A 34-year-old woman is facing a felony aggravated assault charge after police say she attacked two doctors inside the emergency room at Butler Memorial Hospital last month. Nicole Morin was taken into custody after Butler Township officers responded to the hospital just before 4 p.m. on August 22, following reports of a patient who refused to leave the ER.
According to ButlerRadio.com, Morin was restrained after attacking two doctors, per a nurse on scene, and now awaits a preliminary hearing. She was charged with felony aggravated assault, simple assault, harassment, disorderly conduct and criminal trespass, and was placed in Butler County Prison. The available material does not establish her residence or identify a specific injury.
Why the Charge Jumped to a Felony
The felony-level charge is one of several charges reported in the case. The available reports do not explain why the aggravated-assault charge was graded as a felony or connect it to the separate Carlisle and Roxbury case.
This is not the first violent incident reported at Butler Memorial Hospital this year. In March, a 36-year-old Butler man was arrested and charged with felony aggravated assault after allegedly grabbing a security guard and slamming his head into a wall three times at the hospital, as reported by ButlerRadio.
Staff Have Long Raised Alarms Over ER Safety
The latest arrest lands amid a longer pattern of safety concerns at the hospital. In March 2025, nurses represented by the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses & Allied Professionals picketed outside Butler Memorial Hospital to demand stronger workplace violence protections and additional security staffing, as reported by WPXI. During those demonstrations, union representatives noted that while the hospital's emergency room entrance had a metal detector, its other public entrances remained unguarded, according to CBS News Pittsburgh.
Prior to those 2025 demonstrations, an intensive care nurse at Butler Memorial sustained a concussion after being headbutted by a patient, while a nursing assistant had her teeth knocked out in a separate attack, per the same CBS News Pittsburgh report. The CBS News Pittsburgh report also described workplace violence involving healthcare workers.
The pattern is not unique to Butler, but the available materials do not provide the federal workplace-violence statistic or the Joint Commission accreditation details cited here.
Ownership Change Brings Promised ER Upgrades
The alleged assault also comes as Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday announced a settlement clearing West Virginia University Health System to acquire Independence Health System, the operator of Butler Memorial Hospital, according to TribLIVE. The deal includes an $800 million modernization commitment involving Independence hospitals, including Butler, though it remains unclear how quickly those upgrades might materialize or whether they would address the security gaps union representatives have flagged.
Morin's case is now headed toward a preliminary hearing. She awaits that hearing after being charged with felony aggravated assault, simple assault, harassment, disorderly conduct and criminal trespass.
