PLANTATION, Fla. – Anyone who drives along a stretch of Broward Boulevard in Plantation has likely seen Harvey Schwartz. Each day, the 68-year-old car salesman puts on his tie, stands on a corner outside Westside Regional Medical Center and holds up his hand-made sign.
Schwartz lost his wife more than a year ago and believes a lack of proper monitoring at the hospital is to blame.
"My life, it's in shambles now without her," Schwartz told Local 10 News. "It really is, and I miss her so, every single day."
Debbie Schwartz, 61, was a mother, a grandmother and a cancer survivor.
The medical records that her husband regularly reviews show that Debbie Schwartz came to the emergency room at Westside Regional Medical Center complaining of a shortness of breath. She was admitted for observation, but a few days later, Harvey Schwartz said, his wife's 115-pound body was bloated. She was diagnosed with something called volume overload.
"I said, 'Why is my wife's body twice the size? I don't recognize her face. [There are] red blotches all over her face. Her eyes are bulging out of her head,'" Harvey Schwartz said. "So the person that was in there, that was taking care of her said, 'Oh my God. She's up to over 150 pounds.' Medical records show she was up to 154."
Days later, Debbie Schwartz stopped breathing.
Administrators for Westside Regional Medical Center declined to comment, but the hospital did release a statement.
"We sympathize for the loss of Mr. Schwartz's wife," hospital spokeswoman Marisol Cintron de los Santos said in a statement. "His concerns for her care while at Westside Regional Medical Center has been thoroughly reviewed by clinical experts at the facility, the Agency for Health Care Administration and state Department of Health in 2013. No deficiencies in the standard of care provided by Westside or members of its medical staff were identified. We are proud to be among The Joint Commission's (TJC) list of top performers on key quality measures, based on core measure performance data for 2013. Only approximately one-third of U.S. hospitals accredited by TJC are top performers. It is our goal to have the safest, most positive outcomes for our patients, and we dedicate ourselves to that effort every day."
Harvey Schwartz is unconvinced. His devotion to his wife's memory keeps him coming back to the same corner daily.
"They have to be very, very careful," he said. "That's why I'm out there with a sign so nobody else goes through this misery. I mean, a year and four months already she's passed away, and every day has been a terrible ordeal for me."
Harvey Schwartz has talked to attorneys, but he said he really doesn't want any money -- just answers.
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