Charges against hospital probed
Pembroke Hospital -- a 24-hour psychiatric facility that serves the region -- is under investigation by the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health and, separately, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for allegations contained in complaints filed over the past six months, officials at both offices say.
Because both cases are open, the details were not released, but the investigations are expected to conclude in about a month. The hospital, a 115-bed facility, is part of the Arbour Health System, a private mental health organization based in Boston.
The outstanding case at the Department of Mental Health, which licenses the hospital, is related to quality of care, according to Patricia Mackin, the department's chief of staff.
That category would cover alleged neglect or abuse of patients, she said.
Several complaints were filed, she said, and the case was opened about two months ago. "Nothing is yet factual, only allegations," Mackin said.
The complaint to OSHA, filed in late July, alleged workplace violence, officials at the agency said. Because the law requires an inspection be completed within six months, officials expect it will be wrapped up by the end of January.
"Somebody complained -- it could have been an employee or a third party who filed a complaint alleging some sort of a problem with violence in that workplace," said John Chavez, a spokesman in the agency's Boston office. Because the investigation is ongoing, he could not provide details.
But Judy Merel, a spokeswoman for Arbour Health System, said that the OSHA complaint is related to an adolescent patient who injured a staff member during an "unprovoked, unanticipated event." She said she believe s the complaint was anonymous.
Of the Department of Mental Health case, Merel said that an injury occurred while a patient was at the hospital, and the cause of the injury was being reviewed. She said there was no other information available about the patient or the situation, and that she knows of no other open investigations of the hospital.
The Department of Mental Health licenses 64 private psychiatric hospitals and general hospitals that have psychiatric units. In 2006, there were 105 complaints statewide, 76 of which were raised to the level of investigation, as the current one h as been. Over the past nine years, about 80 percent of complaints filed became investigations, according to Mackin.
Like other hospitals licensed by the Department of Mental Health, Pembroke Hospital recently began a training program as a move toward becoming a restraint-free hospital because of regulations instituted last spring, Mackin and Merel said. Training is available to staff at Pembroke as part of the hospital's Crisis Prevention Initiatives Program, which includes deescalation techniques.
