Silver City, NM (KKOB) – Actress Nichelle Nichols who was well known as Lt. Uhura in the original Star Trek series and movies died in New Mexico in 2022 after being treated at Gila Medical Center in Silver City. Her family, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the hospital and now a jury has awarded $13 million to the family. The suit alleged that Gila Medical Center “hired, credentialed, and inappropriately supervised unqualified medical providers and allowed them to treat Nichols” The suit also claimed, Nichols should have had a full cardiac workup, but was just kept in the hospital for observation and discharged the next day. She was later transferred from the hospital to an assisted living facility where she died hours later. Nichols, was a trailblazer in television, becoming one of the first Black women to hold a prominent role in a major network show. Her work helped break barriers and inspired generations.
