Family injured in St. David's ER crash files lawsuit against Austin hospital

An Austin family filed a lawsuit against a North Austin hospital, claiming both parents and their young children suffered "serious, life changing damages" when a woman drove into the emergency room lobby in February.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday morning against St. David's HealthCare Partnership, doing business as St. David's North Austin Medical Center, says the hospital "failed to have safety bollards installed to prevent vehicle intrusion when it clearly could and should have."

Prior to the crash on Feb. 13, St. David’s had installed bollards on several but not all its properties, including in front of other emergency room entrances, the complaint says. It cites bollards as the defining factor that could have kept Levi and Nadia Bernard and their two children — aged 1 and 3 — safe. The crash killed the driver, 57-year-old Michelle Holloway, and injured five people.

The lawsuit requests more than $1 million in damages and the widespread installation of safety bollards outside hospital entrances.

"If these hospitals will not do it voluntarily then there should be legislation requiring the installation of security barriers in public spaces, especially hospitals," Sean Breen, an attorney for Nadia and Levi Bernard said in a statement to the American-Statesman. "What happened to the Bernards could have easily been prevented and will happen again without action."

St. David's HealthCare declined to comment on the lawsuit, citing its policy related to pending claims and litigation. The hospital system said in a statement that the safety of patients, their families, employees and visitors “is always our top priority.”

On the evening of Feb. 13, shortly before 5:40 p.m., Holloway's car entered the emergency room waiting room at St. David's North, police said at a news conference after the incident.

The lawsuit says Holloway was visiting a sick family member at the hospital and was a passenger in her niece's car, who had parked the vehicle in the driveway of the emergency room and exited the car. A person asked Holloway to move the car, which she was not used to driving, and she lost control of the vehicle as it approached the emergency room entrance, the petition said. When the car crashed into the lobby, it ran over the Bernards, who had gathered in front of an aquarium while waiting for Nadia Bernard's test results.

In a news conference one day after the crash, Dr. Peter DeYoung, the chief medical officer for the facility, said hospital employees "did their best" to try to save Holloway's life, but CPR was not successful, and she was declared dead at the scene.

Levi Bernard said that, after he regained consciousness, he searched for his 1-year-old son. As he went to turn off Holloway's car, he spotted the boy on its passenger floor. He believes that his son entered through the windshield. The child was covered in blood and lying in debris, including shards of aquarium glass, the complaint says.

The severity of his wounds required hundreds of stitches and numerous surgeries to clear them of aquarium sand and remove multiple infections, the complaint says. He is currently being monitored for a brain injury.

Nadia Bernard and the couple's 3-year-old son were dragged to safety by staff and patients, the petition says. She suffered extensive injuries that required multiple surgeries and have left her using a wheelchair.

"It was a parent’s worst nightmare," Levi Bernard said in the complaint. "Being there and watching your whole family get taken out by a vehicle and there’s literally nothing you can do to stop it."

DeYoung said at the news conference that Holloway's vehicle hit an aquarium inside the waiting room, and it helped reduce the crash impact because it filled her vehicle with water. However, the lawsuit calls DeYoung's statement into question and points out that no evidence has been provided showing the aquarium saved lives or stopped the vehicle. The lawsuit calls the aquarium an "improvised explosive device when struck by a car."

"The irony of St. David’s taking credit for the aquarium acting as a bollard is both cruel and damning," the complaint says.

Law enforcement investigation

Police initially said the crash did not appear to be intentional nor was it the result of a "medical act."

According to Steve Hughes, a bystander, the car made it at least 10 feet into the lobby and was pinned in a hallway between the information and admitting desks.

A heavily redacted report from the Austin Police Department offered little information about the crash, beyond identifying the offense as aggravated assault with a motor vehicle and labeling it a "mass casualty event."

The police investigation into the crash is ongoing and is contingent on Holloway's pending autopsy and toxicology results, according to Detective Robert Foster, a vehicular homicide investigator leading the case. A public information request filed for Holloway's final autopsy and toxicology report was still pending as of Thursday.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Family injured in St. David's ER crash sues Austin hospital