LOXAHATCHEE, Fla. — Starting April 1, a Palm Beach County Sheriff’s deputy will be posted at HCA Florida Palms West Hospital full time, according to a statement from spokesman Louis Lochte.
“Hospital leadership has been developing security enhancements that have been, and will continue to be implemented in the coming days,” Lochte wrote in a statement. “These additional measures include the contracting of a full-time deputy starting April 1 who will provide services beyond just an armed presence on our property. This resource will also provide education and training to colleagues and will be an integral part of the security team.”
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According to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, the “permit deputy” position will be paid for by the hospital, and deputies will be able to sign up for shifts there on their days off.
Staff at Palms West have relied on help from PBSO in recent weeks, including when a nurse, Leelamma Lal, was attacked by a patient on Feb. 18.
The patient, Stephen Scantlebury, was on an involuntary psychiatric hold under Florida’s Baker Act, but had not been transferred to a Baker Act receiving facility because he was being treated for another medical condition at Palms West.
Lal remains in the hospital, where her daughter, Cindy Joseph, said her condition is stable and her tracheostomy was recently removed.
Scantlebury remains in the Palm Beach County Jail on a second-degree attempted murder charge.
"I think if only you could go back to that one day, and just if things were different, you know — protocols were different — if security was improved, you know, she would not be in this situation,” said Joseph. “I'm really angry this happened to her, you know. I think it was preventable.”
Roughly two weeks after Lal was attacked on the third floor at Palms West, staff on the same floor called 911 again.
“There’s a Baker Act (patient) trying to leave,” a hospital employee can be heard telling a Palm Beach County dispatcher in a 911 call recording.
The call was placed just before 10:30 p.m. on March 3. The employee told the dispatcher that the patient was awaiting transfer to a Baker Act receiving facility.
“We put in for a transfer to be transferred to JFK. We’re just waiting. But he’s — he’s fighting our staff now,” the employee said.
According to PBSO’s report, no one was hurt. Although, employees described a “tussle” that at one point brought the patient and two employees to the ground.
This patient — who was admitted and treated for a drug overdose — was placed under the Baker Act by a doctor who was concerned he’d overdose again.
You can hear the patient shouting in the background of a second 911 call.
PBSO’s records show a hospital security guard stepped in to help, but that guard was not armed.
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Hospital staff de-escalated the situation before deputies arrived.
“He’s sitting in a chair. And he’s not screaming,” the first 911 caller tells the dispatcher later in the recording. “And he’s got his legs crossed and he’s sitting there quietly, yes.”
The patient was not charged with a crime, as the deputy who wrote the report described viewing surveillance footage that showed the patient “never pushed (or) shoved any of the staff,” but saw staff members tackling the patient as he tried to leave the hospital.
"Unfortunately, this is not like isolated incident. It's a systemic failure," said Olga Zhyvalhod, a nurse not affiliated with HCA, but shaken by the attack on Lal and increased patient hostility.
“We've been closing down mental health facilities left and right. We have less and less mental health beds. Wait lists to get into the mental health facilities get longer and longer, and hospitals are just becoming dumping grounds," Zhyvalhod said. "Unfortunately, besides dealing with mental health, we also have to deal with sick patients that require our immediate attention.”
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Until the mental health crisis is adequately addressed, Zhyvalhod said, she believes an armed law enforcement presence is necessary in hospitals.
"It's a huge deterrent," she said. "Men with a gun and a badge (are) obviously a better security measure than nurse in the uniform, which (is) basically helpless."
While Joseph and her lawyer say they support the addition of armed law enforcement, they have doubts about the policy.
“It needs to be 24/7, that's the only way to try to enhance security measures to protect their employees, patients and family members who are visiting the hospital,” said Karen Terry, who represents the Lal family.
“You just don't know when someone's going to, you know, act violent or harm someone," Joseph said. “Personally, I feel like, you know, more security has to be in place. And not just, you know, leave it up to the hospital, but (it) has to be like something that is throughout the U.S. or throughout the state.”
Lochte, the HCA spokesman, would not elaborate on the additional security measures being put in place.
“For security reasons, we will not provide specific details, but the plan is based on the recommendation from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office and Sheriff Bradshaw to ensure our efforts are in line with or exceed private security practices in Palm Beach County,” Lochte’s statement concluded.
