Illegal immigrant's family wants to stop Arizona hospital from sending him back to Mexico

PHOENIX - The family of an illegal immigrant says he’ll die if he’s sent to a hospital in Mexico, and they’re pleading with St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix to keep him.

Victorio Armento, 26, has lived here for 11 years, and according to friends, fathered a child who was born in the United States.

On February 4, a Phoenix police cruiser was chasing a vehicle in which Armento was a passenger.

Police said they were trying to pull the vehicle over for a traffic violation when it ran a red-light and crashed.

Armento survived along with another passenger; two others in the vehicle died.

Despite being here illegally, his friends told ABC15 that he should be allowed to recover at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Phoenix, as opposed to a hospital in Mexico where the technology is not as advanced.

“He’s human,” said one friend. “You can’t do that to a human.”

Friends and relatives said that Armento should be allowed to recover in Arizona, and then face the consequences of being an illegal immigrant.

Armento is currently on life-support, friends said. He has no money and no insurance.

St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center released the following statement to ABC15:

“We have not been authorized by the patient to discuss the particular medical situation, but we can discuss our patient transfer process.

“St. Joseph’s has one of the busiest trauma centers in the state, and we often treat the most critically ill patients who are injured in severe automobile accidents. 

“St. Joseph’s is not licensed to provide long-term care nor does it have the services and facilities to do so.  When any patient requires long-term care and a transfer is necessary, St. Joseph’s ensures that a safe transfer will occur to a facility that is able to care for the patient under the direction of a physician who is qualified to care for the patient.  We will never move a patient without a safe discharge plan, and we do not discharge patients merely for a lack of ability to pay.

“In fact, St. Joseph’s spends tens of millions of dollars each year in charity care, and bad debt charges for patients who cannot pay.

“Our commitment is always to work in collaboration with the family to get their agreement on this plan.   St. Joseph’s is dedicated to working with patients and their families to provide a safe discharge from its acute care setting to longer term care facilities when a patient needs this. 

“If an international patient cannot afford long-term care locally and is a resident of another country, then one option for the family is to transfer the patient to the country of origin where health care is available and covered.   In the case of international patients, the medical team at St. Joseph’s works with a medical team in the patient’s country of origin to ensure that the patient is ready for transfer and that the hospital or health care facility that will receive the patient is qualified and prepared to meet the patient’s needs.  St. Joseph’s also works closely with that country’s government officials, typically consulate representatives, when a patient is in need of a transfer.

“The decision to transfer an international patient is made jointly with the hospital and the family.  We will work collaboratively with our patients and families to achieve a mutually agreeable resolution.”