On the fith anniversary of Ray's death

5373 SW 109 Place Road Ocala, Florida 34476 June 15, 2009 Mr. H. Rex Etheredge President and CEO Ocala Regional Medical Center and West Marion Community Hospital 1431 SW First Avenue Ocala, FL 34478 Dear Mr. Etheredge: On May 18, 2009 I drove my husband, Dr. Raymond B. Herbert, to the Emergency Room at West Marion Hospital at the behest of his long time internist Dr. Jose Roman who saw jaundice in Ray’s face when we went to his office that morning for a follow up blood test ordered when Ray last was examined on April 29th. We arrived at the ER at 10 a.m. and were ushered into a cubicle at 10:15 a.m. Ray’s physical problems were of long standing, all emanating ultimately from a very serious automobile accident in 1979 in which he was the right seat passenger. The ER staff began the torturous procedures which mark modern medicine, seeking constantly for places to which to affix needles. Within a few hours we were visited by Dr. Izu Nbakobe, a nephrologist, who indicated that Ray needed to be transferred to Ocala Regional as dialysis was not available at West Marion. TWELVE HOURS LATER there still was no room at the ICU at Ocala Regional. I went home around 10 p.m. and confirmed that Ray was finally transferred downtown around midnight. Tuesday, as Ray rapidly declined, there was talk of draining his abdomen Wednesday morning, with dialysis becoming a mute point. I was later persuaded that the situation had in fact become hopeless and that if the abdominal procedure was performed the likelihood was that he would wind up on a respirator, with the Terry Schiavo ramifications of such a resolution only implied. As I took care of my Mother, my brother and my Father before their deaths, I would certainly have taken care of my husband, a kind, gentle and generous man, at home had his mental capacity not gone into rapid decline, accelerated according to my observation when Ataban and Diluade were first administered. Ray’s death may have been inevitable by this time but the circumstances of this loving man’s end were excruciating. I do not believe sufficient pain medication was administered as his breathing was heartbreakingly labored. What on earth was he being saved from at this point? Moreover, our room was separated only by a heavy curtain from a continuing loud and vulgar soap opera in the cubicle next to us. The only consolation was provided by nurses Wendy, Bonnie and Gloria once I pointed out that Ray was not just an old wreck who drank too much. Regrettably, they sent me home Thursday evening as I had become almost catatonic from lack of sleep. I was called early on the 22nd but Ray had already died. In death this man was beautiful once again, the pain of years of both the best and the worst of modern medicine having been drained from his body. Several hours later someone called claiming to represent a tissue donation group affiliated with your hospital. I spent a very long time on the phone going over Ray’s medical history with this individual. To date I have not had the courtesy of a letter acknowledging my husband’s final generosity so that others could see and students and researchers could expand their still paltry knowledge. The donation was not meant just to further enrich HCA. . I enclose my husband’s obituary along with a front page article from yesterday’s St. Petersburg Times by Kris Hundley – “When dialysis waits, doctor loses patience.” I have no doubt that if the human race still exists a hundred years from now, contemporary medicine will be considered barbarous. I note that you are running a commercial on CNN –“When every minute counts, you can count on us.” We did count on you and you betrayed our trust. “Whatsoever a man soweth, so also shall he reap.” Sincerely, Delphine Blachowicz Herbert