A local man with dementia was found safe Wednesday night after going missing for the second time in eight weeks, after a local the hospital let him walk out on his own, again
Frank Padykula, 60, was discharged from the JFK Medical Center Tuesday night alone, after the hospital failed to call his caretaker, like they were supposed to.
"Once is a mistake. Twice is ignorance," says sister Francine Padykula Vogell.
After the first incident on Jan. 3, a hospital spokesperson told NewsChannel 5 they would review the polices surrounding the situation.
Today, we asked for an on camera interview to ask them what policy they reviewed, and why it failed. They said no, and instead sent a statement saying in part, they "regret that this happened," and would check on potential policy change.
"I'm pissed off," Francine says. "There should have been a red flag on his chart from last time."
Francine says the caretaker called the hospital three times asking them call her when he's ready to go home. When she called the last time around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, he was already discharged.
"The man's out there. He has no money. He has dementia. He has seizures. He's without medicine again," she says. "I can only imagine him, walking around or being somewhere, his jeans are soiled."
NewsChannel 5 reached out to the hospital after Frank was found to ask for any guarantee that this won't happen for a third time, but so far, haven't heard back.
The caretaker isn't taking any chances. She plans on staying by Frank's side until he's released from the hospital.
Francine says she plans on suing the hospital.