A tense confrontation inside Primary Children’s Hospital in Lehi, Utah, is raising questions about how police interact with medical staff after two officers were accused of entering a locked hospital unit, pressuring employees to cooperate and repeatedly suggesting that refusal could amount to obstruction.
KUTV 2News chief investigative reporter Wendy Halloran obtained leaked video from the Aug. 7 encounter, which began after Lehi police were called to investigate a possible assault involving a young patient and a hospital employee.
Staff members involved in the incident declined on-camera interviews because they feared retaliation or problems at work, Halloran reported, but told her they believed officers intimidated and threatened them while they were trying to protect patients and follow hospital procedures.
Police Entered A Locked Unit
According to Halloran, Lehi Police Officer Josh Holt and Corporal Brandon Farnsworth arrived at Primary Children’s Hospital after the father of a patient called police and reported that his son had possibly been assaulted by a male nurse.
The father was not at the hospital when the alleged incident occurred.
Hospital staff initially asked the officers to remain in a waiting room while employees checked with management and worked through the hospital’s policies, but about 15 minutes later, the officers entered a locked unit and began questioning staff.
In the leaked video, Holt can be heard saying, “That is clear obstruction.”
A registered nurse and a hospital security supervisor attempted to explain that the goal was not to prevent police from investigating but to keep officers away from other patients and families while the situation was sorted out.
“We’re just trying to keep you away from all the patients and all the other families that are on the unit and let you do your job,” the nurse said.
That distinction is important because hospitals are not ordinary public spaces. Staff have legal and professional duties involving patient privacy, safety and access, so what may look like hesitation to an officer can also be an employee trying to follow rules that exist for a reason.
Staff Say Officers Suggested Silence Could Be Obstruction
The conflict grew as officers continued pressing staff for information.
Holt told employees it appeared they were “trying to hide something,” while the security supervisor pushed back and said hospital workers were not required to speak if they did not want to.
“Nobody has to talk to you if they don’t want to,” the supervisor said while explaining Intermountain Health’s position.
Halloran reported that the security supervisor also explained what had led to the police call.
According to that account, the patient had been biting and spitting at staff, and a male nurse reached up to stop him. The boy later called his mother from the hospital room, and she claimed the nurse had struck him before contacting the child’s father, who then called police.
At one point, Holt told staff that if the nurse would not provide his name, officers could pursue an obstruction charge and obtain a warrant.
The security supervisor replied that staff had to follow Intermountain’s internal process and argued that doing so did not amount to obstruction.
The repeated use of that word is one of the most concerning parts of the footage, because it can create enormous pressure on hospital workers who are trying to determine what they are legally allowed to disclose.
Corporal Questioned Hospital’s Motives
Halloran also highlighted comments from Farnsworth, who suggested that Intermountain Health might not have the employee’s interests at heart.
“Intermountain is protecting Intermountain,” Farnsworth said in the video. “To me, they don’t necessarily have his best interests at heart. They have their own best interests at heart.”
Police operations expert Chris Bertram reviewed the video for KUTV and criticized that remark, saying he did not consider it professional.
Bertram was more broadly troubled by the tone of the encounter and the possibility that staff members were being made to believe they could be arrested simply for following hospital rules and legal advice.
“The security person knows what’s going on, knows the practice, the policy and where the police are, and they’re coercing him into believing that if he doesn’t follow their rules, he’s getting arrested,” Bertram told Halloran.
He described the hospital environment itself as especially sensitive.
“What concerns me is we’re in the inner workings of a hospital, where families, where children, where staff are — it’s sacred,” he said.
Police Department Says Officers Followed Policy
Halloran repeatedly asked Lehi Police Chief Darren Paul for an on-camera interview, but the department declined.
Instead, a city spokesperson provided a written statement saying police ultimately determined that no assault had occurred.
The department also acknowledged there had been miscommunication during the encounter, including communication difficulties related to a language barrier involving a family member.
After reviewing digital footage, however, Lehi police said the officers had acted in accordance with department policy and protocol.
The statement added that police and Primary Children’s Hospital had since met to address the incident and would take part in additional training aimed at improving how similar situations are handled in the future.
That response appears to split the difference: the department is standing behind the officers while also acknowledging that the interaction did not go smoothly enough to simply move on without changes.
Expert Compares It To Previous Utah Hospital Case
Bertram told Halloran the situation was especially troubling because Utah had already seen a high-profile dispute involving police and hospital staff.
In 2017, University of Utah Hospital nurse Alex Wubbels was arrested after refusing to allow police to draw blood from an unconscious patient without proper legal authorization.
That incident led to major criticism, policy changes and a $500,000 settlement for Wubbels.
Bertram said the lessons from that case make the Lehi footage harder to dismiss.
“We saw coercion, we saw threats, we saw the possibility that hospital staff were going to get arrested for following their policies and practices and their legal advice,” he said. “And to me, that’s a failure.”
The comparison does not mean the two cases are identical, but it does underline why police interactions with hospital staff require extra care. Both sides may be trying to do their jobs, yet hospitals operate under rules that can limit what employees are able to say or do immediately.
Hospital Says Patient And Staff Safety Come First
Primary Children’s Hospital also declined Halloran’s request for an on-camera interview.
Intermountain Health spokesman Jess Gomez said federal HIPAA privacy laws prevented the hospital from discussing the specifics of the patient’s case.
He said the organization’s priority is maintaining an environment where patients are respected, caregivers feel safe and law enforcement partnerships remain collaborative and cordial.
That statement stops short of publicly accusing the officers of wrongdoing, but it also reflects the difficult position hospital staff can find themselves in when police want immediate answers about an incident involving a patient.
Halloran’s report ultimately raises a broader issue that goes beyond this one encounter: how far police can push medical workers for information when those workers are simultaneously responsible for patient privacy, hospital policy and safety inside a secure treatment area.
The investigation found no assault, according to Lehi police, but the leaked footage has left another question behind – whether the manner in which officers pursued that investigation placed unnecessary pressure on staff who were trying to follow the rules governing a children’s hospital.
Mark grew up in the heart of Texas, where tornadoes and extreme weather were a part of life. His early experiences sparked a fascination with emergency preparedness and homesteading. A father of three, Mark is dedicated to teaching families how to be self-sufficient, with a focus on food storage, DIY projects, and energy independence. His writing empowers everyday people to take small steps toward greater self-reliance without feeling overwhelmed.
