DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A patient at a local psychiatric hospital for children claims an employee slammed her to the ground and broke her arm while under the facility's care.
According to an incident report, a 30-year-old man, identified only by the first name "Derrick," slammed the 16-year-old girl to the ground at the Laurel Heights Hospital in DeKalb County on Briarcliff Rd.
The hospital has been at the center of previous 11Alive investigations about serious injuries and even a death in their care.
That night ended at another hospital for the family, who walked police through this version of events.
At around 1:30 p.m. on Dec. 25, the girl called her mom twice saying, 'Mommy, mommy' and asking her to come pick her up. The phone hung up both times, according to the incident report.
The phone rang a third time. This time, it was a staff member saying her child was acting out and could not speak to her, the report states.
At around 3:30 p.m., a nurse named Latoya called the mom and told her that her daughter was taken to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta after complaining about her arm.
At around 6:30 p.m., the hospital told the mom that her daughter had a broken arm, her humerus. When she asked her daughter what happened, the girl told her mother that an employee at the facility slammed her on the floor, snapping her arm.
The doctors at Children's called the Department of Family and Children Services to report the incident. But, according to the family's report to police, the daughter had been injured at Laurel Heights Hospital six times before.
The dates range from May of this year to November, and include bruises on the child's neck and arm, an injury to the victim's ankle, physical altercations with staff that left the child with a split lip one time and a chunk of flesh missing from her thumb, and an altercation involving staff and another patient that resulted in her needing stitches on her face. Those instances were allegedly not reported to police, according to the police report.
All of this information is from the family's complaint to police. According to a statement from DeKalb County Police, they are aware of the assault and the case has been assigned to a detective. Officials said it is under investigation and there have been no arrests in this case.
Laurel Heights Hospital has been in the news before because of death and serious injuries. 11Alive's Chris Hopper has been investigating the facility and reported that a family is now suing them over the death of their son. Austin Skidmore died Nov. 20, 2016 during an incident with staff at the facility. Read more about his case, here.
In a detailed report 11Alive obtained from the Georgia Department of Community Health (DCH), Laurel Heights was not in compliance with state regulations in that case.
11Alive discovered through open records requests that, in 2014, the hospital was so far out of compliance it nearly lost its Medicare affiliation. In 2015, it was warned for improperly restraining patients.
Laurel Heights is a hospital paid to take care of children with severe psychiatric issues.
