By Bonnie Miller Rubin, Chicago Tribune
Hospital bids bittersweet goodbye as Pedro Azpur moves to a group home
Pedro Azpur, an undocumented, developmentally disabled immigrant who has been living at Little Company of Mary Hospital for more than a year, finally has a new home.
Avancer, a nonprofit organization that operates facilities for adults with developmental disabilities, agreed to take the 35-year-old man to a home in Genoa last month.
"He was waving and smiling as he drove away," said Jane Sullivan, an administrator at the Evergreen Park hospital. "He took a lot of photos with his fake camera."
The plight of Azpur, who has the mental capacity of a kindergartner and no known relatives here or in his native Venezuela, was first reported by the Tribune in November.
In late 2010, the man was found wandering 95th Street and brought to the emergency room by a police officer. He has occupied a room and received 24-hour supervision ever since.
Because of his undocumented status and without Medicaid or any other insurance, the hospital could not find a facility that would pick up the tab.
A court would have to determine that there was a responsible party to receive Azpur, a ward of the state, on the other end before he could be deported. Little Company of Mary, an international order of Catholic sisters with a health care ministry, had no exit strategy.
But in December, Avancer, which operates 14 facilities throughout northwest Illinois, stepped forward. And while the staff — who had bonded with their charge — was pleased about the more appropriate placement, the farewell was bittersweet.
"I told everyone that they needed to put on a happy face, otherwise it would be upsetting to Pedro," Sullivan said. "They were sad … but felt good that we had done the right thing. We really lived our mission."
# http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-x-pedro-update-20120111,0,3803353.story
Hospital bids bittersweet goodbye as Pedro Azpur moves to a group home
Avancer, a nonprofit organization that operates facilities for adults with developmental disabilities, agreed to take the 35-year-old man to a home in Genoa last month.
"He was waving and smiling as he drove away," said Jane Sullivan, an administrator at the Evergreen Park hospital. "He took a lot of photos with his fake camera."
The plight of Azpur, who has the mental capacity of a kindergartner and no known relatives here or in his native Venezuela, was first reported by the Tribune in November.
In late 2010, the man was found wandering 95th Street and brought to the emergency room by a police officer. He has occupied a room and received 24-hour supervision ever since.
Because of his undocumented status and without Medicaid or any other insurance, the hospital could not find a facility that would pick up the tab.
A court would have to determine that there was a responsible party to receive Azpur, a ward of the state, on the other end before he could be deported. Little Company of Mary, an international order of Catholic sisters with a health care ministry, had no exit strategy.
But in December, Avancer, which operates 14 facilities throughout northwest Illinois, stepped forward. And while the staff — who had bonded with their charge — was pleased about the more appropriate placement, the farewell was bittersweet.
"I told everyone that they needed to put on a happy face, otherwise it would be upsetting to Pedro," Sullivan said. "They were sad … but felt good that we had done the right thing. We really lived our mission."
# http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-x-pedro-update-20120111,0,3803353.story
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