Completing his testimony and cross-examination in a wrongful-death trial stemming from his tenure as CEO of Pendleton Memorial Hospital,
Larry Graham said last week that he was not aware that previous executives
at the hospital had documented their concerns about a generator system
that would later flood during Hurricane Katrina. The system's failure is at the core of the negligence claims filed against Methodist and UHS by the family of Althea LaCoste.
The 73-year-old woman, whose ventilator depended on electricity, survived the initial power outage thanks to manual breathing assistance from hospital staff. But the plaintiffs' medical expert testified that she died some time later because of the strain suffered during that time. The trial resumed this week, with more testimony from engineer Frank Painter, an expert witness for the LaCoste family. Painter said that Methodist could have opted for a "standard submersible petroleum pump" that would work inside a larger ground tank to facilitate pumping to the generator.
For more, see nola.com.
The 73-year-old woman, whose ventilator depended on electricity, survived the initial power outage thanks to manual breathing assistance from hospital staff. But the plaintiffs' medical expert testified that she died some time later because of the strain suffered during that time. The trial resumed this week, with more testimony from engineer Frank Painter, an expert witness for the LaCoste family. Painter said that Methodist could have opted for a "standard submersible petroleum pump" that would work inside a larger ground tank to facilitate pumping to the generator.
For more, see nola.com.
