After a young girl died by suicide at its parking garage, hospital fires 15 nurses

Warning: The following article contains upsetting content. Reader discretion is advised. 

Fifteen nurses at a hospital in Spokane, Washington, were fired in the aftermath of the suicide of a 12-year-old girl in April, The Spokesman-Review reported Aug. 8.

According to administrators at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center & Children’s Hospital, the nurses “improperly accessed” the girl’s private medical records, and the nurses were fired for “patient privacy violations,” the hospital wrote in the statement provided by spokesperson Jen York, but the nurses — who have filed a grievance against the hospital via their union — say they’re facing retaliation for talking to the media after the girl’s death, the article reported.

The girl, Sarah Niyimbona, died April 13 when she jumped off the fourth floor of a parking garage after she left a monitored room at the hospital, where she had been receiving care since January for self-harm, The Spokesman-Review reported in May. The child had ridden an elevator and crossed a skybridge to go to the site where she jumped, suffering terminal injuries, the outlet said.

“Providence takes violations of our code of conduct and federal privacy laws that govern private health information very seriously,” Providence said in a statement. “We review employee conduct and take appropriate action, including termination of employment, where warranted.”

The statement said that patient privacy is one of the hospital’s top priorities. 

“Providence will fully participate in the grievance process outlined in its Collective Bargaining Agreement with WSNA, which provides for a mechanism to resolve disputes about disciplinary decisions,” the statement said. “Providence regularly provides training to all its caregivers about its privacy policy and the importance of complying with state and federal privacy laws.”

The Washington Department of Health (DOH) and the hospital are investigating, The Spokesman-Review reported in the May article. The DOH issued the hospital an immediate jeopardy notice, notifying it that if the hospital didn’t fix relevant conditions within 23 days, it risked losing its participation in Medicaid and Medicare, which would wipe out a little more than three-fourths of the hospital’s revenue, according to the news outlet.

Frank Ameduri, a spokesman for the Washington State Department of Health, told CatholicVote Aug. 13 that the investigation of the hospital was closed, the notice of immediate jeopardy has been lifted, and the hospital is in compliance.

“Investigations are primarily complaint driven, so of course, if another complaint came in it would be handled with the normal process,” he wrote.

Niyimbona died within a year of the closure of the hospital’s psychiatric center for youths. The hospital had decided to close the center because of its budget challenges and a national  shortage of inpatient psychiatrists, it said in a statement, according to KXLY.

The week before Niyimbona died, the hospital’s practice of always having someone in her hospital room or “just outside” was changed to 15-minute check-ins, according to her mother, Nasra Gertrude, The Spokesman-Review reported.

“This tragic suicide, less than eight months after closing the Providence Sacred Heart Psychiatric Unit for Children and Adolescents, raises major questions about access to the specialized care and treatment that adolescents with mental health issues need and deserve,” David Keepnews, the executive director of the Washington State Nurses Association, said in the article. “That unit provided much-needed services to Eastern Washington communities. Serious concerns about closing the unit were voiced by nurses and healthcare workers, community members and, notably, by former patients and their families.”

Keepnews said in a statement in the Aug. 8 article that the hospital fired the nurses and disciplined another, and the nurses contacted the union. He added that the union is arguing that the nurses were accessing the information in their efforts to save her life.

Gertrude sued the hospital and “John/Jane Does 1-99” on May 9, seeking compensation for economic and non-economic injuries and losses, including the expenses of the funeral and burial, according to the complaint.

The case (number 25-2-02308-32) is currently in the Superior Court of Washington for Spokane County.

The association and the hospital did not respond to CatholicVote’s request for clarification regarding when the nurses were fired.

If you or someone you know is experiencing a crisis or suicidal thoughts, call or text 988, the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in the US.

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