First and foremost-thank you, Suzanne, for contacting the hospital
yesterday.  I'm home today, so I thought I'd call patient services.  I
don't know how many of you on the list work for a hospital, know someone
who does, or have had do deal with one lately.  I work for Lutheran
Hospital, and the worker's hands are tied extremely tight by the HIPAA
rules-we can't even tell a caller if a person they're asking for is in
the hospital!
 
So to begin.  I phoned the hospital and I think I spoke with the lady
Suzanne talked to, either that or this has shot through the hospital
about the FML!  She told me to call patient services, which I did, and
I spoke with Mrs. Dailey.  Before she could say anything, I told her I
understood the HIPAA, having to work in the medical field myself, and
knew her information would be limited for us.  What she suggests for all
of us to do is this: Either start a fund for him, or find a bank that we
can all send the money to in a fund named for him.  THEN-one or some of
us try to keep in contact with Mr. Serrano and his family, and when he
gets out, speak to them about the fund, tell them that we wish to make a
payment onto the bill.  We can then have one of them give us the account
number and we can have the bank forward the money to NY Presbyterian with
the proper account number and name.
 
My husband and I discussed last night about donating to this bill, and
neither of us felt comfortable just sending the money to Mr. Serrano.  If
he does have neurological damage, then someone else will be in charge of
the money, and we don't want it to go anywhere except to his bill.  What
I am doing this week is writing him a letter, and a friend is going to
translate it into Spanish for me.  I'll send both letters to him, and if
he and his family don't speak or read English well, they'll have a letter
in Spanish, although I'm sure they're dialect, etc, will be different
from my friend's (he told me this little bit of information about the
dialects!) I'm not going to mention a possible fund for his bill, because
I don't know if this will fly with all of us.
 
And now the big question comes: Is there anyone out there wanting to take
on this job-of finding a bank and setting up a fund for Mr. Serrano?
With my job and our rescue/sanctuary it leaves no time for me to do so,
and I think we'd all like to find a bank where our money would go
centrally.  Maybe someone near New York on the list would know of a bank
and how to set this up-I'm sure there are banking people here that are
much more knowledgeable than say someone like myself of this.  BIG--you
live in NY-can you help out with suggestions as to banks?????
 
I think if this has already gone through the hospital, that a huge group
of ferret people are willing to give money (plus they have no idea how
large their mail volume is about to become) it might make a difference in
some people's thinking.  I know the power of the FML and it's members.
We've all made differences, large or small, in the lives of ferrets and
people.  Let's make an impact here.  It doesn't matter when it comes to
the man's bill who's name is where, it doesn't matter how much a person
donates-some can't donate a lot, but just a little but will help, and
what will matter most is that this person had a random act of kindness
done for them that just might start as a ripple and turn into a huge
wave, not only for him, but for others who hear of it and/or witness it.
 
Rebecca & the Crew of Merry Mayhem
 
"Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for thou art crunchy and taste
 good with ketchup"
"Support bacteria, it's the only culture some people have"
 
[Moderator's note:  Well, I'm speaking for myself, not as the moderator.
 
New York City is like a different country.  Things don't work the same
way here.  And while I think it's great to try to honor Mr. Serrano, I
really think opening a bank account for him or contributing to his
hospital bill are NOT the ways to proceed.
 
I don't know much about the man, but judging for the circumstances I
wouldn't be surprised if he was not in this country legally.  I also
wouldn't be surprised if he receives some form of public assistance.
Realistically, either of these two things rules out a bank account, which
is nearly impossible to get in NYC anyhow, especially under another name,
unless you spend a small fortune and bring a stack of documentation.
 
The poor man is in ICU.  He's probably racking up more than USD $10,000
in hospital charges each day.  Anything we could collect for him towards
the bill would be a tiny drop in ocean and he'd never get to see it.
 
On the other hand if we give him cash, perhaps so he can pay for a
bedside telephone or television (these are usually billed seperately
and are not part of the hospital bill) we can make a big difference in
his quality of life.  But I suspect what he might need more is lots of
encouragement, and that has already started.
 
I am willing to make an effort to see him, but again, this is New York.
There is no parking lot to drive up to, and no just strolling in to ICU
to find him.  The hospital is huge and difficult to get to (unless one
calls 911 from the area and says you're having a heart attack, but I'd
rather not go that route).  Difficult to get to from where I am, anyhow.
 
My Spanish is poor, but I understand at least a little.  Even some words
which aren't curses.  If I can get to him I'll tell you all what I find
out :-)  BIG]
[Posted in FML issue 5198]