NC man with disabilities waits months in an ED for a better place to stay

North Carolina Health News

Lean Left

Factuality

Ownership

NC man with disabilities waits months in an ED for a better place to stay

By Emily Vespa For more than four months, 32-year-old Jackson Hedgepeth has lived in a small room at Atrium Health Union hospital in Monroe, waiting for help. Jackson has autism, and he’s nonverbal. He’s been on the waitlist for admission to J. Iverson Riddle, a state-operated center that provides services for people with intellectual or developmental disabilities (often referred to as I/DD) for more than a year.  His mom, Vickie Hedgepeth, said…