KTNV ABC,Channel 13,Las Vegas,Nevada,News,Weather,Sports,Entertainment,KTNV.com,Action News .:. Man says he waited in UMC emergency room for 10 hours

Man says he waited in UMC emergency room for 10 hours

Las Vegas, NV (KTNV) - Sandy Thompson knows a little something about medical care.

"I worked at Stanford in the ICU for 10 years," explained Sandy.

She was a nursing assistant who spent a lot of time in the hospital's emergency room.

"We have never treated our patients like that," said Sandy.

She's referring to the experience her husband, Milton, had in UMC's emergency room earlier this week.

"I brought Milton in the other day at 1-something and they didn't treat him until about 10-something that night, and I thought that was just ridiculous. I brought him in because he was bleeding heavily," said Sandy.

59 year old Milton Thompson is diabetic. He's had nine prostate surgeries and on Monday, he began bleeding profusely from catheters in his stomach and genitals.

"He changed several shorts and it was full of blood, just coming, just coming," said Milton.

Even in that state, his family says he sat in the E.R. waiting room for nearly 10 hours.

"He was just sitting there dehydrated and losing blood and there was just no help."

Even though Milton Thompson wants to tell us his story, UMC refuses to let us in to talk to him.

They told us there was no one available to escort us to his room, but he tells us at the same time, they sent five different people into his room to dissuade him from talking to us.

"The damage is done. You can't cover that up. You can't hide it," said Sandy.

Contact 13 interviewed Milton over the phone. He describes the shape he was in while waiting for care.

"I was falling apart out there," said Milton.

"Did you show them how badly you were bleeding," asked Contact 13 Chief Investigator Darcy Spears.

"Nobody wanted to see. Nobody, actually I tried to show them but they said no, that's ok, that's ok," he recalled.

He says he was soaking blood through three layers of clothing and no one would even look at it.

"I was actually flooding down there," said Milton.

His wife says, "If I didn't call in and start yelling and screaming, I could have lost him."

Milton was finally taken back for treatment, and he's been in the hospital ever since.

"What have they been saying to you and your husband since you started raising concerns," Spears asked.

"Nothing but sorry. We're sorry," said Sandy.

She also says they told her it wouldn't happen again. That's the same thing they told the public late last year after 25-year-old Roshunda Abney says she waited in the E.R. more than five hours before she went home and gave birth to a baby who died.

"What do you think about the response 'we're sorry, this will never happen again?' Do you believe that," Spears asked Sandy.

"I think it will happen again. I think it will. From what I've seen in there, it will."

Action News requested an on-camera interview with UMC officials, but they refused.

In a written statement, they say HIPAA regulations prevent them from talking to us about Milton Thompson's case.

They confirm that they are investigating. In the meantime, the family has requested the surveillance video from the E.R. on Monday.

UMC says their emergency department triages patients based on the severity of their condition and wait times will vary based on the number of cases they have at any one time.

The family has hired a lawyer who says UMC diagnosed Milton with Septicemia, a potentially deadly blood infection. Despite that, UMC transferred Milton out to a rehab hospital just 30 minutes before this story aired on KTNV Thursday night. The family's lawyer says UMC did that after two members of their marketing department unsuccessfully tried to get Milton to kill the story.

The attorney says UMC has refused to release their ER surveillance video from Monday, when Milton was waiting for care.