‘Ottawa’ Stabbing Victim Continues Testimony at Brockville Hospital Trial
BROCKVILLE A few hours before she was stabbed in the neck by a federal inmate being treated at the Brockville Mental Health Hospital, a nurse had warned the hospital it needed to do more to protect its staff from the violent and aggressive woman.
Nurse Debbie Vallentgoed testified Wednesday at the hospital’s trial on workplace safety violations that she urged Dr. A. G Ahmed, who overseas the hospital’s forensic unit, to end the round-the-clock, one-on-one surveillance of the woman, Marlene Carter, because it left nurses too vulnerable to attack, especially during the night shift.
“I went to his office and asked for a doctor’s order to end close observation on her,” she testified. “I didn’t want nurses sitting in a darkened hallway. … Basically, we had to find a way to keep her from assaulting nurses, even if it meant offering her more freedom.”