Missing woman's family wants to know why they weren't told she jumped out of medical transport van
Terri Hall, 54, was last seen at the intersection of Van Buren and Paulina streets on Thursday.
Her children said she has a history of mental illness, something UChicago Medicine Ingalls Memorial Hospital in Harvey was aware of when they arranged for her to be taken to another facility. Despite knowing of her mental issues, her family said Ingalls provided the lowest level of available medical transportation.
Kenya Carr said she hasn't slept much since finding out that her mother is missing somewhere in Chicago.
Her family's saga began on Thursday when Hall was being transported from Ingalls Hospital in Harvey to MADO Healthcare Douglass Park on the West Side of Chicago.
Hall, who has schizophrenia, was being treated for a recent medical episode at Ingalls, and her family made plans for her to relocate to MADO, which specializes in mental health treatment.
Ingalls used a medical service called MedEx to take Hall to MADO. After the service picked her up around noon on Thursday, Hall jumped out of the moving vehicle near Van Buren and Paulina, never making it to her destination.
The family would only learn about the incident four days later when MADO told the family they had no record of her arrival.
MedEx said in a statement, while they provide various levels of transportation, in Hall's case it was not classified as an "ambulance transport," and was only "a service car level of transportation," which is equivalent to ordering an Uber or taxi.
"Our driver asked her multiple times to please not leave the vehicle, but she ignored his pleadings and ultimately left the vehicle and the area. Because this was not an ambulance transport, we could not force her to remain in the vehicle," MedEx said.
The family blamed Ingalls Hospital, calling it a communication failure.
"I feel sick to my stomach, had they would've told us in enough time, proper time, we could've been out there even Friday. Today is Tuesday. All that time where now we're trying to figure out where exactly could she be?" Carr said.
A University of Chicago spokesperson issued a brief statement Tuesday afternoon:
"At Ingalls Memorial, the safety and privacy of our patients and their families are our top priorities. We were made aware that the patient went missing after discharge from Ingalls Memorial, while under the care of another entity. We share the family's concern for their loved one and are cooperating with all the parties involved in this case."
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