October 29, 2024 — In the wake of a brutal assault that left a PEF member from South Beach Psychiatric Center on a ventilator in a Staten Island hospital, PEF leaders and staff immediately mobilized to assist and support members at the facility and engage with management and the Office of Mental Health (OMH) to address security issues.
On September 17, the PEF nurse was hit in the side of the head by a patient, knocking him to the ground. He was rushed to the hospital with multiple brain bleeds, where he remained as of October 7.
“I saw the video of Peter get hit on the side of his face,” said PEF Vice President Darlene Williams. “He fell so hard. On September 17, he left for work, probably said goodbye to his family, but he’s not going to come home that same person. He will never go home the way he was when he left.”
The South Beach PC attack comes on the heels of the stabbings of a PEF member and his CSEA coworker at Buffalo Psychiatric Center in April; as well as more than one incident of rape and additional stabbings.
“When is OMH going to say enough is enough?” Williams said. “When is OMH going to say that people who work in mental health or any facility have the right to go home the way they were when they left? When is OMH going to say it is our responsibility to take care of the individuals that we employ?”
Williams credited PEF President Wayne Spence’s response to the attack for getting the alleged perpetrator quickly into police custody.
“He said, ‘enough is enough.’ But it shouldn’t have had to be the president of the union doing that.”
PEF held rolling meetings at South Beach PC on September 26, connecting with more than 150 members to listen to their concerns, offer support, and update them on what the union is doing to protect their safety on the job.
“Patients are entering facilities and programs from the prisons and criminal justice sector and our members, and their coworkers, are not taught how to deal with individuals who not only have mental illness, but who also really want to hurt people,” Williams said. “The level of violence that our members deal with is truly horrendous.”
PEF creates an action plan
In collaboration with the PEF Health & Safety Department, an action plan was created to address the South Beach PC incident, ranging from a meeting with the District Attorney to hasten the custody process, to the need for a system to better track outpatient services, to streamlining the process for calling emergency services.
Spence said the situation requires swift action.
“Violence against our members is unacceptable,” he said. “For managers to tell folks it comes as part of the job – that’s unacceptable. We are committed to doing something about it.”
You can help
The PEF Health and Safety Department has been studying incidences of violence at state facilities operated by OMH, the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD), the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) and the Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS).
You can sign a petition that calls on the state to work toward curbing workplace violence by:
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- Establishing Labor-Management Workplace Violence Prevention Committees at each agency which will meet monthly to identify and resolve issues;
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- Immediately installing metal detectors at each facility operated by these agencies;
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- Screen patients, visitors, and vendors for weapons and contraband;
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- Set up a process to review and rectify issues when there are conflicting clinical recommendations regarding appropriate care, custody and security for clients with violent tendencies or other mental health issues;
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- Establish and enforce appropriate staffing ratios in facilities operated by these agencies.