A Brooklyn hospital is being forced to answer questions Saturday night after a case of mistaken identity, and now the family is pointing to the error as grounds for a possible lawsuit.

She’s hospitalized in frail health, but for a few hours this week, three generations of the Abrams family thought their matriarch died at Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center.

“It’s negligence on the hospital’s part,” granddaughter Tracie Covington says.

The hospital is treating Ella Abrams for respiratory problems this week, but one of its nurses allegedly gave the wrong update to the family over the phone.

“She said, ‘I’m sorry, she passed away,'” great-granddaughter Jasmine Goodwin says.

Hours after the fateful phone call, the family went to the hospital to retrieve personal belongings and that’s when Jasmine Goodwin noticed her great-grandmother still in a hospital room.

“I just walked up to her and I touched her head, and when I touched her head, her eyes opened and she turned her head,” Jasmine says. “When she did that, I started screaming.”

After the tears of joy came the anger over this needless emotional rollercoaster.

“That was a bad experience for me, because I never went through that, and I’m still in shock,” Jasmine says.

On the morning in question, another woman apparently died at the hospital. Sources tell CBS 2 that the deceased had a different last name, but a similar-sounding first name. The hospital, according to the Abrams family, claimed it was a simple mix-up.

The family wants something done to the employee and, despite the happy ending, wants to file a lawsuit against the hospital.

“We looking at emotional duress, emotional stress – you know, that’s basically what our issue is,” Covington says.

In the meantime, the family says it has no plans on moving Ella Abrams from Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center.

The hospital has not answered any questions about the incident at this time.

(Source: WCBSTV)