Photo: CBS 12
There's a petition making the rounds at HCA Florida hospitals, demanding that they do more to address workplace violence and protect those who work there.
They include Palms West Hospital in Loxahatchee, where a nurse was brutally beaten by a patient who was battling mental health issues. Palms West is NOT a Baker-Act facility.
CBS 12 News reports that there have been 160 calls for service from the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office to Palms West this year.
"If the hospital don't have the appropriate staffing to take care of the patients, to deal with the needs of the visitors and everybody in between, it leaves the hospital open for more violence."
Healthcare worker union organizer Bhishma Ramdass says the attack on nurse Leela Lal was one of six reported assaults at the facility since January 1st.
The petition addresses multiple areas in which the hospitals need to improve. But in a statement, HCA Florida calls it a "publicity stunt," and claims that every item the petition demands are already in place. Those include a Sheriff's deputy now stationed "full time" at Palms West.
HCA Florida's Full Statement:
"This petition is nothing more than a publicity stunt by the union’s leadership. They are well aware that nearly every item they’re demanding is already in place at HCA Florida Palms West Hospital. As anyone working in healthcare understands, behavioral health patients cannot be immediately transferred until they are medically cleared – it is a matter of patient safety and state law. We strictly follow clinical guidelines and regulatory requirements when it comes to these timelines. No amount of union misinformation will change that."