A Miami-Dade County resident has filed a lawsuit against a Palm Beach County hospital, alleging negligence that led to serious personal injuries. Ricky Neighbours lodged the complaint in the Circuit Court of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit in Palm Beach County, Florida, on June 19, 2024, naming Palm Beach Gardens Community Hospital, Inc., doing business as Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center, as the defendant.
According to the court documents, Neighbours claims that on April 16, 2021, he was navigating his knee scooter near the entrance of Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center when its wheel got caught in a knotted rubber mat. This incident caused him to fall and sustain severe injuries. The plaintiff's attorney asserts that this hazardous condition existed due to the hospital's negligence in maintaining its premises safely. An assistant risk management officer allegedly commented to their superior shortly after the incident, "You see I told you we should have gotten rid of this mat it’s dangerous," highlighting prior awareness of the potential danger.
Neighbours argues that Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center failed in its duty to maintain a safe environment and neglected to warn visitors about concealed perils like the knotted rubber mat. The lawsuit emphasizes that such conditions should have been known to the hospital staff and rectified promptly. "Defendant breached its duty owed to Plaintiff by negligently and carelessly maintaining its premises," states one part of the complaint.
The plaintiff seeks damages exceeding $50,000 for pain and suffering, disability, physical impairment, disfigurement, mental anguish, inconvenience, aggravation of a disease or physical defect, loss of capacity for enjoyment of life, medical expenses including hospitalization and nursing care costs, and lost earnings both past and future. These losses are described as permanent and continuing.
Representing Ricky Neighbours is Leonard M. Caracappa from Irwin Ast P.A., based in Miami. The case number is: 502024CA005694XXXAMB Div: AO.