A family is suing Mercy Hospital and some of its employees, claiming a loved one died after waiting nearly 12 hours in a waiting room.
Anthony McGowan, 56, died in May 2023, according to online court documents. In the lawsuit, the family claims Mercy failed to provided adequate care at its Springfield hospital emergency room, which resulted in McGowan's death.
According to the lawsuit petition, McGowan went to the Mercy Springfield emergency room at around 8:01 p.m. on May 21, 2023, complaining of chest pain and left arm numbness. He had a history of high blood pressure, coronary artery disease and heart attacks.
By 8:57 p.m., a nurse had seen McGowan and he had returned to the waiting room, according to the lawsuit. At 6:45 a.m. on May 22, 2023, “McGowan was still in the waiting room having never been assessed by a medical provider after the initial triage assessment,” the suit claims.
At 6:49 a.m., McGowan was found slumped over in a wheelchair in the waiting room, according to the lawsuit. A nurse then took McGowan to room as a cardiac alert patient. McGowan became unresponsive. McGowan died at approximately 7:25 a.m.
The lawsuit claims McGowan died due to Mercy's negligence.
Springfield attorney Brian Johnson is representing seven members of the McGowan family in the lawsuit, which was filed in Greene County Feb. 29.
“The injuries to Anthony McGowan that led to his death were the direct and proximate result of the carelessness, faults and omissions of Defendants, by and through the actions and choices of their employees functioning as health care providers, who did not exercise that degree of skill and learning possessed by other members of their profession,” the lawsuit claims.
McGowan's family is suing for damages of an unspecified amount, or “a sum that is fair and reasonable,” according to the lawsuit.
