PORTLAND -- The president and CEO of Adventist Medical Center placed an ad in The Oregonian newspaper Saturday, defending the hospital's treatment of a recent and controversial case.
Tom Russell said in the quarter-page ad that the hospital doesn't have a policy against responding to emergencies in parking facilities on campus. He said their practice is to always call 911 and send their own staff to respond to incidents.
"We have followed this practice many times in the past year, as we did this past Thursday and will continue to do in the future," Russell said in the ad.
Portland police officers contend they were told to call 9-1-1 after an officer ran to the emergency room of the hospital from an accident 125 feet away in the hospital's parking garage.
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A man had suffered some type of medical problem not related to the accident. The officer said he was told told to call 9-1-1 for an ambulance, police said. Meanwhile, two other officers were giving CPR to the man, Birgilio Marin-Fuentes.
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Russell reiterated that the hospital will continue working with the Portland Police Bureau on the case. He also said that the hospital has been in communication with U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer "to inform him of the accurate details pertaining to our care of patients so that he could better understand the facts of the specific case."
