Massachusetts grandmother forgotten, locked inside dialysis clinic after staff leaves

Eighty-six-year-old Maureen Perry from Methuen, Mass. was locked up and left behind in a dialysis clinic Saturday night after employees had left for the day.

The staff had apparently forgotten about her and left Perry alone for three hours.

She was reportedly bed ridden and sent to a rehab facility, before an ambulance transported her to the clinic for dialysis, a life-support system that filters the blood.

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It wasn’t until the family got a call from Perry’s rehab facility that they were alerted she hadn’t returned from her appointment.

“At first, I was enraged, then concerned, and then disgusted,” granddaughter Erica Crosby told CBS. “I couldn’t believe it.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "At first, I was enraged, then concerned, and then disgusted," granddaughter Erica Crosby told <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/massachusetts-grandmother-locked-inside-dialysis-clinic-after-staff-leaves/">CBS.</a> "I couldn't believe it."

“I called 911 and I said, ‘I can’t believe I am about to report this, but my grandmother is locked in the dialysis center,’” Crosby said.

When Crosby heard the news, she went straight to the clinic to check on her grandmother. When she got there, she said she found her alone, in the dark, sitting on a dialysis chair.

Perry was safely transported back to her rehab clinic but her granddaughter Crosby, who is a nurse, said she cannot wrap her head around someone forgetting her grandmother.

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“I am in healthcare and this is disgusting, absolutely disgusting,” said Crosby. “Someone needs to be held accountable for this. This is absolutely not okay.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I am in healthcare and this is disgusting, absolutely disgusting," said Crosby. "Someone needs to be held accountable for this. This is absolutely not okay."

In a statement sent out on Monday, the Fresenius Medical Care  apologized for the incident and said a staff member who closed the clinic, “mistakenly believed” that all patients had left.

“We deeply regret what occurred and have spoken with the patient’s family. Our patients’ care and safety are our top priorities and we have initiated additional processes and safeguards to ensure that an incident such as this does not happen again. We apologize to the patient, her family, and the entire community,” the statement reads.

Local police told CBS they contacted the state Department of Elder Affairs, but the agency declined to investigate saying it wasn’t a neglect or abuse case.