Hospital worsens a family’s grief
On Dec. 4, 2007, my brother, Alex Hurtado, was rushed to Hazel
Hawkins Hospital where he was pronounced dead. The purpose of this
letter is to inform the board members of the negligence and
insensitivity of some of the Hazel Hawkins staff.
Hospital worsens a family’s grief
On Dec. 4, 2007, my brother, Alex Hurtado, was rushed to Hazel Hawkins Hospital where he was pronounced dead. The purpose of this letter is to inform the board members of the negligence and insensitivity of some of the Hazel Hawkins staff. When my parents were told that my brother had passed away, they were not provided with an interpreter nor were they provided with a grief counselor. Because of the circumstances, they should have been provided these services in order for them to better understand the situation.
When I arrived, I asked if I could see Alex. The receptionist told me that no one was allowed in to see him. I asked her “why” and she could not give me an answer. My father had to call our priest Father Rudy Ruiz and the staff was denying our family priest of our religious rights. After having to insist with the staff, Father Rudy was given permission to give my brother his last rites. My parents were not allowed to see their son and were denied the opportunity to give him his final blessing. My parents are very sad that this moment was taken away forever. The only nurse that came out to ask if we were OK was Larry Murphy. I don’t even think it was his role, however he was the only staff member who helped. Where was the nurse coordinator? What is the protocol for these types of situations?
This matter was later brought to the attention of Anthony Mojica, director of guest relations. He was supposed to look into this matter and call me back. I’m still waiting for that phone call from Mr. Mojica. To make matters worse, the hospital sent a survey to my parents’ house asking how Alex’s stay was at the hospital. This was very disturbing to my parents.
This whole situation is very sad for our family and we hope that a protocol is put in place so other Spanish speaking families don’t have to go through what we did at this hospital. Another thing we would like to see is that the director of guest relations follows through on situations like ours. It would keep the community using Hazel Hawkins Hospital instead of driving out of town.
Gabriela Hurtado-Vallejo
Hollister
A picnic to remember
It’s just as well the park at San Justo Reservoir is closed because last Sunday our family motor home rolled right down the ramp and damaged the hand rails to the new dock.
 After the loss of our two cockatoos (PTFE Poisoning) last week, we decided to get out of the house and take a little drive, have a light lunch and appreciate what we do have.
 So here we are (Jan. 27) on the way to Hill Park for a lunch in the rain but much to our surprise, Hill Park was secured with a police car directly in front so we decided to find another cozy place to set our old 35 foot luxury home away from home, have some lunch and hug our dog.
After a moment, we remembered the beautiful little reservoir right here in our own back yard, so off we went.
 Arriving to the open gate we found a small closed sign but assumed it was mistake being a Sunday early afternoon and the gate was wide open so we went further in.
 The lake was beautiful so we looped around, pulling up to what appeared to be a small open store.
 While parked in front of the store, my gal Liza and dog Gooney stepped out for a piddle and a stretch. I then hopped out of my driver door of the coach to catch up.
 After turning around to the door to grab my soda I heard the biggest “POP” noise followed by the coach rolling in reverse at a fair speed. I was caught between the door and ground for the longest time until luckily rolling out and away on the ground watching our beautiful coach rolling straight down toward the dock.
Kaboom! I heard a loud snapping sound as I tried to pull the coach from entering any further but it was too overwhelming and I lost the battle completely.
 We called 911 for a tow truck making the request clear that no medical was needed but they sent the entire fire department and ambulance anyway.
 During the quick overview they noticed my front tooth was about to fall out of my bloodied face from an impact on the bumper while rolling away from the door, but again I stated that we needed no medical and just wanted AAA to tow us out.
 Much to our surprise, they insisted that I lay back and let the $10,000 per hour helicopter take me to San Jose, thus causing us a $600 tow bill since AAA was never called and numerous medical costs. Wow! You wouldn’t believe it.
 This may sound like a lot of complaining but I knew that I was not covered for such a huge bill and that I was walking up to them when they arrived, I really just needed and wanted my wife, a tow truck, a blanket and my dog but not necessarily in that order because I love my dog!
 I lost the tooth completely … and I will probably have to take the insurance money to help replace our much loved motor home and pay the helicopter and if anything is left, get a new tooth. I sing to God on a regular basis and I must have a front tooth.
 Once the front teeth go, well, you know …
 So if anyone is wondering out there what happened to the rails on the ramp at San Justo, that’s it. Not some nut case or vandalism, just a big dumb guy trying to stop his RV from rolling in.
 My property insurance is less than $5,000 which should more than cover the hand rails and assemble for the walk ramp as I will be checking on the progress closely.
 Most of all, I’m certainly sorry for and delays to you fishing-folks.
 As it turns out, my motor home’s “park” popped out into “reverse” and the brake wouldn’t hold the slant.
 Wish me luck with the bills and we’ll see you on the road.
 Â
Larry Oyler Sr.
Hollister
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