Hospital Employee Attacked in May Dies, as Attacks Against Health Care Workers Continue

Sumter, SC (WorkersCompensation.com) – Healthcare workers reported more assaults this week as the cause of death for a South Carolina hospital employee assaulted earlier this year is deemed homicide.  

Kevin Robinson, 40, was a mental health technician at Prisma Health Tuomey in Sumter, S.C. On May 27, he was kicked by a female patient who was fighting with security to avoid being restrained. Reports indicate 27-year-old Imani Cox was in the hospital for a court-ordered evaluation and was trying to leave against that order. An incident report said she made it to a nurse’s station when hospital security attempted to stop her.   

Robinson, and other staff helped to detain the woman. The woman eventually struck Robinson in the groin area. As a result, Robinson reported getting sick, and a short time later stopped breathing and had no pulse. Hospital staff performed CPR on him and admitted him to the hospital. Several days later, Robinson died.   

Originally, the patient was charged assault and second degree battery. However, after the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston completed the autopsy in June, the death was determined to be a homicide. The cause of death is now listed as physiological stress associated with physical alteration in the setting of cardiomegaly (enlarged heart) and obesity.   

Sumter County Police said the case is still under investigation.   

The incident is an example of the continued violence against health care workers. A recent survey by the nurse’s union, National Nurses United, found that nearly half of all registered nurses (48 percent) reported experiencing an increase in workplace violence. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, healthcare workers are nearly five times more likely to experience a workplace violence-related injury than workers overall.   

Just recently, more attacks on healthcare workers were reported.   

On July 29, a Duke Health nurse in Raleigh, N.C. was assaulted by a patient, officials said.   

According to Raleigh police, the patients, Stanley Louross Scarboro, 41, was being treated at Duke Raleigh Hospital when he punched a female nurse and knocked her unconscious. The nurse suffered a broken nose and a broken eye socket, police said. A hospital security worker was also injured in the attack, police said, sustaining a broken finger after trying to intervene.   

“An individual receiving care at Duke Raleigh Hospital was arrested for physically assaulting a member of our healthcare team,” Duke Health officials said. “The individual is in the custody of the Raleigh Police Department and faces criminal charges.”  

Scarboro was charged with two charges of assault on emergency personnel and one count of communicating threats.   

Dr. Craig Albanese, the executive vice president and COO of Duke University Health System said it wasn’t the first violent attack at one of the system’s hospitals.   

“This is unacceptable, and it is disturbing to us. To me. To the Healthcare community at Duke and the community at large,” he told CBS17. “I have a hard time disassociating it from what’s going on at large in our country. We hear about events in the airline industry, businesses, schools and restaurants,” he explained. “There’s not anything different or unique in hospitals. I think it’s linked to the growing incivility and aggressive behavior in our country.”  

In Springfield, Mo., officials with CoxHealth said in late July that they would not tolerate assaults on hospital employees and would implement new policies to prevent future attacks.   

Recently, the healthcare system posted signs stating violence would not be tolerated, and that violators would be prosecuted.   

“In several of our facilities, we have signs explaining that violence against staff will not be tolerated. While the vast majority of our patients and visitors are kind and considerate, we have, unfortunately, seen a higher number of incidents in which patients have been aggressive with our staff members,” the healthcare system said in a statement.   

At Mercy Hospital in Springfield, vice president of operations Kim Tilley said healthcare workers are trained to prevent an incident. However, she said, the hospital expects to set expectations to prevent attacks.    

“We have expectations for our patients as well,” said Tilley. “Dignity is core to what we do at Mercy. So we ask each and every patient and family member visitor that we encounter to have that same respect and dignity for our care team so that they can provide the care that patient needs.”