By JOSEPH KELLARD
Uptigrow and her lawyer, Dan Flanzig of Mineola, filed a lawsuit for unspecified damages last week, six weeks after the body of Uptigrow¹s baby girl, who died soon after being born 3 1/2 months premature at SNCH, was discovered at Oceanside Linen Services.
"I'm going through a lot of emotions, and this is insult to injury what the hospital did, the way they treated her," Uptigrow, a resident of Queens Village, said during a press conference at Nassau County Court in Mineola.
Flanzig said that the hospital violated New York State Public Health code with its handling of the 10-ounce deceased girl. "We still do not know what happened," Flanzig said, noting that neither he nor Uptigrow has had direct contact with the hospital. "We want to find out: Where was the breakdown? Who is the person that held this baby the last time and then put her down, and, when she wasn't there five minutes later, never turned around and said, ŒHey, where is her daughter? Where is this child? Let's find this child.¹"
Uptigrow said that when a worker at Oceanside Linen Services, at 2525 Long Beach Road, discovered the body of her daughter, who had been named Izabella Rosa Pinckney, among soiled linens from the hospital, SNCH should have called her. "Not two days later," she said. "Not the doctor who delivered my child. What kind of hospital is this?"
Izabella was born on Feb. 19, and Uptigrow stayed in the hospital maternity ward the day after the delivery. She had given the deceased baby to members of the hospital staff with the understanding that they would transfer Izabella to a funeral home once Uptigrow made funeral arrangements, Flanzig said. When the worker at the laundry service found the baby on Feb. 21, police were called, and began investigating.
Detective Lt. Dennis Farrell, commander of Nassau County's Homicide Squad, said that while investigators are unsure how the mistake occurred, they believe that soon after the girl was born, an unknown hospital worker failed to see the infant among soiled linen inside a refrigerated vault, and placed the linen and the body in a laundry cart that was later shipped out to Oceanside Linen, a commercial laundry company.
Uptigrow said that after her doctor, who delivered the baby, called to tell her that the body had been misplaced, he gave her "another person" to contact at SNCH. She called that person, and "somebody else got back to me," she recalled. Uptigrow said she got upset when the person said he was returning her call.
Asked if the hospital had ever contacted her other than to return a call, Uptigrow, a food service worker at the Bronx Psychiatric Center, said, "Absolutely nothing from South Nassau Communities Hospital to this day. Nothing."
The hospital declined to comment on the lawsuit, but released a statement saying it extended "our deepest sympathy and heartfelt condolences to the family," and that a full review of hospital procedures has been undertaken to "prevent such an unfortunate event from happening again."
The lawsuit is aimed at ensuring that what happened to Uptigrow "never happens to any mother again," Flanzig said, and that "the hospital revamps their protocol." Uptigrow stressed that her suit is not about the money, but about justice for her daughter.
Flanzig said that the suit mentioned no specific damages, in part because "we don't know what the long-term effects are on Verna right now." He said that Uptigrow has been unable to sleep, and has had recurring nightmares. "In terms of damages, we don't know yet," Flanzig said.
At the press conference, Uptigrow displayed an ornamental box the hospital had given her, featuring a photo of Izabella and her footprints. She said that for the 30 minutes her child was alive, she was able to hold her. "I did get to feel her breath on my lips, and I kissed her," Uptigrow said. "Told her I loved her. Told her happy birthday."
She displayed the white pajamas and nightcap in which the hospital staff dressed Izabella, and the pink blanket in which the tiny baby was wrapped after she died so she could be returned briefly to her mother and held by her one last time.
"I'm in pain every day of my life," Uptigrow said. "I have to live with this every day of my life."
