Pascagoula Healthcare Worker Injury Lawyer
Jackson County sits on the Gulf, and its hospitals, nursing homes, rehab centers, and home health agencies keep a large workforce on its feet for twelve-hour shifts. When a nurse tears a rotator cuff turning a patient, or a CNA herniates a disc during a lift, the claim runs through the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission, not a courtroom. Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC is a workers’ compensation law firm that represents injured workers across Jackson County, Pascagoula, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and a Pascagoula healthcare worker injury lawyer at the firm handles the claims that nurses, aides, technicians, and other clinical staff bring after getting hurt on the job.
Healthcare injuries look different from the ones in a shipyard or a plant, and insurers treat them differently too. The harm often builds over months of lifting, bending, and repositioning, which gives a carrier room to say your back problem is “degenerative” or “just aging.” Needlestick exposures, patient assaults, and slips on freshly mopped floors happen in a single moment but get second-guessed afterward. Knowing how those arguments are built is a large part of winning against them.
How Healthcare Workers Get Hurt and Why Claims Get Pushed Back
The most common serious injuries in patient care are musculoskeletal. Moving a patient who cannot bear weight, catching someone who is falling, or pulling a bed through a doorway loads the lower back, neck, and shoulders in ways that can cause lumbar and cervical disc herniations or torn rotator cuffs. Insurers frequently respond by pointing to age-related changes on an MRI. A pre-existing condition does not end a Mississippi claim. If the work caused, aggravated, or accelerated the problem, benefits are still owed, and the medical opinion connecting your job duties to your condition usually decides the outcome.
Another recurring problem is the employer who tells a nurse to “just finish your shift” and file paperwork later. Delay hurts you. Mississippi requires that the employer be told about the injury within 30 days, and a vague mention to a coworker in the hallway is a weak foundation if the carrier later disputes that notice was given. Written notice to a supervisor or the HR department, with the date and what happened, closes that door before the insurer can open it.
Why Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe for a Healthcare Worker Injury Claim
Most lawyers who take comp cases are personal injury lawyers who handle one when it happens to walk in. This firm was built the other way around. Our attorneys bring over 75 combined years of experience to claims that have been denied, delayed, or cut off, and the firm has recovered more than $100 million in settlements for clients. Consultations are free, the firm advances the costs of the case, and there is no fee unless benefits or a settlement are recovered. Phones are answered 24 hours a day, and Spanish-speaking workers can work with the team in their own language through the whole case.
Rob Lunsford, Founding Partner, has spent his entire legal career representing injured workers. Brad Baskin and Jennifer Priebe, both Partners, have been recognized by Best Lawyers, Super Lawyers, and The National Trial Lawyers, and the firm was ranked by Best Law Firms in 2026 for Workers’ Compensation Law, Claimants, in Jackson. Andrew Rueff has successfully tried dozens of jury and bench trials to verdict and routinely appears before the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission, and Keaton Belk and Erin Heimlicher round out the attorney team.
Several of the firm’s results involve the same kinds of injuries healthcare workers suffer. The firm secured $685,000 for a surgical tech with a lower back injury, a case that mirrors the lifting and positioning strain common in operating rooms and patient floors. It also obtained $600,000 for a construction worker with a complex back injury and $385,000 for a project manager with back injuries after being struck in his work vehicle. Clients who have reviewed the firm describe attorneys who listened, stayed in contact, and fought the insurance company at each step.
Common Healthcare Injuries and Claim Types We Handle
- Patient-Handling Back and Spine Injuries: Transfers, repositioning, and catching falling patients cause lumbar and cervical disc herniations among nurses, CNAs, and orderlies. Carriers lean on degenerative disc disease to deny these claims, so the medical causation opinion matters.
- Shoulder and Rotator Cuff Tears: Pulling and lifting overhead or at awkward angles produces rotator cuff and SLAP tears. Insurers often call them old sports injuries, which is why work history and imaging dates become key evidence.
- Knee and Meniscus Injuries: Twisting while holding a patient’s weight, or kneeling repeatedly during care, can tear the meniscus or ligaments. Surgery and extended time off are common.
- Slips, Trips, and Falls: Wet floors, cords, and cluttered hallways in hospitals and long-term care facilities cause fractures of the ankle, foot, wrist, and hip that may need specialist repair.
- Patient Violence and Assault: Confused, combative, or impaired patients injure staff in behavioral units, emergency rooms, and nursing homes. These injuries can be both physical and psychological.
- Needlesticks and Exposure to Disease: Contact with blood or infectious illness can require testing, preventive treatment, and time away from work, all of which fall within medical benefits when job-related.
- Repetitive Strain and Cumulative Trauma: Years of lifting and repetitive tasks wear down joints and spines. These claims need careful medical documentation tying the condition to the work.
- Third-Party Injuries: When someone other than your employer is at fault, such as a negligent driver while you travel between home health visits, a personal injury claim may exist alongside your comp benefits.
What to Do After a Hospital or Care Facility Injury in Pascagoula
Report the injury to your supervisor right away, in writing if you can, and keep a copy. Mississippi gives you 30 days to notify your employer, but the sooner the record exists, the harder it is for anyone to question. Get medical care, and tell every provider that the injury happened at work so it is recorded that way from the first visit. Describe the specific task, such as a transfer or a fall on a wet floor, because vague charting like “back pain” helps the insurer more than you.
Be careful about returning to patient duties before your doctor clears you, and about accepting a light-duty assignment you cannot physically perform. Keep a log of symptoms, missed shifts, and conversations with supervisors and adjusters. Do not give a recorded statement to the carrier before talking to a lawyer, since those statements are routinely used to argue the injury was something else.
The formal claim runs through the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission, which administers the law rather than a court. If no disability benefits have been paid, a petition to controvert must be filed with the Commission within two years of the injury, or the right to benefits can be lost. If payments have been made, the two-year period generally runs from the last payment. Disputed claims are heard by an Administrative Judge, and either side can ask the Full Commission to review the decision. That review is on the existing record, not a new trial, so building the evidence at the first hearing is critical. A final Commission award can then be appealed to the Mississippi Supreme Court within 30 days, and that court may assign the case to the Mississippi Court of Appeals.
What Benefits a Hurt Healthcare Worker Can Receive
Coverage in Mississippi begins on your first day of employment, with no waiting period, for employers required to carry it. Medical benefits cover reasonable and necessary treatment, including surgery, therapy, and medication. When you cannot work, disability benefits replace roughly two-thirds of your average weekly wage, up to a weekly maximum set by the state. Temporary and permanent total disability can be paid for up to 450 weeks, and permanent partial disability for other injuries is also capped at 450 weeks. Healthcare workers who cannot return to patient care because of a permanent lifting restriction may also have vocational issues that affect settlement value.
Questions Pascagoula Healthcare Workers Ask About Injury Claims
Do I need a lawyer for a healthcare worker injury claim?
Not every claim requires one, but if benefits are denied, delayed, reduced, or cut off, or you will be out of work for a long time, an attorney can make a major difference. The insurer has adjusters and lawyers working for it, and you should have someone working for you.
How much does it cost to hire the firm?
Nothing up front. Consultations are free, the firm advances case costs, and fees are collected only if benefits or a settlement are recovered. Attorney fees in workers’ compensation cases are limited and approved under state law.
How long do I have to report my injury?
Tell your employer within 30 days of the accident. Do it in writing and keep a copy so there is no dispute later about when the employer learned of it.
What is the deadline to file with the Commission?
If no disability benefits have been paid, you generally have two years from the date of injury to file a petition to controvert. If benefits were paid, the two years can run from the last payment. Because exceptions are fact-specific, speak with an attorney early.
The insurer says my back problem is a pre-existing condition. Is my claim over?
No. If your work caused, worsened, or sped up the condition, benefits can still be owed. Strong medical evidence connecting your patient-handling duties to the injury is how that argument is answered.
Can my hospital or nursing home fire me for filing?
Mississippi protects workers from being fired in retaliation for filing a comp claim. If you were let go or disciplined after reporting an injury, tell us during your consultation so we can review it.
What if I was injured by a patient who became violent?
Assaults by patients during the course of your work can be compensable. Report it, get examined, and make sure the incident report reflects what actually happened, including any injuries you did not notice until later.
Will my health insurance cover treatment while the claim is pending?
Workers’ compensation is supposed to pay for work-related treatment, and health insurers often resist paying for injuries that belong in the comp system. Tell us if care is being delayed, since we can pursue authorization so you are not stuck choosing between treatment and a denied claim.
Can I also sue someone besides my employer?
Sometimes. If a negligent driver, contractor, or equipment maker caused your injury, a separate personal injury claim may be available. We make sure the comp claim and the injury claim work together and do not undercut one another.
What if I only suffered an injury over time from repetitive lifting?
Cumulative injuries are compensable when work caused or aggravated them. These claims depend on documenting your duties and having a doctor tie the condition to them, and carriers often fight them harder because there is no single accident date.
How long will my case take?
Timelines depend on how long you treat, whether the insurer accepts or disputes the claim, and whether a hearing is needed. Cases settle at different points, and a reliable estimate is usually possible only after we review your medical records and benefits status.
Serving Healthcare Workers Across Pascagoula and Jackson County
We represent injured healthcare workers throughout Pascagoula and Jackson County, including Gautier, Moss Point, Ocean Springs, Gulf Park Estates, Escatawpa, Vancleave, Hurley, and Helena. Our clients work in hospitals, nursing homes, rehabilitation facilities, clinics, and home health settings across the county and neighboring Gulf Coast communities. Beyond Jackson County, we serve workers in Harrison County, including Gulfport and Biloxi, and in Hancock and George counties, as well as Hattiesburg, Jackson, Madison, Southaven, the Delta, and communities throughout Mississippi. The firm also represents injured workers across south Louisiana and the rest of that state, including New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles, and Shreveport.
Talk With a Pascagoula Healthcare Injury Attorney
If you were hurt caring for patients, you do not need to take on the insurance company by yourself. A Pascagoula healthcare worker injury attorney at Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe can review what happened, explain where your claim stands, and deal with your employer and its insurer while you focus on recovery. Call us any time, since our phones are answered around the clock, and schedule a free consultation. You pay no fee unless we recover benefits for you.
