16 Ancora staffers accused in patient assaults

Sixteen state employees at Ancora Psychiatric Hospital were disciplined or fired for allegedly assaulting patients in a dozen cases between 2013 and 2014, according to information obtained by the Courier-Post.

The staffers pushed, slapped, bruised, or scratched patients, usually in response to an attack by a violent patient, the state's data show. Criminal charges were pursued against staffers in four cases, including a sexual assault.

The incidences were among 3,095 assaults documented at Ancora over the two-year period. Most of the attacks were committed by patients against other patients. A handful of assaults by patients resulted in major injuries to other patients or staff.

Even when provoked, employees must exercise restraint, said Joe Young, executive director of Disability Rights New Jersey, a nonprofit patient advocacy group.

Between 2005 and 2011, there were no reported assaults committed by staff against patients, according to published state data. In 2012, the year the U.S. Department of Justice closed its 3¹/₂-year investigation into the troubled state hospital, there were a dozen cases of assault by staff against patients, among 1,479 incidents.

"Individuals can be involuntarily confined to a psychiatric hospital only if there has been a determination that the individual is 'dangerous.' This means that behavioral expectations of psychiatric patients cannot be the same as the general population," Young said.

"Even outside the hospital, 'He hit me first' is not an acceptable excuse. The facility has the responsibility to provide the training and the environment that will keep both the patients and the staff safe."

Employees receive regular training on de-escalation techniques to calm and subdue violent patients, said Nicole Brossoie, a spokeswoman for the NJ Department of Human services. Additionally, Human Services police stationed at Ancora can be called in at any time to assist, she said.

Information was not provided for assaults in 2015. Department representatives said the information needs to be cross-checked and verified before release. They would not say when that information might be available, but said it depends on investigations, "many of which involve local and county law enforcement agencies."

However, Brossoie confirmed reports that a patient assaulted an Ancora employee on earlier this week. The employee required medical attention as a result of the attack. Charges are pending an investigation by law enforcement. No further information about the incident was available.

In June, the state reassigned three top administrators at Ancora after inspectors found multiple deficiencies regarding patients' rights, dietary services, and rehabilitation services. The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services temporarily pulled Ancora's certification because the hospital failed to correct the problems. Its certification was reinstated without any financial penalties 11 days later, after a follow-up inspection.

Citing health privacy laws, Ellen Lovejoy, spokeswoman for NJ Department of Human Services, said she could not provide information about patients who may have been charged or injured in the incidents. However, criminal charges were pursued against at least three staffers during the two-year period:

•Eugene Mosley, a human services assistant, was convicted earlier this year of stalking and sexually assaulting a mentally incapacitated woman. The nearly seven-year employee was fired from his $35,748 a year job after the patient reported the incident in October 2014. Mosley, 43, pleaded guilty to the second-degree offense and was sentenced this June to four years in prison.

Now incarcerated at South Woods State Prison in Bridgeton, Mosley will be eligible for parole in February.

•Michael Ling, 40, was also fired in October 2014 after Human Services police witnessed him slap a patient for spitting in his face. Charged with simple assault, Ling pleaded guilty to a disorderly person's offense and paid a $133 fine, according to Winslow Township Municipal Court. Ling earned $14 an hour as a special services employee.

•Phyllis Davis, 34, allegedly pushed a patient into a chair while in the multipurpose room of a ward reserved for patients with developmental and intellectual disabilities. The patient was not injured in the incident, according to the department. Davis was fired in November 2013 from her human services assistant job, where she made $38,205 a year.

She has been charged with simple assault in the case now before Winslow Township Municipal Court. The case has been postponed numerous times, most recently because the attorneys involved are waiting for Ancora to turn over evidence recorded by its security cameras.

Through her secretary, Municipal Prosecutor Donna Platt said she could not discuss the case because it was an "ongoing matter."

Gary Lomanno, the public defender representing Davis, also said he could not comment on the case. Speaking in general, the Laurel Springs attorney said the state's failure to produce evidence "happens more often than you might think."

"You're dealing with a bureaucracy," Lomanno said. "Unfortunately, things get misplaced. They don't get turned over."

In an incident that occurred on Nov. 28, 2014, simple assault charges were dismissed against an employee involved in an altercation with a patient in the bathroom. The patient received a cut lip.

Most cases involving assaults by staff did not result in criminal charges. They include:

•On April 28, 2013, a human services assistant allegedly pushed a patient to the floor, in response to a push by the patient. The worker was suspended for six months.

•On Jan. 18, 2013, a human services assistant allegedly slapped a patient who was spitting in employees' faces. The worker was suspended without pay for 10 days and given additional training.

•On Jan. 20, 2013, a human services assistant allegedly slapped a patient, in retaliation for getting slapped and scratched in the face. The Civil Service Commission overturned the termination, and the employee was reinstated.

•On March 18, 2013, a human services assistant twisted and bruised the arm of a patient, in response to a slap by the patient. The employee was suspended for six days.

•On March 2, 2014, a patient alleged he was assaulted during the restraint process after he began punching two employees. One person was fired and two others received additional training.

•On May 3, 2014, a human services technician allegedly scratched a patient's face, in response to getting punched by the patient. The patient declined to pursue criminal charges.

•On May 29, 2014, a patient received a bloody nose while three workers struggled to restrain him. He had been heard making threats to his girlfriend on the telephone, and had punched a nurse through the medication window at a nurse's station. A nurse was fired, another employee was suspended for 45 days, and a third was reprimanded and given additional training.

•On June 16, 2014, a patient said a human services technician swung a clipboard at him after the patient attacked him. The patient had eating utensils in his pocket, contrary to suicide precautions. The employee was fired.

As of July 2015, there were 439 patients at Ancora, down from 762 a decade ago.

Kim Mulford: (856) 486-2448; kmulford@gannettnj.com