Healthcare workers raise concerns about safety after shooting kills 2 nurses at Dallas hospital

DALLAS – Multiple healthcare workers have reached out to FOX 4 about safety concerns following the shooting that killed two nurses in the mother/baby unit at Methodist Dallas Medical Center on Saturday.

The healthcare workers all say the gunman is the person responsible for the shooting, but they wonder if something could have been done to stop it before it happened.

“That was supposed to be a happy unit. It’s a happy place. Labor and delivery, postpartum, those are happy places,” said a former Methodist Health System employee who talked to FOX 4. She did not want to show her face or reveal her identity to protect her current job.

At Methodist, she worked in the mother/baby unit. She knew one of the victims and knows many of the people there during the shooting.

“They’re devastated. They’re traumatized,” she said. “And when they woke up that morning and told their family bye they didn’t think that would happen.”

She says there have been security concerns at the hospital for years, including not enough restrictions, and not enough oversight.

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“Like, we’ve said this. We’ve said this is going to happen. We always said it was going to happen,” she said.

Many active Methodist healthcare workers have reached out to FOX 4 News with security concerns. The thing is, none will interview for fear of losing their jobs. 

Since the shooting, Methodist has not held a press conference or even answered FOX 4’s specific questions about security protocols, even though its own police force is leading the investigation.

“It feels very shady, it feels like there’s some sort of covering up of something that’s going on,” she said.

The Texas Nurses Association says mother/baby units are typically the safest areas at hospitals.

“There are a lot of details that are still unknown,” said Serena Bumpus, CEO of the Texas Nurse Association. “You have to be a patient or a family member of a patient to get in there. It is my understanding that this was a family member of a mother in the unit.”

A Methodist Health System police office shot the suspect, 30-year-old Nestor Hernandez. He was hospitalized after being shot, and is charged with capital murder.

Hernandez is on parole for an aggravated robbery he committed in 2015 and was wearing an active ankle monitor.

In a statement, Methodist says it is increasing police force staffing on campus, and it is planning additional meetings of its ongoing Safety and Security Committee, but again, it is not answering questions about what led to the shooting, security measures, or anything else.

“They need to wake up. They need to wake up because, you know, it could happen again.”

The names of the two victims have not been released.