Metropolitan State Hospital Workers Take to the Streets Demanding Safety

NORWALK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--On Wednesday a large group of employees gathered at the entrance of Metropolitan State Hospital (MSH), in Norwalk, California, to protest the unsafe working conditions at that California Department of Mental Health (DMH) hospital. Carrying signs that said "Metro Deserves Safety Now!" and "I've Been Attacked at Metro," workers came to draw public attention to the violence taking place behind hospital gates.

“Donna Gross' death could have easily happened here. It still could happen here”

While recent attention has been focused on Napa State Hospital, where psychiatric technician Donna Gross was killed by a patient in October, Metropolitan State Hospital workers reported that many of the same safety problems that contributed to the death of Ms. Gross are also present at their hospital. DMH's own data shows that, on average, four staff members and seven patients suffer some kind of assault every day at MSH. The assault numbers are higher at Metropolitan than at Napa, even though the Norwalk facility is only half of Napa State Hospital’s size.

"Donna Gross' death could have easily happened here. It still could happen here," said Eric Soto, a psychiatric technician who works at Metropolitan State Hospital.

Soto and other MSH workers are upset that safety improvements like an integrated alarm system and increased staffing are being discussed only for Napa State Hospital, rather than for all five DMH psychiatric hospitals. "It would be great if DMH follows through on installing alarms and hiring more staff at Napa. But that won’t help those of us at Metro," said Soto.

On June 30th, a Licensed Vocational Nurse was taken from Metropolitan State Hospital by ambulance to Whittier Presbyterian Hospital, and two psychiatric technicians were beaten by a patient in a separate assault. In May the California Department of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) fined DMH for not doing enough to prevent patient attacks on staff members at Metropolitan State Hospital. According to Cal/OSHA’s report, between 2004 and 2010 there were 820 attacks on MSH workers that were serious enough to require workers compensation claims (Cal-OSHA Inspection Number 312665276). In a move that has angered many workers, DMH hired an outside legal firm to appeal the Cal/OSHA citations. Staff say that rather than fighting the charges, the money would be better spent improving the hospital’s safety and security.

Metropolitan State Hospital's violence problem affects patients as well as staff. "I'm here today because I'm worried about myself, but I'm even more worried about the patients, who get assaulted at almost twice the rate that staff do," said Dr. Laura Dardashti, a Metropolitan State Hospital psychiatrist. "Treating the more violent patients on special units would be a simple change that would make everyone much safer."

In addition to an integrated alarm system, increased unit staffing, and an enhanced treatment unit for the most violent patients, MSH workers are requesting that Hospital Police Officers be stationed on treatment units to prevent assaults.