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Hospital, staff accused of improper treatment
By Tillie FongDenver Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer
The family of Carla Hochhalter, who committed suicide last October, has sued Porter Adventist Hospital and three staff members for negligence. Hochhalter was the mother of Anne Marie Hochhalter, a student injured in the Columbine High School tragedy on April 20, 1999. The complaint, which includes Anne Marie Hochhalter and her father and brother as plaintiffs, was filed Friday in Denver District Court. It asks for compensatory damages. The defendants named in the case are John Batiuchok, Lynne Harkrader, Gregory Wilets, Porter Adventist Hospital, Centura Health Corporation, Pacificare of Colorado Inc., and Pacificare Health Systems Inc. "As a direct and proximate result of Defendants Bastiuchok's, Harkrader's and Wilet's failure to properly diagnose and treat Carla Hochhalter's continuing suicidal depression, Carla Hochhalter died by committing suicide," the lawsuit reads. Friday, the Risk Management Team of Centura/Porter Adventist Hospital released a statement: "We've not had the opportunity to review this issue, therefore, it would be premature for us to comment at this time." On Oct. 22, 1999, Carla Hochhalter, 48, of Littleton killed herself in an Englewood pawnshop with a .38 caliber gun she was attempting to buy. The clerk had turned away to do the required background check when Hochhalter loaded the gun with her own bullets, fired one bullet into a wall, then turned the gun on herself. Her family later revealed that Carla Hochhalter had been struggling for three years with acute depression, which worsened after daughter Anne Marie was paralyzed in the Columbine mayhem. The lawsuit states that on Sept. 16, 1999, Carla Hochhalter had gone to the emergency room of Porter Adventist Hospital to seek treatment for depression. She remained hospitalized until Oct. 14, 1999, when she was transferred to a partial treatment program at Porter. The complaint states that during the time Carla Hochhalter was hospitalized and then transferred to the treatment program, she was being treated by Batiuchok, who was her attending psychiatrist, Harkrader, her social worker, and Wilets, her outpatient psychiatrist. The lawsuit also claims that Batiuchok and Harkrader had failed to properly assess the risk of suicide and to make appropriate discharge plans for her. Wilets was also accused of failing to hospitalize Carla Hochhalter. September 9, 2000
The family of Carla Hochhalter, who committed suicide last October, has sued Porter Adventist Hospital and three staff members for negligence.
Hochhalter was the mother of Anne Marie Hochhalter, a student injured in the Columbine High School tragedy on April 20, 1999.
The complaint, which includes Anne Marie Hochhalter and her father and brother as plaintiffs, was filed Friday in Denver District Court. It asks for compensatory damages.
The defendants named in the case are John Batiuchok, Lynne Harkrader, Gregory Wilets, Porter Adventist Hospital, Centura Health Corporation, Pacificare of Colorado Inc., and Pacificare Health Systems Inc.
"As a direct and proximate result of Defendants Bastiuchok's, Harkrader's and Wilet's failure to properly diagnose and treat Carla Hochhalter's continuing suicidal depression, Carla Hochhalter died by committing suicide," the lawsuit reads.
Friday, the Risk Management Team of Centura/Porter Adventist Hospital released a statement:
"We've not had the opportunity to review this issue, therefore, it would be premature for us to comment at this time."
On Oct. 22, 1999, Carla Hochhalter, 48, of Littleton killed herself in an Englewood pawnshop with a .38 caliber gun she was attempting to buy.
The clerk had turned away to do the required background check when Hochhalter loaded the gun with her own bullets, fired one bullet into a wall, then turned the gun on herself.
Her family later revealed that Carla Hochhalter had been struggling for three years with acute depression, which worsened after daughter Anne Marie was paralyzed in the Columbine mayhem.
The lawsuit states that on Sept. 16, 1999, Carla Hochhalter had gone to the emergency room of Porter Adventist Hospital to seek treatment for depression.
She remained hospitalized until Oct. 14, 1999, when she was transferred to a partial treatment program at Porter.
The complaint states that during the time Carla Hochhalter was hospitalized and then transferred to the treatment program, she was being treated by Batiuchok, who was her attending psychiatrist, Harkrader, her social worker, and Wilets, her outpatient psychiatrist.
The lawsuit also claims that Batiuchok and Harkrader had failed to properly assess the risk of suicide and to make appropriate discharge plans for her.
Wilets was also accused of failing to hospitalize Carla Hochhalter.
September 9, 2000
