Paxton Greer was at her most vulnerable when she was admitted to Trident Hospital in Charleston, South Carolina.

I had no control over my mind, my body. I was completely helpless. Completely.

The mother of two had tried to take her own life. She gained consciousness in the ER.

That's when I first remember being there, having this man standing over me telling me, I'm very good at what I do.

According to a The lawsuit Greer later filed, the man was patient tech Tyler Eot.

Over the next several hours, he repeatedly sexually assaulted her, including trapping her in a bathroom.

There was no doubt he could overpower you if he wanted to in that moment.

Yeah, I'm very shaky. Couldn't fight back.

71-year-old Leonard Ray felt similarly helpless in Florida's Citrus Hospital, admitted with a heart condition when nurse Hiram Bonia started assaulting her, even blocking the window by taping up a bed pad. Security footage obtained by Ray's attorney shows Bonia going in and out of her room more than two dozen times in four and a half hours. At one point, it shows Bonilla was in her room for 20 minutes.

Did it occur to you in that moment, I'm being assaulted by this man? Absolutely.

But I didn't want to make him hurt me because he kept medicating me.

Bonilla is serving a 20-year prison sentence for multiple charges in Ray's case, including molesting an elderly person. In Greer's case, Eode pleaded not guilty to sexual assault and is being held on bond. His attorney has not responded to MBC's request for comment. But these women are speaking out, they say, because the hospitals did not do enough to protect them and didn't believe them when they reported the assaults.

I was a psych patient who overdosed on medicine that could make you hallucinate, so no one took me seriously.

How does it feel to have something that traumatic happened to you and not have people listen to you or take you seriously.

Incredibly angry. Furious.

Ray says she repeated her story multiple times to hospital staff.

I beg people to call the police. Please, please.

Court records show it took six hours for the hospital to call the police. According to court documents, hospital policy lists protocols if there's an allegation of sexual assault. Notify police is number 19 out of 26. After things like notify marketing and pull surveillance footage. The hospital says the list is not prioritized. Attorney Stefan Turkheimer from the Anti-Sexual Violence Organization, RAINN, says some hospitals don't report allegations at all.

But we don't know the entirety of the problem.

Aren't hospitals required to report what happens in them?

Yes, they are required to report what happens, but that isn't necessarily what they're going to do.

Still, the Joint Commission says assault reported in hospital settings are on the rise, increasing 77% over for two years.

Is there something about a hospital setting that makes people particularly vulnerable to sexual assault?

I think there is. The reason why is because all your normal protections are being eroded.

What's needed is better vetting of employees, he says, and greater supervision with some patients.

It's up to the hospitals to provide greater protections in those situations, knowing how vulnerable those people are because they put them in that position. They created that vulnerability.

According to HCA Healthcare, the company that runs both Trident and Citrus Medical centers, its employees are given mandatory code of conduct and other training, and there is zero tolerance for any type of sexual misconduct, adding that there is an expectation that incidents be investigated thoroughly but did not specify when law enforcement should be contacted.

The man who allegedly assaulted Paxton was not arrested until two months later after he allegedly assaulted another patient.

I want justice for what done to me. I want every hospital to know that these actions are not okay. You need to stick with your policies and procedures and assault in your hospitals and take them seriously.

Stephanie Gosc, NBC News, Somerville, South Carolina.

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