King Abdullah Takes Over NYC Hospital Wing

Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has miffed patients at a Manhattan hospital by commandeering an entire wing as he recovers from back surgery.

The Saudi monarch has been in the news in recent days after diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks disclosed that he had repeatedly asked the United States to “cut the head off the snake” by attacking Iran’s nuclear program.

Now the New York Post is reporting that the 86-year-old king has forced other patients out of the VIP wing at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center by block-booking the hospital’s top treatment and recovery rooms to protect his privacy.

“Patients are grumbling that they have been moved out to other areas of the hospital, and that despite there being a number of unused VIP treatment rooms, they can’t be moved into them because they are all reserved for the king of Saudi Arabia,” a family member of one patient told the Post’s Page Six column.

King Abdullah underwent surgery for a blood clot and a slipped disc last week. He reportedly is a generous donor to the hospital.