Latest news with #Scantlebury
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
A patient broke nearly every bone in a Palms West nurse's face. Nothing changed.
Hospitals are supposed to be places of healing, not dangerous work environments for staff and patients alike. Yet, at Palms West Hospital in Loxahatchee Groves, staff have been forced to reckon with the reality that their safety could be jeopardized at any moment. My client, a 67-year-old registered nurse with decades of experience, was brutally attacked by Baker Act patient Stephen Scantlebury in an incident that could have been prevented. The assault left her with life-altering injuries, but the hospital's response has been silence. There have been no changes in security made yet, no firm commitments to increased staffing, and no efforts to provide training on de-escalation methods — it's simply business as usual. The administration's priorities are clear. Palms West recently announced a $90 million expansion project, touting new surgical capabilities and infrastructure improvements. However, conspicuously absent from that investment is any mention of increased security measures or staffing levels to protect employees and patients from known threats. Meanwhile, attacks on healthcare workers continue, and the hospital's own culture discourages those most likely to be impacted from speaking out. The day before the incident, Scantlebury's erratic behavior at a Dunkin' Donuts resulted in the police being called to the scene. Despite his family's claims that Scantlebury had been experiencing hallucinations, the police declined to intervene, concluding that he did not pose an immediate threat to himself or others. This determination appeared to rely solely on his responses to their questioning. Later, when he arrived at Palms West complaining of chest pain, his family begged for him to be committed under the Baker Act, a Florida law that allows individuals experiencing a mental health crisis to be involuntarily held for psychiatric examination and possible detention if they are deemed to pose a danger to themselves or others. The hospital refused. However, after exhibiting odd erratic behavior in the hospital and speaking with the family in more detail, Scantlebury eventually was Baker Acted. Due to the hospital's system for assigning patients to available beds, he was placed in a room on the third floor, where my client, Leelamma Lal, was assigned to care for him under standard hospital protocol. Though Baker Act patients are supposed to have sitters monitoring them at all times, these sitters lack the training or physical ability to intervene in an emergency. No additional security measures were provided. The consequences were devastating. Without warning, Scantlebury attacked my client with such force that nearly every bone in her face was broken. She now faces permanent vision loss and immeasurable emotional trauma. Editorial: A 67-year-old nurse was beaten at Palms West Hospital. Improve its security. Disturbingly, this is not an isolated incident. Only weeks later, another Baker Act patient at Palms West had to be physically restrained by six staff members. Despite this obvious pattern, the hospital continues to ignore and downplay the risks. Palms West serves approximately 65,000 patients each year. It is part of HCA Healthcare, a corporation that reported $18.29 billion in profits last year. Despite these numbers, the hospital remains critically understaffed. Her name is Leelamma Lal: Attorneys identify Palms West nurse beaten by patient last week Unlike nursing homes, which are required to meet specific nurse-to-patient ratios under Florida law, hospitals follow less stringent federal guidelines. Florida mandates that nursing homes provide at least 2.5 hours of care per resident from certified nursing assistants and maintain a minimum nurse-to-resident ratio. In contrast, hospitals — where patients often need much more intensive care — have no mandated staffing ratios or requirements to develop a staffing plan for adequate care. As a result, hospitals often prioritize cost efficiency over patient and staff safety. When nurses at Palms West raise concerns about staffing shortages, particularly regarding Baker Act and Level 2 patients, they are either ignored or face retaliatory measures. Some are demoted or placed on "do-not-hire" lists. Many employees at the hospital fear speaking up, knowing it can put their careers at risk. This culture of silence allows dangerous conditions to persist. The $90 million expansion of Palms West is being framed as a win for the community. But what good is a state-of-the-art facility if the people inside it aren't safe? Where in this budget is the funding for armed security personnel with adequate training to handle violent incidents? Where is the investment in mental health professionals who can intervene before situations escalate? Palms West has an obvious agenda: build, expand, and increase revenue. But what about protecting the nurses, doctors, and staff who make patient care possible? The hospital's actions are failing its patients, staff, and the entire Palm Beach County community. If nothing changes, other tragedies are all but certain to occur. The administration at Palms West must take responsibility. Increased security, proper staffing, and better training for handling psychiatric emergencies should not be optional – they are essential. How many more attacks will it take before the safety of healthcare workers is valued as much as the hospital's bottom line? This op-ed was written by Karen Terry. Terry is a shareholder at the Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley law firm in West Palm Beach. She is the legal representation for Leelamma Lal and her family. She wrote this for The Palm Beach Post. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Is Palms West $90M expansion putting profits before safety? | Opinion
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Palms West attack: Hospital, PBSO to discuss security staffing after patient beats nurse
ROYAL PALM BEACH — HCA Florida Palms West Hospital is taking steps to increase security on its Southern Boulevard campus following the Feb. 18 beating of a nurse by a patient that fractured "essentially every bone' in her face and put her at risk of going blind. The nurse, 67-year-old Leelamma Lal of Royal Palm Beach, remains at St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach nearly a month after the attack. Palms West on March 10 opened a work station for the Palm Beach County Sheriff Office inside its emergency room, HCA spokesperson Louis Lochte said. The hospital is "in talks" with PBSO to hire an off-duty deputy to provide added security, Lochte later confirmed. 'This is unimaginable': Palms West nurse's children react to mother's beating by patient A sheriff's spokesperson said the agency has not stationed a deputy at the private hospital and that the work station only serve as a "courtesy space" that private businesses can offer law-enforcement officers where they can fill out reports and make calls if they choose to do so. "Our job is to be patrolling the area in which we're expected to patrol, not to be sitting in a hospital,' the sheriff's office spokesperson said. The hiring of an off-duty deputy would be on the terms that any business would receive, the sheriff's office said. Deputies arrested Stephen Scantlebury, the patient who beat Lal, on a charge of attempted second-degree murder on Feb. 18. The sheriff's office placed a hate-crime enhancement on the case after deputies said Scantlebury "made utterances" about the Lal' race after the attack. Lal, a nurse at Palms West for 21 years, is from India. A spokesperson for the State Attorney's Office said Thursday it intends to charge Scantlebury, 33, of Wellington with attempted first-degree murder because of the hate-crime enhancement. Lal was caring for Scantlebury, who had come to Palms West complaining of chest pains. The 33-year-old's family said he had been experiencing moments of paranoia, and the staff was evaluating him to see if Palms West needed to send him to a hospital certified to handle mental-health cases under the state's Baker Act. When Lal entered the room, Scantlebury allegedly jumped on top of her and hit her face repeatedly with his fists. Scantlebury then ran out of the hospital and was detained as he ran along Southern Boulevard. Circuit Judge Howard Coates on Feb. 27 ordered that Scantlebury kept in custody prior to his trial, citing security concerns. Palms West attack: CEO decries 'unprovoked, senseless violence' in patient's beating of nurse The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration released a report this week stating a Feb. 24 evaluation at HCA Palms West found "no deficiencies at the time of the survey.' Palms West CEO Jason Kimbrell disclosed the finding in an email to his staff on Feb. 25. Karen Terry, the attorney representing Lal, questioned the depth of the evaluation and said Palms West's lack of security allowed Scantlebury to attack Lal and then flee from the hospital. She added the hospital shouldn't even have been treating the patient because it is not a facility that receives patients under the Baker Act, which allows for a 72-hour involuntary hospitalization for those who might harm others or themselves. Terry filed last week a request to the court to access Scantlebury's medical history, the hospital's security camera footage and a list of its policies regarding Baker Act patients. "I don't know how to explain that finding, with everything I've seen," said Terry, a partner at the Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley law firm in West Palm Beach. Valentina Palm covers Royal Palm Beach, Wellington, Greenacres, Palm Springs and other western communities in Palm Beach County for The Palm Beach Post. Email her at vpalm@ and follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @ValenPalmB. Support local journalism: Subscribe today. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Palms West, PBSO to discuss security staffing after beating of nurse
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Palms West patient who beat nurse suffered paranoia episode, witnesses detail at hearing
WEST PALM BEACH — The HCA Florida Palms West Hospital patient who beat and possibly blinded a nurse told investigators immediately after the attack he believed someone had killed his family and spoke with hostility about people of Indian descent, investigators said Thursday. Stephen Scantlebury called 911 on Feb. 17, the day before his assault on 67-year-old Leelamma Lal, to say he was experiencing a paranoia attack that had begun the day before, Palm Beach County sheriff's deputies testified during a pretrial detention hearing before Circuit Judge Howard Coates. Scantlebury's family expressed concern to the deputies who came to their Wellington home after he called 911 but did not force him to seek help, officials said. Scantlebury later walked the nearly 4 miles from his home to Palms West complaining of chest pain. The hospital took him in as a patient then. 'This is unimaginable': Palms West nurse's children react to mother's beating by patient The 33-year-old Scantlebury is facing a charge of attempted second-degree murder of Lal, who remains in intensive care at St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach. He is being held without bail at the county jail. The sheriff's office has placed a hate-crime enhancement on the case. Scantlebury had pleaded not guilty on Tuesday Feb. 25, during his first court appearance in the county jail. At the hearing, Circuit Judge Donald Hafele had declined a motion by Scantlebury's lawyer that he be released on $125,000 bond, placed on house arrest and taken to a treatment facility for what they called an "acute psychosis situation." The state said it considers Scantlebury, who also has Canadian citizenship and a son living north of the border, to be a flight risk. Coates granted the state's request for pretrial detention during Thursday's hearing. He said the state of Scantlebury's mental health made him concerned about letting him back into the community. "This is not someone who should be out in the street," Coates said. 'Unprovoked, senseless violence': Palms West CEO decries patient's beating of nurse A psychological assessment performed at Palms West found Scantlebury should be hospitalized under the Baker Act, which allows the state to hold a person for tests for up to 72 hours. The diagnosis followed Scantlebury jumping out of a CAT scan machine and running down a Palms West hallway, witnesses testified Thursday. Palms West is not certified to handle Baker Act patients, and Scantlebury was awaiting transfer to one with that certification when the attack happened at about 1:30 p.m. Feb. 18. The hospital kept him in a third-floor room with a sitter to watch him but no security guards. Witnesses told investigators that Lal, a Royal Palm Beach resident who has been a nurse at Palms West for 21 years, went into Scantlebury's room to care for him. He began to punch her, breaking "essentially every bone in her face." He then fled from the hospital, escaping down a staircase. Sheriff's officials testified Scantlebury told deputies he was aware of what he had done to Lal once they had captured him as ran along Southern Boulevard near Royal Palm Beach. ' 'Indians are bad. I just beat the s*** out of an Indian doctor,' ' Sgt. Beth Newcomb quoted Scantlebury as saying. Jason Kimbrell, the CEO of HCA Florida Palms West Hospital, on Tuesday, Feb. 25, called the Feb. 18 attack on a nurse an act of "unprovoked, senseless violence" and said "more must be done" to make healthcare workplaces safer. He also said that within 24 hours of the beating, for which the patient now faces an attempted murder charge, the staff at Palms West conducted an interdisciplinary review that found that 'all procedures and policies were followed." "No healthcare worker should ever have to experience such violence," Jason Kimbrell said in an email to the Palms West staff in his first public comments. The beating has alarmed nurses and health care workers across Palm Beach County, many of whom rallied Sunday outside Palms West and at the now-closed Jerome Golden Center in West Palm Beach. A 2018 federal Bureau of Labor Statistics study found health care workers suffered nearly 75% of all cases of workforce violence. A GoFundMe page launched by a friend of Lal's family to raise money for her care had raised nearly $171,800 as of Thursday afternoon. Valentina Palm covers Royal Palm Beach, Wellington, Greenacres, Palm Springs and other western communities in Palm Beach County for The Palm Beach Post. Email her at vpalm@ and follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @ValenPalmB. Support local journalism: Subscribe today. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Palms West patient to remain in custody prior to trial, judge rules
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Palms West CEO decries 'unprovoked, senseless violence' in patient's beating of nurse
ROYAL PALM BEACH — The CEO of HCA Florida Palms West Hospital on Tuesday, Feb. 25, called the Feb. 18 attack on a nurse an act of "unprovoked, senseless violence" and said "more must be done" to make health care workplaces safer. "No healthcare worker should ever have to experience such violence," Jason Kimbrell said in an email to the Palms West staff in his first public comments on the incident that broke "essentially every bone" in Leelamma Lal's face and may cost the 21-year Palms West employee her eyesight. Kimbrell, who has led the 204-bed hospital since 2021, encouraged 1,200-plus Palms West's workers to urge their representatives to pass the Safety from Violence for Healthcare Employees Act that is now before Congress. He said it would make violence against caregivers a federal crime. In his email, Kimbrell said Palms West "has a zero-tolerance policy toward workplace violence" and has taken recent steps to increasing "physical security measures." He noted that the state's Agency for Healthcare Administration visited the facility on Monday and had not recommended any immediate corrections to its operations. He also said that within 24 hours of the beating, for which the patient now faces an attempted murder charge, the staff at Palms West conducted an interdisciplinary review that found that 'all procedures and policies were followed." 'This is unimaginable': Palms West nurse's children react to mother's beating by patient Kimbrell's comments come one day after an attorney representing Lal's family said Palms West lacked appropriate safety measures on the day of the attack. Security was so lax that Scantlebury was able to flee from the hospital and run along Southern Boulevard after the attack, said the attorney, Karen Terry of the Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley firm. Terry added the hospital shouldn't even have been treating the patient because it is not a facility that receives patients under the Baker Act, which allows for a 72-hour involuntary hospitalization for those who might harm others or themselves. A Palms West spokesperson has said Scantlebury had come to the hospital seeking care for an ailment that the hospital has declined to specify. Palms West attack: Healthcare workers rally for protections following attack on nurse The Feb 18. attack happened in a matter of seconds, Kimbrell wrote. Lal, a 67-year-old Royal Palm Beach resident, was caring for Stephen Scantlebury, 33, a Wellington man who had been evaluated at the hospital for mental-health issues under the state's Baker Act. Upon entering his room, Scantlebury jumped on top of Lal and hit her face repeatedly with his fists. Beyond the attempted second-degree murder charge, the sheriff's office also has placed a hate-crime enhancement on Scantlebury's arrest, saying he made reference to Lal's gender, race or religion before the attack. It did not specify which one. Lal is of Indian descent. Circuit Judge Donald Hafele denied bail for Scantlebury on Tuesday, declining a request by his lawyer that he be placed on house arrest and taken to a treatment facility. Hafele ordered the court to schedule a pretrial detention hearing where the issue of bail may arise again. The incident comes at a time when Palms West has been expanding its footprint in Palm Beach County's western communities. Since Kimbrell became CEO, it has expanded its maternity, children's medicine and emergency departments and is now pushing to build an $80 million, five-story building for robotics-assisted surgery across Southern Boulevard. That measure may go before the Palm Beach County Commission on Thursday. The beating has alarmed nurses and health care workers across Palm Beach County, many of whom rallied Sunday outside Palms West and at the now-closed Jerome Golden Center in West Palm Beach. A 2018 federal Bureau of Labor Statistics study found health care workers suffered nearly 75% of all cases of workforce violence. Kimbrell said in the email he will continue to hold town hall meetings with the Palms West staff and also provide them with spiritual and counseling services. He offered to meet with them personally. "Our mission is to care for people in their most vulnerable moments — including our own colleagues," Kimbrell said. "We must be united in our commitment to safety, respect and support for one another." Valentina Palm covers Royal Palm Beach, Wellington, Greenacres, Palm Springs and other western communities in Palm Beach County for The Palm Beach Post. Email her at vpalm@ and follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @ValenPalmB. Support local journalism: Subscribe today. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: 'Senseless violence': Palms West CEO decries nurse beating in Florida
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Palms West beating: Judge denies bail, house arrest for patient arrested in attack on nurse
(This story was updated because because an earlier version included an inaccuracy.) WEST PALM BEACH — A judge has ordered that the man accused of beating a nurse at HCA Florida Palms West Hospital and fracturing 'essentially every bone' in her face remain in jail without bail. Stephen Scantlebury, 33, from Wellington, is facing a charge of attempted second-degree murder in the Feb. 18 attack on Leelamma Lal, a 67-year old nurse from Royal Palm Beach who remains in critical condition at St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach and may lose her eyesight. The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office also enhanced the charge to a hate crime saying Scantlebury had "made utterances" about the victim's gender, race or religion but did not specify which one. Lal is of Indian descent. From the courts: Boca businessman who stole $1.45 million from 'friend' asks judge to spare him from prison Scantlebury pleaded not guilty during a hearing Tuesday at the county jail, his first court appearance since the attack. His wife and children were also present in the courtroom, said Scott Simmons, his attorney with the Rossen Law Firm. Circuit Judge Donald Hafele declined Simmons' request that Scantlebury be released on $125,000 bond, placed on house arrest and taken to a treatment facility. The law firm issued a statement last week describing him as "a hardworking, loving husband, father and son" who is dealing with a form of mental illness it did not disclose. It cautioned that the public "has only heard one side of the story — the side presented by law enforcement" and said "the complete story" will come out in time. After Hafele ordered Scantlebury remain in custody, Dr. Cindy Joseph, Lal's daughter and a neurologist with a practice in Melbourne, told the judge the family wouldn't feel safe if Scantlebury was allowed to go home and that he was a safety risk for the community. Flanked by a dozen family members and a group of nurses, Joseph added her mother was intubated and still "fighting for her life." "If he is released and disappears, justice for my mom will not be served,' Joseph said. 'Because of his actions, our lives will never be the same. We live in fear, constantly looking over our shoulders knowing that someone who's capable of such violence could walk free.' Hafele on Tuesday directed the court to schedule a pretrial detention hearing for Scantlebury, where the issue of his bail and release could arise again. An initial case conference before Circuit Judge Caroline Shepherd is scheduled for April 10, online records show. Boynton Beach homicide: PBSO says man accused of killing neighbor acted 'extremely weird' before attack According to a sheriff's report, Lal was caring for Scantlebury, who had been evaluated at the hospital for mental-health issues under the state's Baker Act. Upon entering his room, Scantlebury jumped on top of Lal and hit her repeatedly with fists fracturing before fleeing the hospital. Deputies arrested the 33-year-old Wellington resident as he ran along Southern Boulevard. The beating has alarmed nurses and health care workers across Palm Beach County, many of whom rallied Sunday outside Palms West and at the Jerome Golden Center in West Palm Beach. A 2018 federal Bureau of Labor Statistics study found health care workers suffered nearly 75% of all cases of workforce violence. A GoFundMe page launched by a friend of Lal's family to raise money for her care had raised nearly $135,000 as of Tuesday afternoon. Sign up for our Post on Wellington weekly newsletter, delivered every Thursday! Valentina Palm covers Royal Palm Beach, Wellington, Greenacres, Palm Springs and other western communities in Palm Beach County for The Palm Beach Post. Email her at vpalm@ and follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @ValenPalmB. Support local journalism: Subscribe today. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Palms West beating: Judge denies bail for patient in attack on nurse
