Kin not notified.
The state and city Health departments are investigating why NYU Downtown Hospital kept the body of a 61-year-old Manhattan man in a morgue freezer for 33 days without notifying relatives of his death.
The hospital never told Hector Avila’s anguished children their father had died Feb. 24 – even though his wallet contained ID and an emergency contact number, and his cell phone had the numbers of family members programmed on it.
“This will be thoroughly investigated – immediately,” said Claire Pospisle, the state Health Department spokeswoman. “We expect the hospital to notify the family or next of kin in a reasonable and considerate matter.”
The city Health Department also is investigating.
While his death went unreported, Avila’s children were frantically searching for their father, calling police, hospitals and the Medical Examiner’s Office. They made a last-ditch call to NYU Downtown and were horrified to learn their father had been there all along – decomposing at the hospital morgue.
“I’m so frightened,” said Avila’s daughter, Elaine Plunkett, 39, whose father was buried April 3. “Are they covering something up?
“Just leaving someone in the basement to rot down there – it’s just not humane.”
An official statement from the hospital acknowledged the callous blunder should not have happened.
“NYU Downtown deeply regrets the passing of Hector Avila and the anguish of the Avila family,” the statement said.