MH Workers Refuse to Be Blamed

MH workers refuse to be blamed
David Bracken, Staff Writer
RALEIGH - As a health technician at John Umstead Hospital in Butner, Rosie Hargrove is responsible for admitting mentally ill patients to the state facility.
In recent years, Hargrove says her job has become more dangerous and stressful because, while the number of workers has declined, the patients showing up to be admitted to Umstead has not.
"We need more staff," said Hargrove, 49, as she stood picketing at the entrance to the Dorothea Dix campus Friday. "And we need better pay to keep the staff we have from leaving."
Hargrove was one of about 20 state mental health workers who gathered at Dix to protest what they say are unsafe conditions in the state's psychiatric hospitals. The News & Observer recently reported on 82 avoidable patients' deaths at the hospitals since December 2000, as well as 192 hospital workers being disciplined for abuse of patients.
In addition to demanding increased staffing and better pay, the workers said they were speaking out because they refuse to take the blame for problems caused by the state's attempt to reform North Carolina's mental-health system.
"Injuries have increased among employees and patients," said Larsene Taylor, 58, a health technician at Cherry Hospital in Goldsboro. "We're not going to take the blame for it."
The event was organized by the N.C. Public Service Workers Union, which represents more than 500 employees at the state's four psychiatric hospitals.
James Osberg, who oversees institutions for the state Department of Health and Human Services, said he and other officials share the concerns expressed by workers.
"We think many are underpaid for what the value of their work is," Osberg said. "We certainly think patient care could benefit from additional staffing."
Osberg said an advisory group put together by Dempsey Benton, head of DHHS, has recommended asking for money to pay for 86 new positions in next year's budget.
"Unfortunately, there are more needs than potential dollars," he said.
Steve Hardison, 44, a health technician at Dix, said the low staffing levels have turned workers into baby sitters who have little recourse if a patient acts aggressively toward them.
"We don't have any rights as workers," Hardison said. "The patients have more rights than we do."
Several of Tuesday's picketers held up signs reading "Don't Shut Down Dix." Osberg said the state plans to move most of Dix's patients to a new facility in Butner by July 1.
Hardison said the uncertainty surrounding the future of Dix -- its closing date has been postponed several times -- has made it hard to retain employees at the Raleigh hospital.
"They can't keep people's lives on hold," Hardison said. "They say July 1, but they said that last year."
david.bracken@newsobserver.com or (919) 829-4548