there would have been no one in his room, What would they have done then? By then I had to get my poor son out of the room because my Father looked horrible and I knew they had to take him out of his room. 

My Father’s death was hard enough to swallow but not letting me know was enough to make me choke. All I can say is The Hamptons are a wonderful place to live BUT if you dare to get sick while you’re here you need to run fast! If anything happens to you your family will never know about it!