Tom Mastropietro's family was told by a nurse at the New Jersey
Veterans Home in Paramus that he had made a miraculous recovery after being diagnosed with COVID-19 on April 11.- Just hours later, the family received another call that the 91-year-old Korean veteran had actually passed away hours ago.
- Tom's body had already been taken to the other family's funeral home to be cremated.
- The New Jersey Veterans home had misidentified two COVID-19 patients by giving them the wrong identification wristbands.
Two veterans diagnosed with COVID-19 were given the wrong identification bands at the New Jersey Veterans Home in Paramus. One veteran died of the novel
But by the time the staff had realized their small, but the egregious error, it was too late, according to a USA Today report. On the morning of April 11, Tom Mastropietro's family was notified that the Korean War veteran was recovering from the coronavirus. However, their relief was shattered hours later when the staff at a New Jersey veterans home called again to admit they had made a mistake.
Mastropietro, 91, had died hours earlier from COVID-19.
"They gave us hope and it was total misinformation," Steve Mastropietro, Tom's son, told USA Today. "It was crushing."
"This should never have happened."
Mastropietro's son received a call on April 6 that his dad had symptoms associated with the novel coronavirus — the 91-year-old had a fever and a cough. On April 8, Steve was able to FaceTime his father, who said appeared to be falling seriously ill, Steve told USA Today.
"He looked like death," Steve said. "He looked weak and was incoherent."
After Mastropietro tested positive for the virus, he was moved into a ward at the home with other COVID-19 patients — it was here that his son believes that the identification band mix-up occurred.
On April 11, Steve received a call that his father only had a mild fever, had eaten breakfast, and was walking to the bathroom by himself.
However, Mastropietro had actually died hours earlier. With the other man's identification band, Tom's body was taken to another family's funeral home to be cremated.
Anthony Cassie, the funeral director of S.W. Brown & Son Funeral Home in Nutley, New Jersey, picked up what they believed to be the other man's remains, according to USA Today. However, he later received a call from the veteran's home about the mistake.
"So you have one family who was told that their loved one was dead when he wasn't," Cassie said. "And you have another family who was told their father was alive when he wasn't. I've never seen anything like this."
At the funeral home, Cassie later discovered a medical bracelet given to Tom by his family — his name was emblazoned on an accessory near his elbow.
"This should never have happened," Cassie said. "These men are veterans and this is how they're treated? They deserve better."
"Human error combined with unprecedented circumstances created the situation in which a terrible mix-up occurred."
The novel coronavirus wreaked havoc in a New Jersey Veterans Home in Paramus, infecting dozens of healthcare workers and leading to a dire staff shortage. However, the shortage of medical professionals has plagued the
VA officials reported last fall that the department has more than 45,000 vacant positions, about 11% of the VA's total workforce. Almost 17% of management posts were unfilled last year.
At large, deaths in care centers account for almost 20% of the US entire coronavirus deaths, with at least 7,000 people dying from COVID-19 in assisted living homes.
According to the Military Times, the Veterans Affairs health system reported 4,400 confirmed coronavirus cases and 272 deaths as of April 15. According to their calculations, veteran deaths have increased five times since April 1 alone.
However, there are likely many more veteran deaths linked to COVID-19 that remain undiagnosed and unknown.
The state has refused to say how many other veterans have died during the coronavirus crisis, either without being tested or after testing negative, NorthJersey.com reported.
But the state isn't the only one withholding information according to USA Today. Family members told USA Today that they have had little to no communication with the veterans home. Since all visitors have been barred from visitng the veterans to help curb the spread of infection, their loved ones reported that many calls and voicemails were left unanswered.
"One hour he was fine and then hours later I was called to see if they should move him to the hospital," Steve recalled of trying to get information about Tom after being notified that he had COVID-19 symptoms. "I had no idea of his condition. The information was not clear."
Kryn Westhoven, a spokesman for the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, told USA Today that they have put a new procedure in place to prevent this type of error.
"Unfortunately, human error combined with unprecedented circumstances created the situation in which a terrible mix-up occurred," he said in a statement.
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