I sit again in the audience at the House Human Services Committee where the superintendent of Oregon State Hospital, Roy Orr, is discussing the state of the facility.

Roy notes that in Nov. 2006 the U.S. Department of Justice informed the state that it believed OSH was violating the civil rights of patients.  DOJ then brought a survey team to OSH and produced a report that was delivered to the Governor in January 2008.  The report criticized the hospital's old physical plant, poor quality of care, vacancies of key positions, extraordinary and chronic reliance on overtime, and heavy reliance on contract staff.  In response, OSH created a 250 page correction plan.  Roy says this plan is the hospital's "roadmap toward a different future."

Roy thinks OSH has made significant improvements since that time.  He notes that there have been ongoing settlement discussions with DOJ.  Drs. Geller and McLoughlin were hired by the state as consultants to help with changes.  The state does not want to lose control of the hospital to a judge, as occurred in Hawaii.  DOJ will be back here in late July to resurvey OSH.  Roy says he welcomes the visit.  He thinks they will find a very different hospital.

Roy says that as improvements move forward, they are guided by three major themes: need to improve quality of care, need to improve hiring, and building the new hospital.  He then moves through a variety of specific improvements including a 75% reduction in use of restraint and a 80% reduction in use of seclusion.  He says OSH is now "at or below" the national average for use of seclusion and restraint.  Also, he is proud to note that OSH received full accreditation from The Joint Commission in April, 2009.

 The committee clearly welcomes all this good news.  But I know that there have been a series of lock-downs at OSH during the past four weeks due to overcrowed conditions.  DRO has complained that these lock-downs are being used as group punishment to create peer pressure on those patients who have gotten out of line.  We think the staff on the ward are scared about losing control when they have too many patients to care for.  We surmise that patients have not been moved to other wards because the other wards are allowed to reject transfers.

To their credit, hospital administrators have been responsive to our concerns and are taking steps to review their entire lock-down and ward transfer procedures.  But, as I listen to Roy's encouraging testimony, I know that we are not yet out of the woods.