Last Thursday, an Alabama woman fell asleep while waiting to be seen at American Family Care in Forestdale.
According to Dianne King’s account, she arrived for her appointment around 4:00 p.m. The patient checked in and was brought to an examination room at 6:00 p.m.
While in the examination room, she was seen by a nurse who completed a series of swab tests. As she waited to be seen for additional care, King drifted off to sleep.
She awoke from her nap around 7:55 p.m. and realized that she had been left alone at the facility. King then began a Facebook live showing that the facility was empty.
“I can’t believe this is happening right now,” King said before she walked around the facility to show that the lights were still on and the doors were left unlocked.
In a comment to her Facebook live, she said, “So to me this would be the very definition of patient abandonment.”
King noted in a later comment that she spoke with the clinic and district managers, who apologized for the incident. King said she received treatment at the American Family Care facility in Gardendale.
American Family Care representatives did not respond to a request for comment from Birmingham’s ABC 33/40, which was the first outlet to report the story.
Dylan Smith is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSmithAL
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