Hospital Sues to Evict Paralyzed Patient

FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Charles Nickens lies paralyzed in a hospital bed and relies on a ventilator to take his eight breaths each minute.

But because his Medicare benefits no longer cover the $2,000 a day for his room, the hospital that has kept him alive for the last 17 months is suing to evict him.

Holy Cross Hospital claims Nickens, 67, and his wife, Mary, are trespassing and that he is well enough to go elsewhere.

Despite the suit, Holy Cross won’t discharge Nickens unless he can get 24-hour care, either at a nursing home or in his home.

Holy Cross gave the family a list of five nursing homes willing to accept Nickens. But four of them are in Dade County, at least 25 miles away and Mary Nickens says it is too far for her to drive. The fifth in Broward County has been cited for violations and Mary Nickens does not think her husband would get proper care.

The veterans’ hospital in Miami says it cannot take Nickens, even though he served in the military, and his family says it cannot afford a home nurse.

“It does hit home. It’s going to hit home for more and more people,” Mary Nickens said. “Where do you draw the line on dignity of life and compassion for the individual?”

Room 366, bed No. 1 at Holy Cross will become a makeshift courtroom Monday when County Judge Linda Pratt is scheduled to hear the suit, filed in May.

Nickens has been paralyzed since 1947, when a friend tripped him and he catapulted headfirst into a tree stump.

Then in January, 1994, the back of Nickens’ wheelchair collapsed and he struck his head. Two months later, massive seizures robbed him of his ability to breathe and he was admitted to Holy Cross, a private hospital started by the Sisters of Mercy, an order of Roman Catholic nuns.

Over time, doctors partially weaned him from the ventilator. His doctors have believed for months Nickens was ready to move out.

In a statement, administrators said Holy Cross “has diligently explored with Mary Nickens various placement alternatives. The hospital will continue to cooperate in the family’s arrangements for discharge to a more medically appropriate setting.”

Mary Nickens is a lifelong Catholic; her husband converted three years ago.

“For a Catholic hospital to threaten us like this hospital has is deplorable,” she said. “We have nowhere to turn.”