Husband of woman who died outside locked ER gets an apology… and hugs

There was a poignant hug in a conference room of the Boston Globe today.

Peter DeMarco, whose wife died from an asthma attack outside the locked ER door of a hospital, met with the hospital’s CEO, chief medical officer, and head nurse on Tuesday, a week after DeMarco, a writer, described his wife’s ordeal in the Boston Globe Magazine.

During the meeting, DeMarco kept a framed photograph of his wife next to him, the Globe says.

DeMarco started by saying he wouldn’t sue the hospital.

“I truly believe Laura would be alive today if not for the mistakes made by your organization — the organization which you lead,” DeMarco told hospital CEO Patrick Wardell. “What do you think? Do you think she’d be alive today if these mistakes were not made?”

“It certainly seems to me that if even some of the things, not all the things we described as being issues, that if they hadn’t occurred, then your wife would be here,” the hospital’s CEO said.

And that’s pretty much all DeMarco wanted or needed to hear.

“They offered me accountability today by admitting their mistakes, by finally doing the right thing,” he said.