JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — An Action News Investigation finds a lack of supervision by a local hospital may have led to the death of a young father.
Chris Pennington admits his son, Travis, was troubled leading up to the night he was admitted to the Flagler Hospital.
On June 23, the 31-year-old man was admitted to the ER for a drug overdose and cuts to his wrists and neck. Two days later, under a psychiatrist's orders, Travis Pennington was transferred to the hospital's Behavioral Health Unit, with routine suicide precautions, including 15-minute checks. Hours later, on the morning of June 26, the young father was found dead in his room, hanging from a bed sheet attached to the bathroom door.
Chris Pennington told Action News, "This is horrifying. This wasn’t supposed to happen."
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According to Flagler Hospital's internal review of the night Travis Pennington died, it details staff not following policy and keeping inaccurate records. Pennington was found just after 4 a.m. On page two of the report, Flagler's own risk manager found that "the patient had not been checked for an extended period of time and documentation listing the last check as 3:45 a.m. was inaccurate."
The report lists the apparent cause of the incident as “inadequate surveillance of patient.”
"Everybody that had anything to do with this incident needs to be held accountable," says Pennington's father.
Flagler Hospital would not go on camera with Action News, but did release this statement, “We take our responsibility to keep our patients safe, and to achieve the best possible outcome for every individual very seriously. In keeping with this, Flagler Hospital evaluates all of our policies, training programs, staffing and protocols on an ongoing basis to ensure we are maintaining the highest quality standards throughout all areas of our hospital, including our behavioral health unit.”
While no one will ever know what pushed Travis Pennington to take his own life, Chris Pennington believes hospital staff failed to help a young man who was clearly in emotional distress.
"They failed their job," he says. "They failed big time. They dropped the ball."
Action News has learned state and federal health agencies are investigating the events of June 26. We will bring their findings, when released.
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