HOLLAND (WHTC-AM/FM) — The letter Grand Rapids-area resident Hedda Martin, 60, received delivered devastating news. Her impending heart transplant candidacy wouldn’t move forward, the letter stated, because she didn’t have the cash to pay for post-surgery medication.
“The committee is recommending a fundraising effort of $10,000,” the letter said, signed by a clinical transplant coodinator at Spectrum Health Richard DeVos Heart and Lung Transplant Clicnc in Grand Rapids.
Privacy laws prevent the hospital on verifying the letter, according to spokewoman Beth Cranson, but the hospital did issue a statement related to transplants, which said, in part: “While it is always upsetting when we cannot provide a transplant, we have an obligation to ensure that transplants are successful and that donor organs will remain viable. We thoughtfully review candidates for heart and lung transplant procedures with care and compassion, and these are often highly complex, difficult decisions.” The full statement is contained in this story.
Martin, contacted via Facebook, confirmed her situation.
“It’s a shame we have to beg for health care funding,” she replied to WHTC’s inquiry. On Twitter, where she shared a link to a GoFundMe account her son Alex set up, she wrote, “Our system is so flawed.”
Her social media posts went viral, on Facebook and Twitter, to the point where newly elected Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez retweeted the link, writing, “Insurance groups are recommending GoFundMe as official policy – where customers can die if they can’t raise the goal in time – but sure, single payer healthcare is unreasonable.”
Spring Lake resident Rob Davidson, an emergency room medical doctor who unsuccessfully ran against Rep. Bill Huizenga this year, dontated $100, commenting, “Health Care is a Human Right.”
Some of the nearly 25,000 retweets of Ocasio-Cortez’s tweet tagged Huizenga and Rep. Justin Amash, as well as Spectrum.
Swift, harsh social media reaction followed. In response to a Spectrum tweet encouraging people to get a flu vaccine, a series of mocking replies made reference to the need for insurance or a fundraising campaign.
A Spectrum tweet, sent Satuday, Nov. 24, 2018, aimed at Giving Tuesday fundraising, elicited wholesale derision from responders across the U.S., and, in a few cases, veiled threats against the person who signed the letter. Others referenced pay received by members of Spectrum’s board of directors and executives.
Martin’s GoFundMe, as of 7:15 a.m. Sunday. Nov. 25, 2018, had garnered $11,207. At some point on Sunday, the goal was raised from the original $10,000 to $20,000. Her son started the effort, writing, in part, “Congestive Heart Failure induced by 2005 chemotherapy for aggressive breast cancer. The chemo damaged her heart beyond repair. Doxorubicin Cardiomyopathy. After many different heart treatments, in January 2017 she was forced onto disability and into the Meijer Heart Center Heart Failure Clinic. After many medications and treatments, her doctor referred her for a LVAD Left Ventricular Assist Device as a bridge while awaiting a new heart. Mom is a young, 60, and has at least 20 more years of life in her…if she can get a new heart. She was an active dog walker and pet sitter locally, Urban Tails.”
Several social media posts inaccurately suggested that the health care system is owned by the DeVos family, which is not true; others suggested that Spectrum is an insurance company, which is also not true.
The full Spectrum Health Butterworth statement:
“While we do not comment on specific patient situations to protect their privacy, Spectrum Health cares deeply about every patient that enters its doors and provides each of them the highest quality of care possible.
While it is always upsetting when we cannot provide a transplant, we have an obligation to ensure that transplants are successful and that donor organs will remain viable. We thoughtfully review candidates for heart and lung transplant procedures with care and compassion, and these are often highly complex, difficult decisions. While our primary focus is the medical needs of the patient, the fact is that transplants require lifelong care and immunosuppression drugs, and therefore costs are sometimes a regrettable and unavoidable factor in the decision making process.
We partner with our patients throughout their care and work closely with them to identify opportunities for financial assistance.
Our clinical team has an ongoing dialogue with patients about their eligibility, holding frequent in-person meetings and informing patients in person to ensure they fully understand their specific situation.”
