Sommers:
We go, now, to Mark Jacobs. Mark is waiting at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital where a press conference is about to begin to discuss the strange events of last night.
(Cut to Mark Jacobs – live feed)
Jacobs:
Thanks, Leslie. As reported earlier, an unauthorized visitor appears to have visited the hospital during the night. For lack of a better description, those he visited appear to have been completely healed, and not just of whatever they came into the hospital for. One person we talked to, Rafael Gutierrez, told us that a childhood scar was no longer there. We’ve heard talk of people being healed of everything from congenital heart problems to cancer, but no official word from the hospital. We’re hoping this press conference will explain what happened. Mr. Sal Adriani, spokesperson for the hospital, will enter shortly to … here he comes now.
Adriani:
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I will be making a statement, but will not be taking any questions this morning. That’s mostly because I don’t believe I’d have any answers for you at this time. Shortly after midnight, on March 2, there was a disturbance in ER admitting. Several patients who were waiting for treatment began calling for attention. These patients had all been sedated to manage their pain while our staff worked with more serious cases, as is our normal routine. However, upon calling our staff, none showed the effects of the sedation, and all claimed to want to be released.
Our staff was overwhelmed by these events, particularly when the patients turned out to be asymptomatic. In case after case, the illness or injury for which the patient was admitted was no longer in evidence. Our staff tried to keep up with the requests from patients, but were quickly overwhelmed as patients in several other areas of the hospital began calling for nurses.
At approximately 2 a.m. one of our staff spotted an unauthorized intruder going into the room of one of our patients. This staff member went into the room to see what the intruder was doing. The intruder was standing over the patient with his hands on the patient’s head. The nurse challenged the intruder, but the patient interrupted, claiming to be hungry and asking for something to eat. While the staff member dealt with the patient, the intruder left the room.
The staff member called security, alerting them to the intruder. Security began a search but were unable to find the intruder. On review of security videos, the intruder was found to have entered the hospital at approximately midnight. He left very shortly after being reported by the nurse.
At this point, the intruder is unidentified. We don’t believe anyone was harmed, but we still consider the security breach critical and will be investigating how it happened, and how we can prevent such breaches in the future.
The hospital is not considering pressing charges against the intruder at this time. We will not be releasing information that might be used to identify the intruder except to the police.
That is the end of my prepared remarks.
(Attendees shout inaudible questions as Adriani exits the room)
Jacobs:
In summary, Leslie, the intruder created events that overwhelmed the staff, but did not cause any harm. The hospital won’t be pressing charges and won’t be releasing information that might be used to identify the intruder. The hospital considers the security breach important and will be working on improving its security.
(Cut to split screen - live feed and studio)
Sommers:
Mark, it seems strange that the intruder caused so much commotion but the hospital is not going to follow up with possible charges.
Jacobs:
It does on the surface, Leslie, but this is a unique event. Hospitals exist to heal people, and it seems that’s what this intruder was doing. The overwhelming events were the calls from patients who wanted attention. From what I’ve been able to learn, most of those patients should not have been able to call for a nurse, either because of the patient’s health at the time, or sedating medication. The hospital is not normally staffed at that time of night to handle so many patient calls. Nurses wouldn’t speak on the record, but they were clearly emotionally and physically drained. Given that the intruder was actually helping, what charge would the hospital press? Unauthorized entry is the most likely, but is the hospital really unhappy about what this intruder was doing?
Sommers:
Are you hearing any complaints at all?
Jacobs:
Other than grumbling at how long it has taken some patients to be discharged, none.
Sommers:
All right. It’s a strange story in many ways. Thanks, Mark.
Jacobs:
Thanks, Leslie. Mark Jacobs, WNYC Live.
(Cut to studio)
Sommers:
We’ll be keeping an eye on this situation.
What are we to make of the events of last night at St. Luke’s – Roosevelt Hospital? The hospital is being tight lipped, but the story is emerging. News outlets are reporting over 100 people have been discharged today, most of whom were not expected to live for much longer. Serious trauma victims, AIDS sufferers, cancer sufferers, at least two people who were being prepped for emergency surgery, all walking out today under their own power with no evidence there was ever anything wrong with them. The story is almost too fantastic to be real. An unidentified African-American male moved through the hospital wearing scrubs. He briefly placed his hands on the patients and quietly spoke, then walked quickly away. Vitals became normal, bleeding stopped, people who were under heavy sedation were clear headed and demanding attention – primarily food, clothing, and release from the hospital. By the time security knew what to look for and where to look, the man was gone.
At least one patient is grumbling that he heard the name, “Jesus Christ,” spoken by the man. The patient, an atheist, is rumored to be planning a lawsuit against the hospital for violation of his rights. The other patients appear to be just happy to be well and going home. Hospital staff are exhausted, elated, and confused. Exhausted because so much was demanded of them in a very short time, elated because they live to see patients healthy, and confused because none of them has ever experienced anything like this before.
The rest of us just have questions. Who was the intruder? Why did he come? Why is he hiding? How did he do what he did? Will he do more? And what does it mean for the hundreds still in NYC hospitals in critical or near-critical condition?
We have a lot of questions, but no answers.
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