ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - State officials have a plan to deal with a rising number of assaults at Minnesota’s largest psychiatric hospital.
Patients at the Minnesota Security Hospital in St. Peter with a history of violent outbursts would move to separate homes with specially trained staff. The Star Tribune (https://strib.mn/15ekETl) reports the plan would also protect new patients by putting them in a unit separated from other patients.
The St. Peter facility has about 225 of the state’s most dangerous and mentally ill patients. Patient assaults on staff rose to 71 last year, up from 60 the year before.
State authorities fined the hospital $4,900 for failing to protect staff, though that was later lowered to $2,450.
Currently, patients prone to violence are mixed with more stable patients. State officials say that creates a combustible atmosphere that disrupts therapy.
“There has to be a way to quickly and with a great sense of urgency move people when they are so disruptive that they are assaulting and hurting others,” Deputy Human Services Commissioner Anne Barry said.
Advocates fear the plan could put patients in prisonlike conditions, and that staff could feel less motivated to treat them if they can be isolated quickly.
Rep. Jack Considine, DFL-Mankato, worked at the hospital for six years and said the plan “seems cruel.” A special unit for the most volatile patients already exists, he said.
“Why not allow staff to put them in (seclusion) until they quit screaming and shouting than to put them in isolation for 24 hours a day?” Considine said.
The plan is backed by a union representing about 500 hospital employees. Legislators allocated $56 million last year to redesign the facility.
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Information from: Star Tribune, https://www.startribune.com
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