To whom it may concern:

On Friday Sept 16'" my Mother in Law-- made the fatal choice of
choosing to go to Tulare Regional Medical clinic with a strangulated hernia. By the
wee hours of Saturday Sept 17'" she was dead. What transpired between those
hours is nothing more than culpable negligence exhibited by the staff at Tulare
Regional Medical clinic within those hours in which was there.

She went to the ER at 10am in the morning by noon the staff had X--ray and
diagnosed that she had a strangulated hernia. From 10am until 8:30pm she sat in a
bed in the ER waiting to be taken up stairs to be taken to surgery. For 10 hours my
Mother in Law who was diagnosed with a strangulated hernia waited 10 
hours to be given a room and to be taken to surgery. At one point my Father in Law
got so exasperated and asked if she could be transferred to Kaweah Delta to be
seen and the staff had said "no" that they had already called for another patient
and that Kaweah was full. After finally getting admitted to the ICU she sat in her
bed for another 2 hours waiting for surgery. My wife arrived at 9:15pm and the
events that she witnessed are downright heart breaking and depressing that such
unprofessionalism was exhibited at a functioning Hospital. What she saw was her
mother in pain who had not received any pain medication for 4 hours because they
were prepping her for surgery. A staff member came in to take blood from my
mother in law. He was able to take 2 viles and after that nothing after trying several
spots. In the process of drawing blood he removed her blood pressure cup and
nobody realized it had been off until they took - in for surgery and they needed
her blood pressure. When the blood pressure cup was placed back, her blood
pressure was so low that they thought something was wrong with the machine.
They then hooked it up to a portable machine and my wife over heard the staff
member say that it was 52 over something and dropping and that an hour and a
half before it had been 113 over something. So then they called in another doctor
to monitor her blood pressure while he went with her to the operating room. They
also put an oxygen mask over her face and my wife remembers hearing a nurse
who had touched my mother in law remark how "she was getting really cold."
During this entire time there was no sense of urgency within the staff even during
the pre-op the nurse askin the questions was taking his time. Apparently when
they went to intibatefl her heart stopped and my wife and father in law
heard "Code Blue" overthe intercom and they knew that that something had gone
terribly wrong. The staff proceeded to perform CPR and get a pulse which would
come and go for another two hours before she passed away. But unfortunately after
sitting at the Hospital for 10 hours! It was too little to late.

I am sickened to my stomach that this kind of reckless care and unprofessionalism
is what we the citizens of Tulare are exposed to. If we do not have a functioning
Hospital with a capable staff then please do not mislead us! -- is
dead and those left behind have lost a Wife, Mother, Grandmother, Superintendent,
Principal, Teacher and Friend.

Hoping for Change,