A New Hampshire nurse is suing the New Hampshire Hospital (NHH) and the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) after she was attacked by a patient in 2014. She claimed she had warned her employer about this particular patient and that her warnings were ignored.

Harriet Redmond started working as a nurse for NHH since 2011. She had warned her supervisor and then chief medical officer at the hospital, Dr. David G. Folks, that one of her patients was a danger to himself and others around him. She recommended he be transferred to the Secure Psychiatric Unit (SPU) at the state prison.

In May of 2014 Redmond was in his hospital room with two other members of the hospital staff. The patient violently punched her in the face, and according to witness statements the punch was so hard that Redmond’s head became misshapen. Redmond’s head hit the concrete wall behind her, and other staff members were allegedly concerned that she had been killed. Redmond was diagnosed with facial lacerations, a nose fracture, a right orbital fracture and a mild concussion. She is still receiving treatment for her injuries and is still in danger of losing her vision.

The patient was committed to the SPU after being found incompetent to stand trial.

According to the lawsuit, Dr. Folks told Redmond that the patient would not be moved until he had actually hurt somebody. The lawsuit also claims that the hospital did not have a policy in place concerning the movement of involuntarily admitted patients with mental illness from the hospital to the prison. The lawsuit alleges that the prison and the hospital had an unwritten “swap” policy where the hospital would have to take a patient from the SPU if they wanted to transfer another patient to the SPU.

The state argues that since Redmond is receiving workers’ comp benefits she is barred from bringing a personal suit against her employer and the defendants have filed a motion to dismiss the case. The case is pending.

NHH CEO Lori Shibinette is reviewing the department’s workplace incident policies and has opened a study to determine if attacks at state-run healthcare facilities are increasing, and if they are why they are increasing. There have been a number of workers’ compensation cases recently for employees who have been injured at the New Hampshire Hospital or the Sununu Youth Services Center.

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