Woman says man in scrubs assaulted mother at Henderson Hospital

Henderson police are investigating a report that a man in scrubs assaulted a woman visiting a patient at Henderson Hospital last weekend.

Yesenia Vasquez said her 70-year-old mother told her that a man in scrubs kissed her, then put his hand over her nose and mouth, suffocating her until she passed out. The mother was at the hospital on Saturday night visiting her husband, who has been a patient there since Oct. 31.

According to Vasquez, when her parents told a nurse what happened, the nurse said she’d call police. But when Vasquez arrived Sunday morning, she said, the nurse told her that her parents had asked not to get police involved.

Frustrated with the confusion, Vasquez said she called 911. Henderson police said that at about 12:30 p.m. on Sunday the department was dispatched to the hospital “in reference to an assault.”

“Officers met with an adult female who advised of an incident that had occurred sometime overnight while visiting a relative,” Henderson Police Department spokeswoman Katrina Rothmeyer said in a statement Monday. “We are unable to release anything additional at this time, as this is an open case.”

Vasquez claims that the hospital did not take action immediately and that she had to advocate for her mother, who was very shaken up. She said her mother is very old-fashioned, and the assault has had a lasting effect on her.

“My mother has never even kissed a man other than my father, and she didn’t even kiss him until their wedding,” Vasquez said. “I’ve never seen my mom shake so much as she has these past few days.”

A Henderson Hospital spokeswoman said in a statement Monday that the hospital immediately initiated an investigation and engaged local law enforcement when it heard of the allegation.

“Given very limited information provided, no witnesses to the event and no hospital employee on duty during the timeframe that met the description provided by the woman, we do not have anything definitive to report at this time,” said Gretchen Papez, a spokeswoman for Valley Health System, which includes Henderson Hospital.

“The Henderson Hospital staff takes very seriously any concerns raised and prides themselves on providing high quality care and a safe, comfortable environment to all patients and their families,” she said.

Contact Alexis Egeland at aegeland@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0335. Follow @alexis_egeland on Twitter. Review-Journal staff writers Mary Hynes and Glenn Puit contributed to this report.