Family of deceased health care worker Brittni Iverson demand answers

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – “We love you Brittni!”

That’s what the family, friends and coworkers of Brittni Iverson said when they released pink and white balloons into the air outside Iverson’s workplace Friday. The balloon launch happened outside the DePaul addiction services group home on Dewey Avenue. 

“We want DePaul to be forthcoming with all information as it relates to what took place here days ago that lead to Brittni no longer being with us,” New York State Assemblyman Demond Meeks said. Meeks is Iverson’s cousin.
 
In a statement Thursday, DePaul told us it’s cooperating with police.

Iverson’s step brother said Iverson became a mother figure to her siblings when their mother died recently. 

“I just want her to be laid to rest peacefully because she never did nothing to nobody,” Derwin King said. “She always gave.”

Tuesday afternoon, police were called to DePaul for some kind of fight. RPD say Iverson and the other person or people involved were gone by the time police arrived. Tuesday night, police were called to Strong Hospital because Iverson was at the hospitals and in critical condition and she died a few hours later.

Iverson was a junior social work student at SUNY Brockport.

“Brittni showed up for work, something happened and she never made it back home,” her uncle Damon Iverson said. “That’s what we know.”

The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics says there were more than 8,500 acts of violence against health care workers in 2020. The New York State Association of Nurses says violence has been going up for a decade.

Brean: “Why do you think this is happening?”

David Pratt, NYSNA Health and Safety: “One of the major reasons is the insufficient resources being provided. When the staffing goes down we have more delays, we have more difficulty providing fast effective care to patients and families and agitation can increase. All these pressures translate into very real injuries on the part of the workers on the front line.”

RPD says Iverson may have been assaulted at her work. They don’t know for sure. They are waiting on the official cause of death.