Alleged victims file suit against St. Mary’s Hospital
Two people alleged to have been sexually assaulted while unconscious by a nurse at St. Mary’s Hospital while receiving treatment have filed a lawsuit against the hospital and its parent organizations.
Christopher Lambros, 61, was arrested Oct. 25 on suspicion of sexual assault while employed as a nurse at St. Mary’s Hospital. Four total victims had been identified as of the most recent hearings in the case. He is being held at the Mesa County Jail on a $1 million cash bond, charged with three counts of sexual assault on a helpless victim. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Jan. 13.
St. Mary’s is fully cooperating with the criminal investigation, according to a statement.
St Mary’s, SCL Health and Intermountain Healthcare are all listed in the suit, which was filed in the 21st Judicial District Court Tuesday.
The suit is being filed on behalf of two alleged victims of Lambros, as well as hundreds to thousands of alleged unknown victims, according to the complaint.
“Defendants St. Mary’s, SCL Health, and Intermountain knew or should have known that, during the Relevant Time Period, Lambros drugged, sexually touched, sexually penetrated, and/or took lewd photos and/or videos for sexual gratification of thousands, of non-consenting patients at St. Mary’s Hospital,” the complaint states.
Both victims who brought the suit said they felt “betrayed” by the whole situation.
“I trusted them to take care of me, and they didn’t,” one of the victims, identified as M.C., said.
LAMBROS STARTED WORK IN 2012
The complaint alleges Lambros, who became a nurse and started working for St. Mary’s in 2012, used his access to patients and medications to put patients into a deeper state of consciousness than they needed to be in, then sexually assault them.
“What this former nurse is accused of is reprehensible and goes against everything we believe and value at St. Mary’s Medical Center. Patients put their trust in us and should feel safe in our care. We are working closely with law enforcement to protect our patients from those who intend to cause harm. We are doing everything possible to ensure our patients continue to feel safe and respected while receiving care at St. Mary’s Medical Center,” Bryan Johnson, President of St. Mary’s Medical Center, said in a statement.
The victims, however, said they are not happy with how St. Mary’s has handled the situation.
“We didn’t even get an apology,” J.V. said. According to the complaint, J.V is still being charged $905 per month to cover about $32,000 for her past care.
One victim was sexually assaulted by Lambros in June, 2022 while unconscious while receiving treatment at St. Mary’s, according to the complaint. The other was sexually assaulted in July, 2022, the complaint states.
During the latter incident, another hospital employee saw Lambros taking photos of himself with his head on the victim’s bare stomach, the complaint states.
“Thus far, the investigations have uncovered approximately four terabytes of data originating from Lambros’s devices (“the Lambros data”) related to his drugging, sexual touching, sexual penetration, and/or taking of lewd photos and/or videos for sexual gratification of patients at St. Mary’s Hospital,” the complaint states.
“Four terabytes of data amounts to approximately 700,000 cellphone photos or 65,000 hours of cellphone videos,” the complaint states. “The government agencies’ review of Lambros’s data is ongoing, but the findings reported to date reveal a startling scope of his sexual misconduct.”
In one video, Lambros tells the camera, “don’t ever get rid of these videos” and “you need to keep them forever … this is your Dexter collection,” according to the complaint. This is an apparent reference to the TV show “Dexter” and an indication Lambros kept a collection of photos/videos of his actions, according to the complaint.
Some of the photos and videos show Lambros with the two victims who brought the lawsuit. The complaint states it is believed Lambros did not film the majority of victims in this case.
“Significant data regarding acts of sexual misconduct demonstrate that perpetrators of these types of sexual crimes escalate their behavior often starting with peeping, then moving to touching, and eventually graduating to sexual assault as they are emboldened by not being caught,” the complaint states.
The complaint alleges St. Mary’s, SCL Health and Intermountain Healthcare knew or should have known about Lambros’s alleged actions.
“Lambros’s conduct likely left numerous patients with physical indications that they had been sexually touched and/or penetrated under his care, which was or should have been apparent to Defendants St. Mary’s, SCL Health, and Intermountain,” the complaint states. “Such indications included trauma to the breasts or genital areas of patients, including but not limited to bleeding, bruising, or redness, which was or should have been apparent to Defendants St. Mary’s, SCL Health, and Intermountain.”
The complaint alleges Lambros performed these actions in view of security cameras at St. Mary’s, and also the frequency of his alleged acts, based on the amount of data collected by law enforcement agencies, should have made them apparent to higher-ups.
In addition, according to the complaint, patients, including one who brought the suit, expressed concerns about Lambros to the hospital.
One victim, identified as J.V. awoke from unconsciousness with foggy memories of Lambros and told people he was a “bad man,” according to the complaint. She didn’t learn of his alleged actions until months later.
“The safety of our patients is our highest priority, and we take this matter very seriously. We have zero tolerance for anyone who engages in the abuse or mistreatment of our patients. Immediately following the reported concern, the hospital placed Chris Lambros on administrative leave, removedhis access to the hospital and patients, and reported the matter to local law enforcement. While the investigation is ongoing, at this time, the district attorney has charged the former nurse with abusing two patients,” the hospital said in a statement.
PREVENTABLE STEPS?
The complaint alleges St. Mary’s, SCL Health and Intermountain negligently failed to prevent Lambros’s behavior, did not promote standards and policies that could have prevented his behavior and failed to properly train and supervise employees in ways that could have prevented Lambros’s incidents.
“These failures allowed Lambros to drug and then assault patients and/or invade their privacy throughout the Relevant Time Period, without interruption by any other employee/agent of Defendants,” the complaint repeatedly states.
The suit is also asking for “class action” status because attorneys believe there are thousands of potential victims in this case, according to the complaint.
Both victims are asking others who may have been affected by Lambros’s actions to come forward.
“If there’s more of us out there, there’s more support right there,” M.C. said.
Attorney Laurie Jaeckel, part of a group from law firm Rathod | Mohamedbhai LLC representing the victims, said hospitals have a duty to notify people who could have been victims of crimes, and St. Mary’s needs to notify people who could have been victims of Lambros.
“The members of the Class are readily identifiable through the electronic health record system of St. Mary’s to determine the patients Lambros treated and/or had access to during his shifts,” the complaint states.
The complaint alleges Lambros performed these acts both before and after SCL Health’s merger with Intermountain Healthcare.
“Defendants, vicariously by and through Lambros, and its other employees, failed to exercise reasonable care and were negligent in providing medical care and treatment to Plaintiffs and the other Class Members,” the complaint states.
The suit alleges negligence, invasion of privacy, outrageous and extreme conduct and lack of informed consent on the part of the defendants.
“Defendants failed to notify or otherwise inform Plaintiffs and the Class Members that they would be drugged and then assaulted and/or have their privacy invaded while receiving medical care at St. Mary’s Hospital,” the complaint states. “No reasonable person would have consented to medical care at St. Mary’s Hospital if they received such information from Defendants.”
It continues, “As a direct and proximate result of Defendants’ acts described herein, Plaintiffs and other Class Members have suffered and will continue to suffer injuries, damages and losses including but not limited to medical costs and expenses, lost wages, loss of household services, and other economic losses and damages, as well as noneconomic losses and damages including but not limited to mental anguish, pain and suffering, inconvenience, impairment of the quality of life, and emotional stress.”
The complaint does not cite a specific number the plaintiffs are asking for, but does request a jury trial.
According to a statement, St. Mary’s and Grand Junction Police personnel are contacting victims directly, but former patients with concerns can call 970-298-2273.
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