SPOKANE, Wash – The family of a young girl who jumped to her death while under psychiatric care at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the hospital.
Nasra Gertrude’s lawsuit says her daughter Sarah Niyimbona died “needlessly” because the hospital and Sarah’s caregivers “failed to keep Sarah safe while under their custody and control.”
The lawsuit says Sarah’s mental health crisis begam in September 2024. The 12-year-old began experiencing “intermittent mental health crises related to depression, self-harm, suicide attempts, and suicidal ideation.”
In January, Sarah was admitted to Providence for treatment; she was under 24-hour supervision.
The lawsuit says “Providence’s 24-hour custody and supervision of Sarah included but was not limited to the use of a health care worker assigned to monitor Sarah in her room, the use of a video monitoring system, and the use of door alarms.”
The suit says that in the weeks before her death, Providence removed the video monitoring system and the health care worker assigned to watch over Sarah.
Nasra told 4 News Now, “So when I see her in the hospital [I thought] thank God she’s in a safe hands. I don’t have to worry about her attempting anything.”
On the evening of April 13, Sarah left her room, walked to the fourth floor of the parking structure and jumped.
She suffered catastrophic injuries, but initially survived. She died in the emergency department several hours later.
The lawsuit says Providence committed medical malpractice and corporate medical negligence.
The suit also says the unnamed health care workers “failed to exercise the care a reasonably careful person would exercise.”
Attorneys want Providence to be responsible for funeral costs, future lost income, pain and suffering and other damages.
The Washington Department of Health initially issued a notice of Immediate Jeopardy to Providence following the incident. That has since been lifted and DOH says Providence quickly implemented a safety plan that led to the concerns outlined in the notice.
Providence confirmed to 4 News Now, it notified the state of Sarah’s death and put the safety plan in place.
In a statement to 4 News Now, Providence said:
Following a tragic event at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in April, we immediately launched a formal internal review. As part of that review, we notified local health authorities, who conducted an investigation.
At this time, we cannot share specifics due to patient privacy laws other than to say we are working in close partnership with all relevant health authorities to address the situation.
4 News Now Focusing on Teens in Crisis
4 News Now has been working on a story for the last several weeks, including an interview with Sarah’s mom. We’re working with local mental health experts to provide team coverage all next week on 4 News Now.
Look for stories and resources on our newscasts.
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