CHARLESTON – The estate of a Putnam County woman blames Highland Hospital and staff members for negligent care, resulting in the woman’s suicide.
James Stephen King, administrator of the estate of Angela Leigh Cooper, filed his complaint in Kanawha Circuit Court against Summit BHC West Virginia LLC doing business as Highland Hospital and five John Doe defendants. Cooper was 52 years old at the time of her death.
According to the complaint, Cooper was released from St. Mary’s Medical Center in Huntington on June 22, 2021. She refused to leave the facility, attacked a security guard said she felt safer in jail rather than going home, admitted to voices telling her to kill herself and tried to jump out of her husband’s truck on the way home.
The next day, King says Cooper tried to kill herself by cutting her wrist. She was treated at Cabell Huntington Hospital and diagnosed as a high suicide risk and ordered for constant observation. She was troubled by the recent death of her 27-year-old son, multiple recent suicides, auditory and visual hallucinations. She was involuntarily committed to Highland Hospital on June 24, 2021.
“Cooper was placed in a room with a roommate, not evaluated by a doctor, never received a doctor’s order for appropriate suicide safety checks but instead was determined by nurse (Shelly) Atkins to be monitored every 15 minutes, according to the hospital’s general protocol for all patients,” the complaint states.
At 11:37 p.m. on June 24, 2021, charge nurse Laura Patrick reported Cooper awake. One minute later and at 11:51 p.m., behavioral health technician McKenzie Wolverton reported Cooper in her room sleeping.
At 12:06 a.m., Wolverton reported Cooper had messed her bed and was told to get clean linens, get Cooper out of bed and get her to shower. When Wolverton went back to assist Cooper, she could not wake her up and called for help.
Cooper had toilet paper in both nostrils and two socks in her throat. She had no pulse and was not breathing. CPR was started, and 911 was called. Fire and Rescue arrived, another nurse joined the code blue and Kanawha County Emergency Services took over performing CPR. Cooper was transported to Charleston Area Medical Center, but she was pronounced dead at 1:14 a.m. on June 25, 2021.
King says Highland and its employees were negligent in providing proper care to Cooper, breached their duties and deviated from the proper standard of care.
He seeks compensatory damages for Cooper’s pain and suffering and mental anguish before her death as well as for mental anguish, pain and suffering, loss of income and services suffered by the estate. He also seeks punitive damages, court costs, attorney fees, expenses, pre- and post-judgment interests and other relief.
In its answer, Highland Hospital denies the allegations and seeks to have the case dismissed.
King is being represented by Bert Ketchum and Larry A. Bailey of Greene Ketchum Bailey & Tweel in Huntington. Highland is being represented by J. Dustin Dillard of Flaherty Sensabaugh Bonasso in Charleston. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Tera Salango.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 22-C-847
