11 July 2023
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — One of the patients allegedly raped at a Wichita hospital last month is suing Ascension Via Christi Hospitals Inc.
Hutton & Hutton Law Firm is representing the woman. The law firm says she is one of three patients sexually assaulted at Ascension Via Christi St. Francis Hospital on June 15. Police arrested 28-year-old Miguel Rodela, and he was charged on Jun 21.
The lawsuit claims the alleged suspect entered Ascension Via Christi St. Francis Hospital just after midnight by following an employee through an entrance.
The patient who is suing was on the eighth floor asleep. She said she woke to the man touching her. He claimed to be a nursing student and said a doctor would be arriving.
The lawsuit alleges that a nurse walked in during the man’s 20 minutes in the room, and the alleged attacker again claimed to be a nursing student. The lawsuit claims the man was wearing basketball shorts, a T-shirt, and no medical clothing, gloves or ID.
“The nurse then left Rodela alone again in the room with the patient, missing a clear opportunity to intervene,” according to Hutton & Hutton.
The patient grabbed the call light and hit the button to get the unknown man to quit touching her. The lawsuit says the man stopped and left the room. The nurse returned to the room, and the patient reported what had happened.
The lawsuit claims the alleged attacker then assaulted two more female patients, one on the seventh floor and one on the sixth floor.
Hutton & Hutton Law Firm says a hospital worker on the seventh floor saw the alleged suspect kneeling by the bed with his hands under the patient’s blankets near the thigh area. The worker asked if he was a family member, and he allegedly claimed to be a nurse tech. The alleged suspect left before the worker returned to the room.
The lawsuit says a certified nurse aide (CNA) entered the sixth-floor room and asked the alleged suspect if he was the patient’s family member, and he indicated that he was. The CNA allegedly asked the man to help adjust the patient’s position in bed, and he did. The CNA left the room.
According to the lawsuit, hospital security allegedly found the man on top of the third patient, lifting the patient’s clothing. That is when the alleged sexual assaults ended.
“No patient should ever have to face such a violation of their dignity and safety, let alone in a hospital setting,” Matt Dwyer, Hutton & Hutton attorney, said in a news release.
“Mr. Rodela is a threat to society and needs to be dealt with accordingly, but he never could have done this in a hospital with appropriate security,” Blake Shuart, Hutton & Hutton attorney, said. “It was this hospital that let him in the door and into the patient rooms. It was the hospital which then allowed him to stay in the room and continue assaulting a patient while wearing a t-shirt and basketball shorts because he claimed to be a nursing student.”
The lawsuit claims “medical negligence, ordinary negligence and premise liability” on the part of Ascension Via Christi. It also claims “loss of consortium” because of the impact on the woman and her husband.
The victim is seeking an amount “in excess” of $75,000.
KSN News has reached out to Ascension Via Christi for its response to the lawsuit. We have not heard back yet.
After the initial arrest and subsequent charges, a hospital spokesperson said that the hospital would not comment on what happened due to patient privacy laws and the criminal investigation.