Ghost Stories of the Medical Profession

Paso

Acknowledgment

My deepest appreciation to:

Hank Estrada, my partner who continues to dream with me.

Author’s Note

Some of the names associated with the storytellers mentioned in this book have been changed. This was done for the sole purpose of not identifying those individuals because of their cultural beliefs, or their personal request to disguise their identity. Thus, any name used in the book which might be associated with anyone known to the reader is simply coincidental.

Introduction



The book you hold represents six years of travel conducting personal interviews with individuals who have had their lives changed forever by an encounter with a spiritual entity. This time around, I’ve chosen to focus entirely on the topic of paranormal encounters by members of the medical profession. I’ve undertaken this unique reality after having numerous healthcare workers from all fields of their professions contact me by e-mail, at lectures, or by phone who willingly came forward to describe their own experiences.

It has become clear to me that hospitals and other health care facilities were often places of intense emotional trauma and not surprisingly, even death. Who better to have experienced the paranormal in such conditions than these skilled and dedicated medical professionals. These individuals span the medical field from physicians to x-ray technicians, nurses to chaplains and many others.

Not one specific profession experiences more hauntings than others nor was one physical location within a hospital more prone to paranormal activity. Patient rooms, operating rooms, and morgues are all equally haunted. I can conclude that there are no boundaries that a spirit obeys or follows, however, ghosts appear in whatever area of a hospital they choose. Keep in mind that a particular medical facility may be the last place a soul remembers and very well could be the place where their final conscious mind existed prior to passing. Medical facilities are often places where psychotropic drugs are administered to patients or where patients physical and emotional suffering remain evident within a property location. Is it possible that these spirit energies could still be asking or pleading for help from the living staff?

Numerous medical staff report that patients who experience overwhelming pain and suffering sometimes cry out for staff to permit them to cross over. In other instances, patients in the process of dying also describe to staff that they see departed loved ones present in the room, waiting to assist them with their transition. Within seconds these patients often seem to experience an unexplainable sense of serenity. Some empathetic caregivers have shared with me that they have even observed the patient’s soul energy leaving the body at their moment of death.

It has become customary for caregivers witnessing the final moments of a patient’s life, to respectfully offer a prayer of release of the spirit from the body, forever releasing the deceased from the pain and illness that confined them in this life. By offering this personal prayer, it is believed that the soul gains guidance, direction, and understanding to move on to the next dimension.

In this book you will not read about abandoned or now-defunct haunted hospitals. I chose instead to report about current, active facilities that are presently very much operating at full service capacity.

In conclusion, almost every health care facility and hospital has some type of ghost story attached to it. Some stories are positive and some are not. And now I present to you the first ever, notable collection of actual ghost sightings and paranormal experiences by members of the medical profession!

—Antonio

ALASKA

Surgical Scrub Tech

Francine C. Raisor’s Story

Alaska Regional Hospital

2801 DeBarr Road, Anchorage, AK 99508



I’m originally from Santa Maria, California. I moved to Anchorage 12 years ago to live with my girlfriend, Rachel in her family’s home of three generations. Rachel was also in the medical field and worked as a pediatrician in a different hospital than me. We used to do quite a lot of outdoor activities before her untimely death. Rachel died of complications from hepatitis C. She contracted this disease from a deceased patient while conducting the autopsy. So I am left to manage alone on our property since her death two years ago.

I graduated from USC medical school in Southern California with a degree as a Surgical Technologist (OR Tech). My job at Alaska Regional Hospital requires me to assist within the operating room during various invasive surgical procedures, especially open-heart operations. Because I’ve been at this job for so many years, I’ve become very friendly with my fellow staff associates. I know it might sound corny, but we genuinely regard each other as extended family members. We rely on each other for emotional support when a patient we’re fond of dies while in our care.

My personal ghost story took place eight years ago in the hospital. We had an excellent female surgeon who worked at the hospital for just a few months. She died one Thanksgiving holiday in an auto accident while driving back home to Anchorage from the town of Dawson City. Somehow she drove her car off the road, first hitting a tree then coming to a stop in a shallow water channel. She sustained fatal injuries to both her skull and spine and was pronounced dead at the scene.

It was not long after her funeral that a few staff began to talk among themselves about seeing the doctor’s shadow image standing at doorways, and at one time even spotted by Arnold, our anesthesiologist, standing against a wall in the operating room!

Arnold himself once told me that during an operating procedure while he was adjusting the concentration of anesthetic vapor isoflurane for a patient, an unexpected movement caught his attention. He looked to see what moved and spotted the image of the dead doctor standing about four feet away from the patient on the operating table!

He told me that he happened to glance about the room and noticed two other staff also captivated by the same paranormal image. Arnold said, We elbowed each other to look in the direction of the ghostly figure. One nurse, a Catholic, made the sign of the cross and spoke in the direction of the spirit, ‘Thank you for your assistance doctor.’ As this was said, the doctor’s image suddenly disappeared! Because we had a patient to tend to, we got back to the business at hand and only freely spoke of seeing the doctor’s apparition later after completing the operation. We all had to admit that the good doctor was continuing the work in death she loved so much in life.

Aside from surgery room instruments being moved about, doors opening on their own, and footsteps being heard in empty halls our job responsibilities continue as normal and as usual. I know the rational mind works to disprove, even deny what I’m describing, but eventually even the most hardened minds can change with enough evidence. I sincerely believe this to my core.

Ultrasound Technologist

Rosalinda C. Tull’s Story

Alaska Regional Hospital

2801 DeBarr Road, Anchorage, AK 99508



My job responsibilities include performing all basic small body part imaging, Doppler, arterial and invasive imaging including Abdominal, Obstetrical, Gynecological, cranial, spinal, external and endocavity procedures, and prostates. I also do breast imaging as needed in the Breast Center, which includes diagnostic studies.

Once I completed my college work at University of Washington in Seattle, I jumped right in for certification from the AMA school of Ultrasonography. The story I’m about to tell you took place within the hospital and in a patient’s room.

One late afternoon, as I was walking down one of our hospital’s hall, I walked past a familiar patient’s room – a young woman named Darla who I remembered assisting in her admittance just a few days earlier. I knocked on her door and heard her respond, Come in. As I entered, I could not help but notice how dark the room was. I asked her about this and she said, Oh, I hope I’m not offending your religious beliefs, but I was meditating with my Ouija board hoping to contact the spirits that are in the hospital. Her response caught me totally off guard. She must have seen the surprised look on my face because she immediately followed up by saying, Don’t worry, they won’t hurt you. Come here, I’ll show you.

As I approached her bedside, I noticed the Ouija board on her lap. Her finger tips were lightly resting on the device that points out each letter when a question is asked out loud of a spirit. She said, Pull up a chair and I’ll show you how it’s done. I pulled up a chair as she invited me to do, but admittedly I was apprehensive.

Darla said, I’ve already contacted the spirit of a 56-year-old man who died in this very room, 14 months ago! Just as she finished speaking, I caught something move to the left of me and as I turned to look, my eyes locked with the shadowy figure of a small statured man staring right back at me!

I froze with terror, but I somehow managed to say, Darla he’s standing right here next to me—I’m scared! I didn’t wait to hear Darla’s response and shot out of my seat and out of that room like a bullet. There was no way I was ever going back in there again and I kept this experience exclusively to myself.

Several days passed and I was unable to erase that man’s ghostly image from my memory. My nights were filled with anxiety to the point of insomnia. I knew that I needed to do something about this. Beyond my better judgment, I contacted Darla and described my disruptive situation. She agreed to meet with me outside in the hospital courtyard. Darla listened to my frightening experience, but her response surprised me.

She said, "Rosa, that male spirit refuses to leave my room. I see him everyday and although he keeps his distance, I feel very uncomfortable with his presence. I don’t want to scare you any further, but he’s looking at us from over at that window (pointing).

For some crazy reason he’s attached himself to me and I don’t like it! I’ll have to figure out what to do about him. Thankfully, I don’t think he means any harm to come to me, but I still don’t appreciate his surprise visits, especially when he comes at night. I’ll be abruptly awakened from sleep, open my eyes, and he’ll be standing about ten feet away just staring at me. I don’t like when he does that. Wait, I’m looking at the window and he’s staring at us right now. Turn around Rosa, look!

The hair on my head stood up with fear. No way was I going to look again into those creepy ghost eyes. I yelled out to Darla as I started to walk away, I’ve got to go now. I'll let you handle this on your own. My nerves can’t take this any more!

As I approached the courtyard exit, I briefly glanced back over my shoulder to the window Darla pointed too, and sure enough, there it was, the ghostly face of that man just staring at us -- that unmistakably creepy face, grinning back at me just as when I first saw it in Darla’s room!

Since that scary episode, my idea of the afterlife has changed dramatically. I’ve read numerous books and have watched many documentaries that challenge society’s skepticism on the subject. I’ve not reached out to Darla since and this is mostly due to my aversion to her use of the Ouija board and its dangerous repercussions.

ARIZONA

Unit Secretary/Outpatient Transfusion

Roberta F. Boccaccio’s Story

Arizona State Hospital

2500 E. Van Buren St., Phoenix, AZ 85008



Originally I’m from the high mountain town of Jerome, Arizona, and as you might already know, the whole town of Jerome has a strong history of haunted houses, hotels, and ore mines. I lived in Jerome until reaching the age of six, then my family moved to Phoenix. Years later when I married my husband, we moved back to Jerome and lived in my family’s house until our divorce eight years later. I then decided to return to Phoenix and landed my hospital secretarial job in 1999.

My job title is Unit Secretary/Receptionist for the Outpatient Transfusion Clinic. I greet and interact daily with visitors, patients, physicians, and staff. I answer telephone calls and serve as a distribution point for paper, electronic communication, and laboratory and test results. I also assist physicians, and the ancillary department staff. Frequently, I orient patients to their room and at times, transfer and discharge them from our facility. Lastly, I ensure that all medical records have signed orders, chart preparation, and perform data entry, filing and photocopying in accordance with appropriate hospital policies. It’s a huge responsibility, but I enjoy my job and have been at it now for 13 years!

Now, as for my ghost story experience…

One late night at the hospital, as I was at my desk occupied with routine patient paperwork, I sensed a pair of eyes watching me. I looked up from my desk and noticed a little Native American girl, about the age