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Tribune Editorial: Hospitals should do more to protect against sexual misconduct

Scott Sommerdorf | The Salt Lake Tribune A woman has brought suit against the hospital where emergency room nurse Adam Lim for an alleged sexual assault in 2015. Here, she poses for a portrait in her lawyer's office, Thursday, July 27, 2017.

There are few places as necessary, and as highly dreaded, as a hospital. The need for medical care is an admission of one’s own mortality; we are most vulnerable.

Which is why patients put so much trust and faith in medical professionals and hospital administrators. Patients trust doctors and nurses, who have been trained, to treat patients with competence, care and respect. And they trust administrators to enforce policies that keep costs down and protect patients.

So when a hospital fails to report a nurse accused multiple times of sexual assault, the public has reason to pause. And, unfortunately, patients of certain facilities across Salt Lake County have reason to pause.

Specifically, officials at St. Mark’s Hospital failed to report to state licensing authorities the dismissal of Adam Tae Kyun Lim after they received several reports from patients that he sexually assaulted them. Holladay Healthcare Center, a rehabilitation facility, had similarly failed to report Lim after it disciplined him for similar conduct.

One of Lim’s victims has settled with Intermountain Medical Center over similar claims. She is one of at least 12 patients to report assault at the hands of Lim, including at least four each at St. Mark’s and IMC.

Utah DOPL officials noted that they have no statutory authority to penalize businesses that do not report employees fired or disciplined for “unprofessional, unlawful, incompetent or negligent conduct,” or “acts of moral turpitude.” Because of the medical facilities’ failure to report Lim, DOPL did not suspend Lim’s license until 10 years after allegations against him first surfaced.

Lim denies the allegations and has pleaded not guilty to pending criminal charges.

Intermountain Healthcare was also in the news recently for paying a $1 million fine to settle allegations relating to a former North Ogden Clinic medical assistant who diverted approximately 58,000 pills, including 46,616 pills of Oxycodone, for personal use. It is the largest settlement of its type in Utah history. A statement by U.S. Attorney John Huber explained that Intermountain agreed to institute a “comprehensive corrective action plan.”

The idea that part of the opioid crisis in Utah was being fed by an employee in a community clinic devastates the trust and faith Utah puts in its medical professionals.

People are at their most vulnerable during hospital and clinic visits. Hospitals and medical facilities have an obligation to keep close watch that their internal systems are adequately protecting both patients and the community.