The family of Cynthia Vann, 55, who died Sept. 27 after being pummeled by an unhinged fellow patient at Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx called Thursday for an investigation into the hospital’s role in her violent death.
Vann’s relatives spoke on what would have been her 56th birthday outside the beloved community garden she tended for many years on her home block on Sherman Ave. near 164th St. in Morrisania. The suspect remained free as of Thursday afternoon as the investigation continues.
“This happened here in your neighborhood, in a hospital that you probably used to take care of you and your children,” said Vann’s mother Rosemary Vann. “It shouldn’t have happened. So, you need to all think of that when you think about Cynthia, and think of that hospital, they let this happen to a friend of yours.”
Added Taniesha Vann, the dead woman’s daughter, “I hope the hospital takes accountability for dropping the ball with my mom. She didn’t deserve what happened to her, and the fact that it wasn’t reported and that I had to investigate myself to let the NYPD know of her condition is just insane.”
The city Health and Hospital Corp. which oversees Lincoln did not respond to emails on Thursday. It was unclear why they did not initially contact the NYPD about the incident. Meanwhile, authorities provided a more thorough chronology of the sequence of events.
Cynthia Vann was admitted to Lincoln Sept. 6 for a treatable medical condition and was alert and communicative. The suspect and Vann were then housed in the same hospital room on Sept. 9, according Rev. Kevin McCall, who is advising Vann’s family.
At that point, the suspect was already facing another pending assault case. On July 19, court records show, she punched a hospital staffer in the left side of her head, causing bruises and pain. The staffer received treatment at the hospital.
On Sept. 10, at about 3 a.m., the suspect allegedly punched Vann repeatedly in the head. Staff heard screaming and Vann told them the suspect had assaulted her. After denying it, the suspect was moved to another room, according to Taneisha Vann. Vann, McCall said, gave a written statement describing the attack.
Early on Sept. 11, Vann underwent emergency surgery for bleeding and swelling of the brain. She would require at least one additional procedure and her health would continue to decline over the next 16 days until she died, her daughter previously told The News.
The family only learned there was an incident after Vann was already in emergency surgery. They rushed to her side, Rosemary Vann said. “We went on up to the operating room … My child was barely noticeable,” the grieving mom said. “That big face, head swollen, bruises all over her face. Her body moving up and down. [I thought] she can’t be dead.
“They were like, ‘No, those are the machines just pumping air in and out of her.’ After that, doctors talked to us but nothing about how she got there [in the surgery] or what happened to her, but just about what they had to do to keep her living.”
Meanwhile, a few hours after Vann’s underwent surgery, the suspect allegedly slapped a female patient care associate taking her vital signs. The suspect was arrested later that day by hospital police officers for the assault on the patient aide. When they brought her to the complaint room, she was also charged with the Sept. 10 assault on Vann.
But when the Lincoln Hospital police contacted the Bronx DA’s office, prosecutors did not feel there was enough evidence to move forward with the assault on Vann and deferred that case pending further investigation, officials said.
Charges were filed for the assault on the staffer. During a bail hearing on Sept. 17, her lawyer asked the judge to release her. The judge agreed over the objections of prosecutors and the suspect was released from jail Sept. 18.
“The thing that’s made it even worse for the family is that the hospital has not been forthcoming,” said John Eleftkerakis, the lawyer representing the family.
On Sept. 19, Taneisha Vann called the DA’s office and notified them her mom was on life support. Prosecutors then called the NYPD’s Bronx Homicide Squad and asked that unit to open an investigation.
Bronx Homicide began investigating immediately, officials said.
Vann died on Sept. 27.
“Her [Cynthia’s] mother has to sit in a funeral home and plan the funeral. Her brother has to go and pick up Memorial cards for Cynthia because of the neglect of the biggest Hospital Corporation in America, Lincoln Hospital,” McCall said.
Neighbors took a moment amid the talk of loss and anger to remember Vann and her work on the community garden.
“Cynthia was a happy person, she will come in here, water the plants, we would have picnics here, gatherings with the neighbors,” said Rosy, a fellow gardener. “Hope she’s resting in peace now, and we’ll always remember her. I am going to do another memorial now.”
