Ginger Congi, a Sacramento, California resident, is mourning the untimely death of her daughter, Jessie Peterson. Peterson, noted for her cheerful and outgoing attitude, was a beloved figure who influenced people around her. Despite her vivacious personality, she struggled with Type I diabetes and was frequently treated at Mercy San Juan Medical Center. Her last hospital admission was in April 2023, and it would be her final visit.
WLBT reports that Jessie exhibited a great wish to return home while in the hospital. Congi, on the other hand, encouraged her daughter to stay at the hospital because she believed it was the safest place for her to receive the essential care. “I told her she was in the best place for the best care, and she needed to stay put,” Congi remembered, expressing her confidence in the hospital’s capacity to care for her daughter.
A few days later, Congi called the hospital to check on Jessie, only to be met with an unexpected response. The hospital staff advised her that there was no record of somebody with that name being present. Despite Congi’s insistence that she had spoken with her daughter just days before, the hospital insisted that Jessie was not a patient. This perplexing and sad news forced Congi to file a missing persons report, launching a year-long hunt for her daughter.
Congi spent the next year tirelessly searching for Jessie, circulating leaflets across the town in the hopes of locating her. The family’s horror lasted until April, when a detective broke the devastating news: Jessie’s body had been discovered at the hospital and taken to a cold storage facility shortly after her death. This discovery was terrible, especially since the family had been uninformed of her death for a year.
The family’s attorney, Marc Greenberg, has subsequently launched a lawsuit against the hospital, accusing it of gross negligence. According to Greenberg, the hospital failed to meet its legal obligations under California law, which mandates that a death certificate be issued within 15 hours and the next of kin be notified immediately. Instead, the death certificate was not completed until more than a year after Jessie’s death, adding to the family’s agony.
In response to the complaint, Dignity Health issued a brief statement expressing its sympathy to the family but declined to comment on the ongoing case. Ginger Congi, on the other hand, is severely disillusioned with the hospital, adding, “I have absolutely no faith in your facility and the treatment it provides to patients. “You have lost that from me.” The family’s unfortunate situation emphasizes the necessity of accountability and communication in healthcare.