Brick ER Allegedly Kicks Service Dog Out While Treating Owner

BRICK, NJ — Ocean Medical Center officials are defending the actions of a hospital employee who allegedly kicked a Jackson Township woman's service dog out of the emergency room Saturday while she was being treated after a seizure.

Nicole Sorchinski of Jackson was brought to the emergency room at Ocean Medical Center on Saturday by paramedics following a seizure at her home and paramedics brought her service dog, Nala, a 3-year-old pit bull, to the hospital in the ambulance with her.

Sorchinski said she had been in the emergency room for about 20 minutes when a hospital employee came in and demanded Nala, who was wearing a service dog vest and outfitted with identification that explains her service, be removed from the hospital or the woman would call animal control to have the dog taken to an animal shelter.

"The nurse manager demanded that if she wasn’t picked up within 15 minutes, she was calling animal control to take her to the pound," said Sorchinski, 27, who has suffered repeated seizures since suffering a traumatic brain injury in a 2015 car accident. Nala is trained to detect the seizures and to help Sorchinski during them.

Sorchinski, who said Nala has accompanied her at other hospitals without an issue, scrambled via social media to find someone to pick up Nala; her friend Morgan Petiti came to pick up the dog. Once home, Sorchinski took her complaint about the incident to Facebook in a post that had been shared more than 3,200 times as of Tuesday afternoon, saying she was "beyond disgusted."

"Mind you, (Nala) had her vest, collar, leash and 3 ID cards on her," Sorchinski said on Facebook.

Hackensack Meridian, the parent company of Ocean Medical Center, issued a statement through Ocean Medical Center spokeswoman Anne Green Tuesday afternoon responding to Sorchinski's complaint.

"Hackensack Meridian Health’s top priority is the health and safety of our patients," the statement said. "Our hospitals and team members are very supportive of service animals. We understand the important, life-saving role that service animals play in our patients’ lives and that they are an integral part of our patients’ families. That is why many of our hospitals offer pet therapy to provide comfort, healing and companionship for our patients."

"While our goal is to keep patients and their service animals together whenever possible, there are situations where our team members must focus on providing the highest quality care for our patients," the statement read. "During this time, we believe it’s important to ensure there is someone that can care for the service animal while we provide care to our patients."

"We are committed to educating the public about the importance of putting a plan in place for the care and safety of service animals during an Emergency Department visit," the statement said. "We are also committed to educating our team members on the importance of service animals and the actions that can be taken to ensure the service animal’s utmost safety."

Sorchinski said she wound up in the ER after feeling ill while was on the phone with a friend who is a dispatcher. "I didn’t feel right, and told her," and the friend called 911. Paramedics who responded to do a welfare check found Sorchinski face-down on the floor in her home. She had vomited, and Nala "was circling me, nudging with her head, which is what she does."

Sorchinski said she believes Nala saved her from choking on the vomit.

"She nudged me away. When I woke up, my hair was covered in it so clearly I was moved," she said. The EMTs brought Nala along, and Sorchinski says the dog was well-behaved and under control the entire time.

Hackensack Meridian, which has received enormous blowback on social media, reached out to Sorchinski. She shared a voicemail with Patch that she received from a hospital employee early Tuesday afternoon in which the employee expressed regret for the incident and wanted to discuss it with her. But the Hackensack Meridian statement Tuesday afternoon made no mention of an apology nor did it address any of the statements Sorchinski made in her post.

Sorchinski said the treatment of Nala at the Ocean Medical Center ER was markedly different from other times she has been hospitalized, including a trip to CentraState Medical Center in Freehold Township last month.

"I was at CentraState a month ago for a week," Sorchinski said, sharing photos of Nala in the hospital bed with her from that stay. "This is a 3-year-old pit bull who if anyone who knows Nala, knows the extensive training Nala has been through ... (as) a USDA-licensed service dog."

Under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, it is against the law to bar service animals "in all areas of the facility where the public is normally allowed to go," according to the ADA website. "For example, in a hospital it would be inappropriate to exclude a service animal from areas such as patient rooms, clinics, cafeterias, or examination rooms."

Service animals could be excluded "from operating rooms or burn units where the animal’s presence may compromise a sterile environment."

The law also states service animals "must be harnessed, leashed, or tethered," or otherwise under control. Nala was leashed, Sorchinski said.

Sorchinski's friend, Morgan Petiti, said she believes the issue with Nala was breed discrimination.

"If she was a Lab (Labrador retriever) they would not have kicked her out," Petiti said.

"If it was any of my other dogs, I could see it," said Sorchinski, who has two other pit bulls. "But Nala is so well-trained."

"I'm totally and completely disgusted," she said. "It's mentally exhausting."

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Photos courtesy of Nicole Sorchinski