State finishes investigation into death at Pembroke Hospital

PEMBROKE - Two-and-a-half months after the death of a patient at a large psychiatric hospital in Pembroke, officials at the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health said they have finished their investigation and are awaiting action by the state licensing agency.

The mental health department will release the investigation results only after licensing officials reach a decision, said Rhonda Mann, a spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health & Human Services.

The patient who died was a woman in her 20s, Pembroke Fire Chief Michael Hill said Thursday.

It’s unclear whether the mental health department’s investigation into the young woman’s death will yield any adverse findings or violations levied against the for-profit Arbour Health Systems, which runs the 120-bed mental hospital. Hill speculated Thursday that the possibility of violations was “more than likely” but declined to elaborate on his reasoning.

Arbour Health Systems, the largest private provider of mental health services in the state, has come under fire in recent years from both state and federal regulators. Last year, government inspectors cited unsafe conditions at Arbour’s 66-bed facility in Brookline and deficiencies in psychiatric treatment and evaluations for four patients there.

Regulators have also cited Arbour for staffing shortfalls, and Arbour Hospital in Jamaica Plain was cited for staff failures in connection with two questionable deaths.

The state mental health agency, which licenses Pembroke Hospital, opened an investigation Sept. 1 into the August death.

All patient deaths at licensed mental health facilities are investigated by state regulators, as are any deaths that happen within 30 days of discharge from a licensed facility. Last year, the mental health department investigated 44 deaths in Massachusetts and has tracked more than 400 deaths from 2005 through 2014.

The state Center for Health Information and Analysis has grouped Pembroke Hospital and the Arbour-owned Westwood Lodge – an 89-bed psychiatric hospital – into a single hospital profile.

Nearly 80 percent of the patients treated at the two psychiatric hospitals have state or federally-sponsored health insurance such as Medicare, according to the state’s data from 2013. The hospitals in Pembroke and Westwood posted a $16.4 million profit in 2013.

Arbour also operates an 18-bed psychiatric unit in Quincy, called The Quincy Center.

Arbour is owned by Universal Health Services, a publicly traded company that operates more than 20,000 mental health beds across the U.S. and posted more than $540 million in earnings last year, according to reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

In September, Arbour spokeswoman Judith Merel said patient safety and well-being are the company’s top priorities.

Reach Chris Burrell at cburrell@ledger.com or follow on Twitter @Burrell_Ledger.