Allegations that go unreported and a lack of accountability for health care workers leave patients in the dark and increase the risk of abuse, research shows.

Summary

Hospitals are reporting a rise in sexual assaults, with lean staffing, flawed hiring, and inadequate training cited as contributing factors.

In one case, Lenna Ray, 67, was repeatedly assaulted by nurse Hiram Bonilla over four hours at HCA Florida Citrus Hospital in 2021.

Despite her reports, hospital staff initially dismissed her claims, and evidence was later altered.

Bonilla was convicted and sentenced to 20 years, and the hospital settled a negligence lawsuit for $25 million.

HCA, the nation’s largest hospital chain, has faced criticism for prioritizing profits over patient safety.

  • Apytele@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    3·
    13 hours ago

    …I mean I don’t wanna be that guy but… yeah that’s HCA alright. Iirc a while back they acquired a hospital in North Carolina that subsequently unionized in record time in a part of the country that is NOT union friendly, at which point HCA suddenly pulled out and took their funding. Pretty sure it was a critical access hospital too (critical access means the only hospital for miles around, usually rural). HCA is basically synonymous with capitalism in Healthcare. Even personally they once tried to illegally charge me for emergency mental health services. I’d rather quit nursing entirely than ever work for them. They are sooooo sketchy.

    The details don’t match exactly but I’m thinking this is what I’m remembering.

    Oh and by the way, remember how capping travel nurse wages was a big thing around that time? So typically when nurses strike they give notice then the hospital has to fill those positions, usually with travel nurses from around the country, who they have to pay to travel, get travel accommodations, get local licenses and certifications, get new uniforms, the whole 9 yards. Then their wages are also high for going to all that trouble plus a cut for the travel agency that’s helping to arrange it all. So yes, the hospital is hiring scabs, but one of the things that made that work out alright in the end is that those scabs will bleed the hospital dry pretty quickly. “Capping travel nurse pay” is an anti-union / anti-strike dogwhistle (I think I’m using that term correctly here).