Family: Crash Victim Being Discharged From Hospital Too Soon

An East El Paso family says they’ll be grateful to spend their Thanksgiving at a hospital.

The family told ABC-7 they’re worried that their loved will be discharged soon, even though they say he’s hooked up to a breathing machine.

56-year-old Rodolfo Garcia has been in and out of consciousness at Del Medical Center, according to relatives. He was hospitalized following a crash on October 26th.

Police said Garcia was stopped at a stop light at Montana Avenue and Lee Trevino Drive around 2 a.m., when his motorcycle was rear-ended by a car driven by 46-year-old Jose Gutierrez.

Gutierrez was arrested and charged with Intoxication Assault. He was booked into the El Paso county jail under a $10,000 bond.

Garcia’s family said the suspect had only a small insurance policy to cover his vehicle, so his coverage has been little help to them. They said Garcia’s hospital bills are approaching $500,000.

Now, the family says Del Sol Medical Center is ready to discharge Garcia.

Garcia’s wife Alicia told ABC-7 that because her husband is still hooked up to breathing equipment, she doesn’t feel he’s in any condition to leave the hospital.

Alicia said the hospital offered to set up equipment in the family’s home for a rental fee of $1,000 per month.

Garcia’s nephew, Jesse Garcia, said that amount of cash is simply out of reach for the humble family.

“(My aunt) doesn’t have the means to be able to afford these machines,” he said. ‘I mean, the truth is the hospital is a business, you know?”

Del Sol gave ABC-7 a statement that read in part:

“Because of federal patient privacy laws, we cannot comment on this patient’s case. What we can say is that when patients receive as much treatment as can be appropriately received in a hospital setting, patients are discharged by their doctor to home or in some cases to a facility, such as a nursing home, that provides another level of care.”

When asked if she’d be willing to move her husband to El Paso’s county hospital, University Medical Center, Alicia said she was afraid her husband wouldn’t survive the trip.