Woman Attacked While Visiting Mom In ER

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) -- An assault victim and her mother say hospital staff put them in danger when they left them alone with an unstable patient.

Morgan Watson and her mother Margaret McDaniel said a manager at Kaiser South Sacramento Medical Center tried to shift responsibility after Watson was suddenly assaulted by another patient in McDaniel's room.

McDaniel said she was sharing a room Wednesday morning with a woman who had been brought in as a "51-50," or an involuntary psychiatric hold, and was eventually left unprotected by security guards when her daughter was visiting her.

"All of a sudden the woman rips the curtain back and said, 'I heard you talking about me,'" McDaniel said. "She started hitting Morgan in the side of the head."

Watson said she was battered and bruised, suffering a cut cornea during the melee, before a half dozen nurses and security officers were able to pull the alleged attacker away.

"The security guard came and said, 'I am so sorry, I can't believe that happened, I had to do my paperwork,'" McDaniel said.

The mother and daughter said a hospital manager tried to explain that staff aren't responsible for incidents between patients.

"'You have to protect yourself' is basically what he told me," Watson said.

In a statement to CBS13, Kaiser Permanente officials said, "We sincerely regret that this unexpected incident occurred. Our security guards and nurses intervened immediately and we contacted the police. We are conducting our own thorough review of this case."

Watson and McDaniel said Kaiser has not contacted them about the incident since the Wednesday attack.