WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — WPTV is tracking new developments as a nurse recovers from a brutal attack, allegedly carried out by one of her patients at HCA Florida Palms West Hospital.
On Wednesday, a representative of nurse Leelamma Lal’s family said Lal’s condition is improving but she was placed back on a ventilator.
Why was a Baker Act patient admitted in a hospital that is not a Baker Act receiving facility?
Stephen Scantlebury, 33, was identified in his arrest report as a Baker Act patient at Palms West.
The Baker Act is a law used by health care providers and other professionals to place individuals under an involuntary psychiatric hold for up to 72 hours at a designated receiving facility. Those facilities are specially equipped to handle patients deemed a threat to themselves or others.
HCA Florida says nurse attack suspect arrived at hospital with medical issue
Palms West is not a Baker Act receiving facility, but the arrest report states Scantlebury was an admitted patient on the third floor of the hospital.
If a patient arrives at a hospital that is not a Baker Act receiving facility, healthcare professionals at that facility can decide to initiate the Baker Act process for a patient if necessary, and the patient will be transferred to a receiving facility.
That’s what a spokesperson for HCA Florida said happened with Scantlebury.
According to the spokesperson, Scantlebury had driven himself to the hospital to seek treatment for an issue not related to his mental health and was admitted. The hospital couldn’t describe the issue due to patient privacy laws.
The spokesperson said once Scantlebury was evaluated, the provider decided to initiate the Baker Act process. But before Scantlebury could be taken to a receiving facility, he needed to be treated for his medical issue.
The spokesperson said Scantlebury was not waiting for a psychiatric bed to open up in a receiving facility at the time of the attack on the 67-year-old Lal last week.
It is still unclear how long he had been receiving treatment for the medical issue, or what steps were taken to protect people in the hospital from a patient deemed a threat to himself or others.
The arrest report says Scantlebury had been “acting paranoid for the last two days” prior to the attack.
WPTV has asked Palms West for a copy of its policies on handling Baker Act patients.
HCA responds to criticism over 911 call
Earlier this week, WPTV shared the audio of a 911 call from someone who identified themselves as the CEO of Palms West following the attack.
The caller can be heard telling the dispatcher, “I’m not concerned about that part—“ referring to the unconscious employee who had just been attacked by what the caller described as a Baker Act patient.
The audio drew criticism of Palms West CEO Jason Kimbrell, including from Lal’s children in an interview with WPTV.
WATCH: 911 calls from nurse attack
On Wednesday, HCA Healthcare’s East Florida Division released a statement addressing the 911 call:
“Immediately after the attack, our primary focus was providing care to our injured colleague and getting her to our hospital’s emergency department. After ensuring she was getting the life-saving care she needed, our CEO, who is a trained paramedic and assisted in providing initial care, called 911. To be clear, the purpose of the call to 911 was to quickly notify the police of the immediate threat and to make sure the attacker was captured and did not hurt anyone else. It is unfortunate that some are mischaracterizing the call as something other than an emergency response to help ensure the safety of everyone in our hospital.”
What’s next?
A risk protection order was filed Wednesday in Scantlebury’s case, meaning he will not have access to firearms for at least the next two weeks. A motion on whether to extend that order is scheduled for March 11.
Scantlebury remains in jail. He pleaded not guilty Tuesday to a second-degree attempted murder charge with a hate crime enhancement, for allegedly shouting racial slurs while beating Lal.
A hearing is scheduled Thursday afternoon for the judge to consider whether Scantlebury should remain in jail until his trial.
Prosecutors argue in a motion to keep Scantlebury detained that he is a danger to the public.
“Our goal is to have (Scantlebury) transfer custody to a mental health facility — someone that's actually equipped to handle his mental health issue that he's obviously going through right now,” said a member of Scantlebury’s defense team after Tuesday’s hearing. “The jail is not the best place for that.”
A friend of Lal’s family set up a fundraiser to help her as she recovers. The organizer shared plans to attend Thursday’s hearing as a show of support for the nurse and her family.
