Psych Observer - Exposing Bad Psychiatrists

A 42-year-old patient at Ancora Psychiatric Hospital in Winslow was critically injured when she was punched in the head by another patient.

The assault was the latest in a series of incidents that have focused attention on the quality of patient care at the state’s largest psychiatric hospital.

Pedro Torres, 25, of Vineland was charged with second-degree aggravated assault after the attack July 30, according to state police Sgt. Julian Castellanos.

The victim, Stephanie Mason, remained in critical condition Sunday at Cooper University Hospital in Camden, where she was treated after the attack.

“I thought my sister would be safe. Whatever problems she had, she didn’t deserve this, said Denise Mason, 43, of Millville. “I’m very upset with that place.”

Superior Court records show neither patient would have been in Ancora if enough group homes or supervised housing had been available.

Mason was cleared by the courts to be released June 20. Torres was ordered to be released July 11.

About half of the more than 600 patients housed in Ancora have been ordered released but remain in the facility because there’s no other supervised place for them to live, according to the state Public Advocate’s Office.

Before the assault, both patients had been quarreling and were warned to stay away from each other, hospital records show.

About 8:15 a.m. on July 30, Torres ran toward Mason in the hospital’s Larch C building and hit her on the side of the head, authorities said. Ancora staffers broke up the fight immediately.

Staffers noted Mason was bleeding from an ear, her nose and mouth before she eventually was airlifted to Cooper Hospital’s trauma unit, according to hospital records.

Castellanos said police do not know what provoked the assault. Denise Mason said Friday her sister had emerged from brain surgery and could open her eyes but was not responsive.

State Human Services spokeswoman Ellen Lovejoy confirmed Friday a patient-on-patient assault had occurred.

She said the alleged assailant has been transferred from Ancora to the Ann Klein Forensic Center in Trenton.

“Internally, Ancora Psychiatric Hospital administrators are pursuing a full administrative and clinical investigation, as well as reviewing procedure to assure proper protocols were exercised,” Lovejoy said in a written statement.

Meanwhile, state officials expect a new CEO will be named soon for the troubled facility. Greg Roberts, a state Human Services administrator, has been the acting CEO since December.

Roberts replaced LaTanya Wood-El, the former $116,000-a-year chief executive, after a patient escape triggered disciplinary action against nine Ancora staffers.

The institution has been under intense scrutiny since Dec. 9, when DeWitt Crandell Jr., 35, a patient who had been found not guilty of killing his parents by reason of insanity, wandered away, unnoticed.

When he was found, naked and bleeding, in nearby Hammonton the next day, he was returned to Ancora and put under 24-hour watch. He was supposed to be constantly monitored by two Ancora staffers, but his body was discovered in the pre-dawn hours of Dec. 10, after he hanged himself with a bedsheet in a bathroom.

At least six suspicious patient deaths in the past two years are being investigated at Ancora. The new CEO will be asked to carry out reforms announced by Gov. Jon S. Corzine in May. Ancora will be split into two hospitals, with one providing short-term care and the other providing a home for patients needing extended care.

The choice for the new CEO, which could be announced before the end of the month, won’t occur until the candidate meets with Corzine and Human Services Commissioner Jennifer Velez, Lovejoy said.

URL: http://www.thehammontonnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080806/NEWS01/808060309/1002