Report: Danger Grows for Workers at State Mental Hospitals

Tuesday, November 3, 2015 | 0

Staffing cuts at state-funded mental hospitals have created a dangerous environment for workers, with violent attacks at Florida’s six largest facilities doubling in the past six years, according to a newspaper report.

Since 2009, almost 1,000 patients sent to the state mental hospitals for close supervision injured themselves or others, according to a year-long investigation by the Tampa Bay Times and Sarasota Herald-Tribune. The victims included a female orderly whose face was slashed by a patient with a makeshift knife in 2012.

The mental hospitals have reportedly seen $100 million in budget cuts since 2009, about 15% of their funding, and nearly a third of their staffing eliminated.

The state has no minimum staffing requirements for the facilities, and employees may be on their own to supervise 15 or more mentally ill men, according to the newspaper report.