Jackson General Hospital is located in Ripley.
RIPLEY - A Jackson County woman alleges she was injured not once, but twice while visiting the hospital last year.
Denward Gaye Walker filed suit against Jackson General Hospital on Sept. 25. In her complaint filed in Jackson Circuit Court, Walker, 72, a resident of Kenna, alleges she sustained injuries both times she attempted to leave JGH in July 2008.
According to court records, Walker was a visitor at JGH on July 11, 2008. The reason for her visit is not stated.
However, upon leaving through JGH's main entrance, Walker alleges she tripped on a rug that had been "improperly and negligently placed in that area." The fall resulted in an "injury to her left wrist and other parts of her body."
After her fall, she was treated by paramedics in the hospital foyer, and later transferred to the emergency room. After they found she sustained a fracture to her left wrist, Walker maintains, paramedics prepared to transfer her to Charleston Area Medical Center for further treatment.
In the process of going from the ER to the ambulance on a gurney, Walker says she was struck by the automatic doors which resulted in additional injuries to her left arm and shoulder. Both injuries, Walker alleges, resulted in her "incur[ing] divers and sundry expenses for doctors, medicines, medical care and attention."
Walker's husband, Elmer Lee, 72, is listed as a co-plaintiff in the suit, and makes a claim for loss of consortium.
The Walkers seek unspecified damages, court costs and interest. They are represented by Charleston attorneys Ted M. Kanner and Otis R. Mann Jr.
The case is assigned to Judge Thomas C. Evans III.
Jackson Circuit Court, case number 09-C-107