A man has been charged with flooding a hospital’s emergency rooms after attacking a nurse and stripping off his clothes at North Collier Hospital.
The 53-year-old became agitated while in a waiting room about10 a.m. Sunday, according to a Collier County Sheriff’s Office report. The report says he barged into the emergency room, pushed a patient and then pushed a nurse in the head.
After the hospital staff got him into a room in an effort to keep him from disturbing other patients, he took off his clothes and pulled a high-pressure water pipe from the wall. The hospital’s emergency rooms flooded, causing tens of thousands of dollars in damage.
The emergency room was closed for several hours after the incident.
Responding deputies subdued the man using a Taser after he threatened them, and he was taken into custody. He is facing a single charge of aggravated battery and four charges of criminal mischief.
The incident occurred as the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics released data that show American health care workers are far more likely to suffer nonfatal injuries by violence than workers in any other profession, including law enforcement.
The bureau said health care workers racked up 73% of all such injuries in 2018, the most recent year for which figures are available.
