USA TODAY International Edition
Hospital on nurse’s arrest: ‘This will not happen again’
Police banned from interacting with staff in patient areas
The Utah hospital dragged into the national spotlight after a Salt Lake City detective arrested a nurse for doing her job has apologized to the nurse and banned police officers from conversing with nurses in the hospital.
Gordon Crabtree, CEO of University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City, said hospital security should have intervened when burn unit nurse Alex Wubbels was arrested for refusing to allow a detective to take blood from a comatose patient.
“To our nurses and staff — this will not happen again,” Crabtree said at a news conference Monday. “Nurse Wubbels was placed in an unfair and unwarranted position (and) her actions were nothing less than exemplary.”
Crabtree said the hospital has changed its policies and now requires police officers to speak only to senior nurse supervisors. No contacts can be made in patient areas.
The incident took place July 26, but went viral last week after lawyers for Wubbels obtained and released the body camera video. The video shows Detective Jeff Payne asking, then insisting, that he be allowed to draw blood from a patient whose vehicle had been hit by another vehicle.
The video shows Wubbels calmly denying Payne’s request, saying hospital policy required a judge’s order or the patient’s consent unless the patient was under arrest. Payne walks toward Wubbels saying, “We’re done here. We’re done.”
Wubbels cries out as Payne shoves her out the door, saying “I’ve done nothing wrong! ... This is crazy!”
Wubbels was handcuffed and placed in a police car, but later was freed without charges. The mayor and city police chief apologized the day after the video was released. Payne and another officer on the scene were placed on paid leave.
Wubbels has expressed disappointment that hospital security officers on the scene did nothing to halt her arrest.
University of Utah Police Chief Dale Brophy said his officers wrongly believed Payne had implied consent when they allowed Wubbels to be arrested. He described Wubbels as a “rock star.”
“It was clear that the arrest was completely mishandled, was inappropriate and didn’t need to happen,” Brophy said. “She did everything possible to make that situation work and she wasn’t rewarded for it.”