CT State Hospital Errors Decline – But Sexual Assaults Jumped

On a scale of 1 to 10, I'm giving this news about Connecticut's hospital's a 1. Here's why.

When I first heard this news about hospitals in our state, I thought, hey, good for us. Then when I heard the rest of the statistics, I thought, oh hell no.

The Hartford Courant headline says it all. "Hospital Errors Decline 5 Percent, But Sexual Assaults More Than Double"

A new report indicates that the number of medical errors made by Connecticut hospitals dropped by five percent in 2016.

The Adverse Event report from the state Department of Public Health shows 431 medical errors last year, which is 25 fewer than 2015. Reality is that sadly errors occur, so in my mind, any decrease is a move in the right direction of more overall diligence in every aspect of a person's hospital visit.

Now for the totally unacceptable news. According to courant.com, the report also shows that the number of sexual assaults in Connecticut health care settings jumped by 140 percent last year. Fourteen of the 24 sexual assaults in medical settings happened in psychiatric wards.

Lisa Freeman, executive director of the nonprofit Connecticut Center for Patient Safety said that while victims are becoming more vocal about speaking out against sexual abuse, these assaults on patients are incredibly troubling. Freeman told courant.com 

Sexual assaults on patients are particularly troubling, because they are really vulnerable

There should be zero tolerance about abuse of any nature in our health care system. And as has become glaringly evident in our world over the past few months, sexual abuse and misconduct is an ugly reminder of how we treat each other. It needs to stop now.