St. Croix Families Forced To Identify Deceased Loved Ones At Back Of Hospital Near Dump, Hansen Says

ST. CROIX — Senator Alicia Hansen on Wednesday told reporters that she wrote a letter to Richard Evangelista, the Juan F. Luis Hospital’s acting CEO, with the hope of getting answers on why the J.F.L had forced multiple families to identify their deceased loved ones at the back of the hospital building near dumpsters, instead of inside the morgue, as has been the custom. The senator said the situation was brought to her attention by several family members, some of whom were pained by the situation.

Mrs. Hansen took reporters to the area today the the identification of the deceased had been occurring, and pointed to the dumpsters nearby. “Rolling out a deceased body to be identified outside of the hospital in the dark, there’s no excuse that anyone can give me” for not giving the family the respect that they deserve, Mrs. Hansen said.

During a July 28 Senate hearing, Mrs. Hansen said she queried Mr. Evangelista and Troy A. de Chabert-Schuster, vice chairman of the hospital’s board of directors, for information on the matter. According to Mrs. Hansen, both Mr. Evangelista and Mr. deChabert-Schuster said they were not aware of the occurrences.

The senator said she pressed Mr. Evangelista for answers on why the situation had taken place under his leadership, but he insisted that he did not know, she said. The lawmaker added that Mr. deChabert-Schuster expressed great empathy and apologized on behalf of the board, while Mr. Evangelista cast blame on the Department of Justice. “The people of St.Croix deserve to go through the process of identification in a dignified manner; they should not have to endure additional pain by those who are in place to serve them,” the veteran senator protested.

Mrs. Hansen was awaiting a response from Mr. Evangelista as of this afternoon on the status of an investigation that she was told would have commenced on how the incident occurred, as well as measures being put in place to prevent a repeat.

Feature Image: At the back of the Juan F. Luis Hospital, where Mrs. Hansen says families were being forced to identify deceased family members.