Mobile Councilman calls for full investigation into Altapointe's negligence allegations

Mobile, Ala. (WPMI) — A Mobile City Council member is asking the Altapointe Board to conduct a full investigation into alleged cases of negligence.

This comes after Scott Jones called for the removal of the Altapointe CEO two weeks ago during a council meeting.

That call to step down follows a jury decision to make Altapointe pay up $7-million dollars to a former Altapointe patient who was sexually assaulted by another patient in 2019.

This case has sparked a lot of concern from the community; the former patient's lawyers say he had a mental capacity of an 11-year-old when this incident happened, but at the time he was 19 years-old.

"Our client was there voluntarily, he admitted himself on November 18th of 2019. On the evening of November 21st, another patient went into his room and sexually assaulted him," said attorney Lacey Smith.

Smith, along with attorney Brian Comer, represented the former patient at Altapointe hospital.

His mother represented him in court.

After lawyers presented all the details, a jury reached a verdict...Altapointe has to pay up $7-million dollars.

"So what evidence is there to support the claim that your client was raped," asked NBC 15's Lisa Librenjak.

"For starters, the note that was entered by the nurse who walked in on the act, noted that the other patient was in our client's room on top of him, in his bed, neither of them were wearing pants," said Comer.

After the verdict was reached, we asked Altapointe for a statement.

The CEO said quote, "we sympathize with the patient and their family. This incident, as alleged, is not something any of us would allow to happen. As heartbreaking as these allegations are, we must also recognize that the challenges we face in mental health are vast and complicated. We respectfully disagree with the decision by the jury and will be appealing this verdict."

That response didn't sit well with Mobile's District 6 City Councilmember, Scott Jones who called for the removal of Altapointe's CEO.

"In this country the buck stops at the top. Leadership creates culture, leadership demands accountability, leadership does not run from hard facts," said Jones.

The latest person to share her concerns is Sherri Graham.

She spoke at this week's city council meeting, asking them to look into positive strategies to combat mental health in the community.

"Are you going to the be the leader who encourages investment of new mental health services in your community. All of us are here today are where we are because all streets lead to no competition, when there's no competition, business and nonprofits become complacent," said Graham.