Janice
Ambrose says her 20-year-old
daughter was sexually assaulted
by another patient at the
Delaware Psychiatric Center.
And DPC staff won't answer her
questions about the attack, she
said, even though she's her
daughter's legal guardian.
The only document she has seen
was a delinquent $794.30 bill,
sent to her daughter, for an
ambulance ride to a medical
hospital for treatment.
Ambrose struggled to get her
daughter civilly committed to
the state hospital. Now, she is
struggling to get her out, as
the hospital deals with new
allegations of patient abuse and
mistreatment.
In
a News Journal special report
published Sunday, several
current and former nurses said
they have witnessed attendants
using excessive force against
patients at the hospital. After
they reported what they saw,
some nurses had their tires
slashed, windshields shattered
or feces smeared on their cars
in retaliation. Some nurses said
they quit because they were
afraid.
Reports
of patient abuse, neglect or
mistreatment at DPC have
increased from 35 in 2001 to 119
last year. The increase, said
DPC Director Susan Watson
Robinson, is proof her
administration is keeping better
track of such incidents. So far
this year, 84 incidents have
been reported.
"The fact the numbers are up
shows the system is working the
way we want it to," Robinson
said Monday. "We don't leave a
stone unturned."
Vince Meconi, secretary of the
Department of Health and Social
Services, sent a statement to
The News Journal saying DPC
administrators were "doing a
good job." He touted the
hospital's accreditation, which
was issued by the Joint
Commission on the Accreditation
of Healthcare Organizations
(JCAHO) in 2005. "The citizens
of Delaware should be proud of
their only public hospital," he
wrote.
But Gov. Ruth Ann Minner's 2008
budget request painted a dismal
picture of hospital conditions.
Numerous issues raised
The document states that in
"many of the hospital's
buildings there are safety and
health issues that need to be
addressed. Bathrooms are in dire
need of repair and are not
handicapped accessible. The
partitions in the patients'
bathrooms present risk
management issues because of the
potential for patients to harm
themselves. Bathtubs are worn
and present a risk to patients
injuring themselves by falling.
Major renovations such as water
lines and HVAC systems need to
be installed in several of these
buildings. Many units need
flooring, ceiling tiles and new
lighting."
Minner has asked lawmakers to
begin budgeting for a new
psychiatric hospital, at a cost
of more than $100 million over
several years, but other
projects have taken precedent.
In the 2008 capital budget,
lawmakers appropriated $1.56
million for deferred maintenance
and critical repairs at the DPC.
There were no specific
instructions on how to spend the
money.
"All of Delaware Psychiatric
Center's (DPC) units and
buildings are not conducive to a
therapeutic environment for
patients and staff. The hospital
has diverse and challenging
populations who are difficult to
treat because of the physical
structure of DPC's units. There
are several patients who are
neurologically impaired, others
have borderline personalities,
some have post-traumatic stress
disorder and many have drug and
alcohol problems. All of these
subgroups are mixed in with the
general population," according
to the budget request.
Regulation defended
Minner's request also stated
that the accrediting
organization had "recommended
that the hospital explore
alternate ways of treating the
patient population since there
are many patients with diverse
and special needs."
Meconi, who was out of the
country and unavailable to talk
Monday, stressed the physical
demands and stress of patient
care in his written statement:
"I'm always faced with the
challenge of assessing how
various agencies in my charge
are performing," Meconi said.
"Fortunately, in the case of the
Delaware Psychiatric Center, I
need not rely solely on staff
reports, although I receive them
regularly and examine them
closely. A wide variety of
outside organizations regularly
monitor, inspect, accredit,
evaluate, and/or decide whether
to affiliate with the DPC. In
fact, the DPC is the single most
heavily regulated and inspected
entity I have ever encountered
in my 34 years in government."
Minner also was unavailable
Monday, and state Attorney
General Beau Biden declined to
comment, his spokesman said.
No policy changes planned
Despite the new allegations,
Robinson said there will be no
changes to policy or procedures.
The state hospital, she said,
already has enough reporting
mechanisms for patient abuse and
for staff who feel threatened by
other staff.
In
an e-mail Monday, Robinson said
a recent review may bring
changes to the admissions unit
known as Kent-3 or K3, where
nurse Karen Stoppel said she saw
five male attendants force a
patient into a four-point
restraint position. One of the
attendants forced a towel into
the patient's mouth, she said.
The attendant, cleared of
wrongdoing during an internal
investigation, said he covered
her mouth so she wouldn't spit
on him.
"The review did not reveal any
patient care issues, but did
review that some staff have a
very low tolerance for other
staff," she said. "None of the
findings support the termination
of anyone, but do allow for
staffing changes to be made."
Renata Henry, director of the
state Division of Substance
Abuse and Mental Health, did not
return calls seeking comment for
this article.
On
Friday, Henry sent an e-mail to
employees in her division,
urging they "be supportive of
the staff at DPC."
"This will be hurtful to those
who work so hard every day to do
their best only to have it
undone by several disgruntled
employees and staff who no
longer work for us," Henry
wrote. "Also support Susan
Robinson and her Executive staff
who are getting an unfair hit as
they work to make DPC a center
of excellence in the delivery of
mental health services for our
most vulnerable citizens."
Ambrose has a different opinion
about the quality of the care.
Her daughter was admitted Dec.
13 with a diagnosis of autism
with a developmental disorder.
She said a doctor told Ambrose
of the first sexual assault
against her daughter.
"It turned out a male patient
got her into a corner and was
making out with her," Ambrose
said. "I leaned across the
table, pointed my finger at [the
doctor] and said I'm holding him
personally responsible for my
daughter's safety. She's never
had sexual relations before."
A
month later, another doctor told
Ambrose that her daughter was
encouraging the encounters, and
that they'd changed her
daughter's diagnosis.
"Isn't it convenient -- a
sexually provocative diagnosis,"
Ambrose said. "She came in
hearing voices and suicidal.
Now, she's got borderline
personality disorder."
Several weeks ago, Ambrose's
daughter qualified for her first
visit home.
"She was so drugged, she
couldn't chew her food," Ambrose
said. "She told me she didn't
want to go back there. She said
she hates it there."
Last week, when she visited her
daughter at the hospital, there
was another shock.
"They'd shaved her head nearly
bald, like Britney Spears," she
said. "She's never received any
therapy for the sexual assaults.
She's overmedicated. She's
crying all the time. She can't
talk very well, and now she's
bald. It's easy to victimize
someone when they can't
communicate."
Staff
reporter Patrick Jackson contributed
to this article. Contact
investigative reporter Lee Williams
at 324-2362 or
lwilliams@delawareo