Firings and Dismay After Woman's Death at Hospital

By Robin Shulman Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, July 3, 2008; Page A07 It was a nightmare captured on surveillance video. A woman who had waited nearly 24 hours to be seen in a Brooklyn public hospital collapsed, fell face-down on the floor, convulsed and for nearly an hour -- while several hospital staff members looked at her and one staff member even prodded her with her foot -- received no aid. At some point during that time, she died. The agency that runs the city's public hospitals responded by firing six staff members involved -- including a director of psychiatry and an on-duty physician -- and promising a list of improvements.