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Woman charged with attacking emergency room nurse, police say

LEOMINSTER, Mass. — A patient at the UMass Memorial in Leominster attacked one of their emergency room staff earlier this month, according to a hospital spokesperson.

According to the hospital, the incident happened on Jan. 7 inside the emergency department at the UMass Memoria HealthAlliance-Clinton Hospital when a patient allegedly attacked a member of the care team.

"Two of my coworkers, one a nurse and one a critical care tech, were assaulted in my emergency department," said Miko Nakagawa, a hospital nurse.

The hospital says other members inside the emergency room and campus security rushed to bring the situation under control. Three members of the care team were injured during the incident.

"There was minimal warning that the patient was going to be assaultive, but it resulted in serious injuries to one of my coworkers," said Nakagawa.

Leominster Police said they arrested and charged Leila Fabre, 25, on Jan. 10 on charges of assault and battery on a person over 60, citing Fabre punched the victim multiple times with her fist.

While HIIPA laws prohibit police and hospital staff to disclose why Fabre was at the hospital, they can confirm the staff member assaulted was a nurse.

Fabre was also charged with assault and battery on a health care provider for assaulting another shift nurse.

Nakagawa said this attack was brutal, but not unusual.

"Frequently we have assaults weekly in my emergency department and sometimes several times in a shift," Nakagawa said.

UMass Memorial issued a statement which says, in part:

"The safety and security of our care team is of paramount importance to UMass Memorial HealthAlliance-Clinton Hospital. As with the entire UMass Memorial Health Care system, we have measures in place that are continuously reviewed by our internal safety committee to mitigate potential incidents. This event, as with all events on our campuses, will be reviewed to see if there are additional measures that can be implemented to further protect and support our patients and caregivers."

According to a 2018 survey by the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA), the union that represents nurses and health professionals in state, sixty-nine percent of local nurses say they have been assaulted in some form by their patients in the past two years.

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