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As Gary Ellis lay dying in August 2023, no one at the facility caring for him called his son.

Instead, staffers called Ellis’ court-appointed state guardian, who had recently taken charge of all decisions related to the 69-year-old man’s care. Not until it was too late did Gary Brown learn his father had been at death’s door, Brown told the Tribune.

“When I went there the nurse was like, ‘We’ve been trying to call someone all night but nobody answered the phone,’” Brown said. “All I got was ‘I’m sorry.’ ‘I’m sorry’ didn’t do nothing to help me or my dad.”

The scenario was exactly what Brown feared when he learned, to his surprise, that Northwestern Memorial Hospital had moved to appoint a guardian for his father. The family said Northwestern

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