Nurse suing hospital for failing to head off vicious attack by patient

A hospital and its security contractor are facing a lawsuit over a brutal beating taken by a unit nurse at the hands of a mentally ill inpatient a year ago. 

The complaint says the defendants knowingly overlooked a history of violence on the premises and, by such negligence, failed to take steps that might have prevented the attack. 

The hospital is HCA Florida Palms West Hospital in West Palm Beach. The security company is Allied Universal. 

The plaintiff is Leelamma Lal, who was 67 at the time of the assault and had been working at the institution for 21 years. 

According to reports from the Palm Beach Post and WPTV, Lal continues to suffer with double vision and other ailments caused by the savagery. 

Her family says she has undergone more than one facial reconstruction surgery and still needs more. They add that she has had to stop driving, cooking and tending to her garden.

The suit alleges the hospital and security supplier maintained an “inadequate” contract. It contends both parties failed to allow for sufficient security hours, armed guards and other safety measures.

Karen Terry, JD, an attorney with the personal injury firm representing Leelamma, tells the local press the brutal Lal battery, or something like it, was “virtually certain to happen” at HCA Florida PWH. “It was just a matter of time.”

HCA expresses personal solidarity while defending safety practices

TV station WPTV posted a statement it received from the hospital Feb. 18. It reads: 

Today marks a solemn day for HCA Florida Palms West Hospital. Our hearts remain with our nurse colleague and her loved ones, and we continue to keep them in our thoughts.

The safety and well-being of our colleagues is and has always been a priority, and any suggestion otherwise would be misguided and false. While we are aware that the family has indicated an intent to pursue legal action, we have not been served a lawsuit and therefore will not comment on specific allegations.

Following the incident, two separate healthcare regulatory agencies reviewed our processes and both concluded there were no deficiencies in HCA Florida Palms West Hospital protocols. As part of our ongoing commitment to safety, we made security enhancements.

We remain committed to maintaining a safe environment for everyone who walks through our doors and will always continue to evaluate our practices.

Suit suggests assailant’s actions didn’t come from nowhere

Lal’s attacker, Stephen Scantlebury, 33 at the time of the incident, was quickly arrested and has been in custody at the Palm Beach County Jail ever since. He faces a criminal charge of attempted second-degree murder and is expected enter a plea of insanity, according to numerous news reports. 

Scantlebury had previously been legally identified as a potential danger to himself or others, making him a Baker Act patient under Florida state government. As such, the suit argues, he should have been transferred to a designated Baker Act facility once the hospital had him medically stabilized. 

The suit says Scantlebury’s physical stability had been established when the attack occurred, meaning he should no longer have been in a non-Baker Act hospital. 

Due to HIPAA, the hospital can’t say why Scantlebury was admitted to an inpatient unit in the first place. As several outlets have it, he drove himself to the hospital complaining of symptoms unrelated to mental illness. 

Soon after Scantlebury’s arrest, a hospital spokesperson told the local press that the Baker Act process had been initiated when the attack took place.  

Both the newspaper and the TV station have been following the story since it broke one year ago. Their respective latest reports are here and here.