BUFFALO — CSEA is pushing the state for positive change after three workers at Buffalo Psychiatric Center were attacked
On April 3, Calvin Haskins, a patient at the Buffalo Psychiatric Center, attacked and stabbed three workers at the facility, including a CSEA member who was seriously injured.
All three workers are recovering, but the incident called to light shortcomings in the approach to security at these types of facilities.
Mootry
“We are working closely with the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH) and they recognize something has to change,” said CSEA Buffalo Psychiatric Center Local President Lovette Mootry. “We may not know what that [change]is yet, but we’re all committed to working on it together because we cannot continue to do business as we are today.”
Mootry noted that OMH recently hired a health and safety director just to address issues and incidents such as this one. That new director was one of the people on the ground when the state Public Employee Safety and Health (PESH) Bureau performed the inspection in response to the incident.
As this edition went to press, PESH is continuing to investigate the incident.
Mootry said that whatever changes are made will have to be initiated throughout New York State by OMH.
“What happened at my facility could happen at any facility,” said Mootry. “In this case, one of the people assaulted was our [union]member and more staff, but it just as easily could have been another patient who lived at the residence.”
Mootry said that there are a number of approaches to consider, such as adjusting the staffing ratio for outpatient clients by creating positions, working with local law enforcement on incident response and updating security policies and procedures.
“It’s challenging because these patients are in transitional living,” said Mootry. “They shouldn’t feel like they’re in jail, but we should still have security measures in place to protect everyone.”
Healy
“Our thoughts are with the victims of this stabbing as they recover,” said CSEA Western Region President Steve Healy. “I applaud the CSEA leadership at Buffalo Psychiatric Center for their swift and caring response in the moment and their follow-up in making sure real changes are made to prevent an incident like this from occurring in the future.”
Mootry, who also serves as CSEA Statewide Committee Chair for Labor-Management for the Office of Mental Health, continues to participate in labor-management meetings with the OMH to address these and other workplace concerns.
— Mathew L. Cantore
