Driver picking up body from Shadyside nursing home takes patient who was still alive

PITTSBURGH — A driver tasked with picking up a dead body from a Shadyside nursing home instead took a wrong - and very much alive - person.

Channel 11 has confirmed the wrong patient was picked up from the home to be transported to a Pittsburgh funeral home on Friday.

“I’m approaching 80 years old. It scares the hell out of me,” said Marshall Cohen.

Sources say the woman was wrapped in a sheet, not a body bag. She made a noise in the back of the van, alerting the driver that she was alive.

“It’s beyond belief. It just makes you want to bring the whole place to a screeching halt,” Cohen said.

The rehab center is owned by Genesis Healthcare.

A spokesperson told us that once they became aware of what happened and the woman was brought back to the facility, the rehab center contacted the Department of Health and the patient’s family and took internal steps.

Channel 11 has also learned that transport companies are not responsible, or trained, to check a person’s status. That is typically left up to the medical staff at the facility.

We have also reached out to Genesis to ask specific questions about the laws and regulations, and what kind of testing is done to determine a person has died. At this point, we have not received a follow-up response.

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