A female employee was attacked in Durham, N.C.-based Duke University Hospital early Sunday morning, but hospital staff say administrators didn't inform them of the assault until Monday, according to a WRAL.com report.
The attack occurred at approximately 6 a.m. Sunday in a visitor bathroom on the hospital's ninth floor. Witnesses said the female technician was allegedly followed into the bathroom after completing a procedure, where she was choked, shoved to the ground and sexually assaulted, according to the report.
The woman was bleeding and experienced difficulty walking. She was eventually carried on a stretcher to the emergency room for treatment.
Word traveled among staff to look out for a 5-foot-5 man with a dark complexion and dreadlocks dressed in red shorts and a white tank top, but workers criticized the hospital's administrators for not issuing an official alert or placing the hospital on lockdown. Hospital security and Durham police searched the building for the assailant, but as of 6:37 p.m. Sept. 21, he remains at large.
Hospital workers said security guards would answer questions only if they were asked directly and were told not to offer any additional information to staff or patients, according to the report.
A DukeHospital spokesman said an on-site administrator visited each unit Sunday morning and informed nursing leadership of the attack. However, hospital workers said they were never notified.
Hospital President Keven Sowers sent a four-sentence memo to hospital administrators 13 hours after the attack at 7 p.m. Sunday, describing the assault as an employee "being shoved to the ground" and not as sexual assault. Hospital workers said they did not receive a copy of the memo until Monday morning.
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