[December 20, 2012]

Atascadero State Hospital Employee Hospitalized Following Violent Assault

In the latest ongoing assaults on Atascadero State Hospital employees, two direct-care hospital staff were seriously assaulted last night by a patient.

According to ASH employee reports to the California Association of Psychiatric Technicians regarding events occurring the evening of December 19, a Senior Psychiatric Technician and a Psychiatric Technician were attacked, with the Senior Psychiatric Technician sustaining severe head trauma. The SPT remains hospitalized by his injuries at this time. The patient has been arrested and currently is in the San Luis Obispo County jail.

Located i San Luis Obispo County, Atascadero State Hospital received a second round of citations this November from the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health - better known as Cal/OSHA - for continuous patient assaults on staff. These latest $27,675 in citations and related fines are in addition to others issued earlier this spring for similar employee-safety concerns. To date, all of California's forensic state hospitals - Atascadero, Coalinga in Fresno County, Metropolitan in Los Angeles County, Napa in Napa County and Patton (News - Alert) in San Bernardino County -- have received similar Cal/OSHA citations for patient assaults on employees and other safety concerns.

Following the Oct. 23, 2010, murder of Napa State Hospital Psychiatric Technician Donna Gross by a patient on hospital grounds, CAPT and other state-employee unions - AFSCME Local 2620, the California Statewide Law Enforcement Association, SEIU Local 1000 and the Union of American Physicians and Dentists - formed the Safety Now Coalition. Coalition members have been working in Gross' memory to improve safety conditions on behalf of both staff and patients in California's state-hospital system.

[ Back To Technology News's Homepage ]