Pittsburgh Healthcare Worker Injury Lawyers
Providing help with workers’ compensation to those injured helping others
Doctors, nurses, laboratory technicians, emergency medical technicians, home health aides, physical therapists, and other healthcare providers often suffer injuries or illnesses while helping their patients. Healthcare workers may wrench their backs or pull a muscle while moving a patient. Many others work with toxic chemicals to ensure their premises are sanitary. Patients may assault the staff, causing serious injury. Whatever the reason for your injuries or illness, as long as your condition is work-related, you should have the right to seek workers’ compensation benefits.
At Carmody and Ging, Injury & Accident Lawyers, our Pittsburgh workers’ compensation lawyers are connected to the local community. Our attorneys both went to Duquesne Law School. We work with many different types of doctors and healthcare professionals throughout the Western Pennsylvania region. Our healthcare lawyers understand that accidents happen. Fortunately, there is no need to prove fault if you suffer a workplace accident or an occupational illness. If you were hurt on the job, talk to us about your right to medical benefits and disability benefits. We’re ready to help you today.
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What would you like to know?
- Who are our Pittsburgh healthcare workers?
- What are common healthcare industry accidents?
- Why do injuries happen to healthcare employees?
- What are common Pittsburgh healthcare worker injuries?
- What are the requirements for filing a workers’ compensation claim in Pittsburgh?
- What benefits am I entitled to for my Pittsburgh work injury?
- What if my employer contests my Pittsburgh work injury claim?
- Do you have a healthcare workers’ compensation lawyer near me?
Who are our Pittsburgh healthcare workers?
Quality healthcare is what sustains us. Whenever we have an injury or an illness, we hope that the doctors we see can make a diagnosis and find treatments or cures that will save our lives and allow us to live without pain again. Doctors, nurses, therapists, and other healthcare workers by definition work with people who are ill. When a physician or any other healthcare professional is suffering, everyone should want that worker to have the best quality care so they can return to work again.
Healthcare workers include:
- Doctors – family doctors, surgeons, and specialists
- Nurses – nurse practitioners, registered nurses, and many other types of nurses
- Emergency medical technicians
- Ambulance drivers
- Pharmacists
- Lab technicians
- Emergency care doctors
- Home health aides
- Paramedics
Healthcare workers who suffer an injury (either due to an accident or wear and tear over time) or an occupational illness have the right to file a Pittsburgh workers’ compensation claim.
What are common healthcare industry accidents?
Healthcare workers are focused on helping their patients. That means they don’t always take precautions to protect themselves first. There is no need to show the hospital, medical practice, or other healthcare employer was negligent.
Common types of healthcare accidents or events that cause harm include:
- Slip and fall accidents. It’s easy for a care provider to slip and fall over spills, debris, and anything that might make a floor slippery or unsafe.
- Exposures. Healthcare workers can become ill if they are exposed to a contagious disease, hazardous waste, dangerous drugs, radioactive materials (often used with diagnostic tests), or if they are stuck by a needle.
- Injuries caused by handling a patient. Many nurses, for example, injure their back by moving or lifting a patient into or out of their bed.
- Repetitive task injuries. Healthcare workers in Pittsburgh may suffer carpal tunnel syndrome, tendonitis, or bursitis due to computer work or due helping patients with physical therapy exercises.
- Vehicle accidents. Ambulance and EMT drivers often speed to get the patient to the hospital or a burn center as quickly as possible.
- Injuries due to fatigue. Many healthcare workers work long shifts without rest breaks or even without sleep.
- Workplace violence. Some patients or trespassers may engage in violence due to mental health problems, drug disorders, alcoholism, or other reasons.
At Carmody and Ging, our Pittsburgh healthcare lawyers also file workers’ compensation claims for providers who suffer from stress, anxiety, or depression due to the emotional difficulties of their work.
What are common Pittsburgh healthcare worker injuries?
Whether you work in a big hospital like the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, Mercy Hospital, a medical practice, a diagnostic lab, or any other healthcare entity – if you’re injured while doing your job, you should file a Pittsburgh workers’ compensation claim.
Common healthcare injuries include:
- Diseases. Doctors, nurses, and other medical workers need to know what diseases patients have so they can exercise the best safety measures to try to avoid contracting the disease. Many diseases are contagious through air, blood, or touch.
- Muscle, nerve, ligament, and tissue damage. Constant work with patients and equipment is likely to cause chronic or acute neck, back, shoulder, and other types of pain.
- Fractured/broken bones. An ambulance accident, a slip and fall, or being pinned by a piece of machinery can cause compound, simple, multiple, and other types of broken bones. Some fractures heal with care and time. Some fractures cause chronic pain.
- Traumatic brain injuries. Any accident, such as a slip and fall that involves excessive force on the head, can cause a life-changing TBI.
- Spinal cord damage. Like other healthcare injuries, this injury is usually due to a fall, a vehicle accident, or some type of excessive force. Spinal cord damage can also be due to stress over time.
Other common healthcare injuries include sprains, strains, lacerations, and other injuries that often heal with treatment but could become chronic. Healthcare workers may also suffer damage to their vision and hearing.
At Carmody and Ging, we work with your doctors to verify your diagnosis, understand the care you need, review the cost of the care, and discuss the scope and severity of your injuries.
What are the requirements for filing a workers’ compensation claim in Pittsburgh?
There are two basic ways to file a Pittsburgh healthcare workers’ compensation claim:
- Show that you suffered a workplace accident during the scope of your employment
- Show that you suffered an occupational illness (as opposed to any illness anyone in the community might suffer) due to your type of healthcare work.
There is no requirement to show your employer was negligent or failed to follow any standard safety procedures. You must, however, show that you are an employee. Don’t assume you’re not an employee just because of your title. Many contractors may be eligible for workers’ compensation benefits due to the nature of their job duties.
What benefits am I entitled to for my Pittsburgh work injury?
At Carmody and Ging, we demand compensation for your:
- Medical expenses. These bills include the care you need to stabilize your health and the care you need to protect your condition from worsening. For example, if you have back pain, you may need surgeries or injections to repair your injuries. You may also need physical therapy for the rest of your life once the initial treatments are complete.
- Wage loss benefits. In Pennsylvania, you generally receive 2/3 of their average weekly wages for as long as you are seeking medical care to improve your health. Once your condition stabilizes, you are evaluated to determine if you have a permanent injury and how severe your injury is, which may entitle to you to additional pay for many weeks, months, and years. If you can work with restrictions while you’re seeking care or you can work with your disability, then adjustments are made based on your prior income and your current income.
- Vocational rehabilitation benefits. Some workers who cannot return to their prior duties may be eligible to be trained or educated for a different type of job.
What if my employer contests my Pittsburgh work injury claim?
Our Pittsburgh healthcare injury and illness lawyers anticipate the arguments insurance companies make to try to deny or reduce your claim. These arguments may include asserting that:
- Your injury or illness isn’t job-related
- You had a pre-existing health condition
- You can work with restrictions
- You can work without restrictions
- You failed to work with a nurse case manager if one was assigned to your case
Rest assured, we’ve seen the tricks that insurance lawyers are likely to try, and we work quickly to counter those arguments.
Do you have a healthcare workers’ compensation lawyer near me?
Carmody and Ging is located at 801 Vinial Street in Pittsburgh, on the 3rd floor of the Deutschtown Center building. We’re on the North Shore, right across the street from Penn Brewery. There should be parking onsite. If you can’t travel by car, you can take the bus. Just get off at the Troy Hill Road bus stop; we’re around the corner. We do conduct video conferences if that works for you. We also meet you away from the office if you’re not mobile.
Our healthcare lawyers appreciate the work you do for the community. We’ll guide you through each phase of the workers’ compensation process and fight to obtain all the work injury benefits you deserve.
Contact our Pittsburgh healthcare injury lawyers today
Helping others is hard work – physically, mentally, and emotionally. Dedicated healthcare workers place their patient’s health first, often ahead of their own. When a nurse, therapist, or any healthcare worker is involved in an accident at a hospital, doctor’s office, rehab center, or elsewhere; they have the right to seek workers’ compensation benefits for their own healthcare needs and compensation for temporary and permanent disabilities.
At Carmody and Ging, we have the experience and advocacy skills to help you obtain full workers’ compensation benefits. To schedule a free consultation with an experienced Pittsburgh healthcare lawyer, please call 412.281.2929 or fill out our contact form. We fight for healthcare workers across Allegheny County.
