MIAMI (WSVN) - Officials with a South Florida hospital have responded to claims from the family of a former University of Miami professor currently being treated there that the patient is not ready to be released.
Speaking with 7News on Tuesday, Anyltha Muench, the wife of Dr. Karl Muench, said HCA Mercy Hospital came close to kicking him out.
She said she wanted her husband to stay at least until Friday to give her time to obtain the equipment needed to care for him at home.
After 7News’ story aired Tuesday night, the hospital on Wednesday afternoon issued a statement that reads in part, “We will extend his stay at our hospital through Friday, upon the family’s request.”
However, the statement also maintained the staff’s position is that the patient is ready to be released. It reads in part, “The medical team at HCA Mercy Hospital evaluated Dr. Karl Muench and arrived at the decision that he is clinically ready for discharge.”
Anyltha on Wednesday said she learned about the hospital’s decision from a 7News crew.
She said her husband, who spent 56 years at UM Miller School of Medicine, became ill last year.
“He came in in September with lymphoma in the prostate,” she said.
Anyltha said the world-renowned doctor underwent surgery and has been at Mercy Hospital since late October.
This week, Anyltha said, they were informed Karl had to be out of the hospital by midnight on Tuesday or they would be trespassing.
“With no notice ahead of time, just ‘out,’ that he has to leave,” she said.
Anyltha said the hospital was ready to release Karl just a few days after he was injured in his room.
“It’s crazy, absolutely wrong, because first of all, he just had a severe fall,” she said. “They had to do an MRI, CT scans, X-rays.”
A picture captured Karl lying on the floor of his hospital room after, Anyltha said, he fell while trying to walk to the restroom. She said the picture is proof that he isn’t ready to go home.
“He was not well enough to even stand up with the physical therapist the way he has been,” she said.
Hospital officials said they’re limited on what they can say because of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act laws. Their statement reads in part, “We have been working diligently with the family in trying to arrive at the best course of follow-up treatment upon discharge.”
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