A note posted on the door said that the locks of the spaces rented by Ashland Ventures LLC were changed in 1917, the registered owners of the hospital, and that they would only be given the keys when they paid $ 461,302.24 for rent and honorary.
Staff members said they were not given any warnings or opportunities to alert their patients or pick up their personal belongings from inside.
“I tried to contact the owners,” said Dr. Felicity Mack, who is listed as a doctor at the hospital. “They don’t respond. The starter doesn’t respond. We don’t really get any response, but after all, my main concern, as I said, is my patients.”
Mack tried to treat patients who needed help with wound care in the parking lot Monday, but was unable to get any other equipment to treat other people, such as Linda Fisher.
He said Mack comes to Mack’s attention several times a week for serious persistent effects of COVID-19.
“It’s harmful to patients and to myself,” Fisher said from the wheelchair. “It will have an impact on my functionality. I get regular visits all the time, so I don’t know what will happen.”
Mack said security would not allow them to enter the building and that police were also seen at the scene informing staff that they were not allowed to enter.
Dr. John Thomas, another doctor who wondered what was going on, said this sends a message to his patients that their lives don’t matter.
“It’s very obvious that someone only thinks about money and not about community and lives,” Thomas said.
There are three vendors operating outside the 1917 Ashland Street building on the heights, according to staff. Patients and employees of the other groups were granted access.
Meanwhile, property records show that the building is owned by 1917 Heights Hospital LLC.
Lawyers appearing in the letter posted on the hospital door did not return ABC13’s request for comments by phone on Monday.
Eyewitness News learned that in July 2020, a civil lawsuit was filed in Harris County against 1917 Heights Hospital LLC by Integranet Physician Resource Inc.
Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee showed up at the hospital Monday afternoon and knocked on the door but was not allowed in either.
She called the situation “outrageous.”
“If they pretend to be a hospital or a medical institution, there is a federal involvement and I don’t think they will be asked for any reimbursement that the federal government has closed the doors to patients.” said the congresswoman.
In addition to not knowing how to advance patient care, Heights Hospital staff do not know if they will be paid.
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