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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (July 10, 2018)
3A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JULY 10, 2018 Washington state psychiatric hospital called ‘hell’ Conditions fail safety standards By MARTHA BELLISLE Associated Press SEATTLE — Behind tall brick walls and secure win- dows, hundreds of patients at Washington state’s largest psy- chiatric hospital live in condi- tions that fail U.S. health and safety standards, while over- worked nurses and psychia- trists say they are navigating a system that punishes employ- ees who speak out despite crit- ical staffing shortages. “They don’t have enough staff to protect patients, or provide them with the bare minimum of care,” said Lisa Bowser, whose mother spent two years at Western State Hospital and suffered dozens of falls and assaults. “Going there was like going into hell,” said Bowser, who has sued the state-run facility. “I honestly thought they would kill her before I could get her out.” U.S. and state regulators for years have found health and safety violations at the 800- bed hospital, ranging from assaults on staff to escapes of dangerous patients, includ- ing a man accused of tortur- ing a woman to death. Even after that 2016 escape, a nurs- ing supervisor told The Asso- ciated Press that a patient who had been charged with murder AP Photo/Ted S. Warren Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee, third from right, speaks in front of Western State Hospital in Lakewood in May. and found not guilty by rea- son of insanity was placed in a less secure ward and the nurse faced retaliation after report- ing the danger to nonviolent patients. Despite a shakeup in lead- ership and vows to correct problems, the hospital con- tinually puts patients at risk, according to a surprise fed- eral inspection. Some didn’t get oxygen and blood-sugar checks; injuries weren’t prop- erly treated; they were held in restraints too long; and the building remained a fire haz- ard. Some violations were cited in inspections going back to 2015. After years of chances, the federal Centers for Medi- Tensions flare up at Portland ICE protest Associated Press PORTLAND — Offi- cials say two protesters were arrested and two federal offi- cers suffered minor injuries Monday in a flare up at the U.S. Immigration and Cus- toms Enforcement headquar- ters in Portland. Protesters have been sta- tioned near the facility for weeks, seeking to end the Trump administration’s zero-tolerance immigration policy. Rob Sperling, a spokes- man for the division respon- sible for protecting federal buildings, told KGW the generally peaceful protest grew heated Monday when several protesters pulled down tape that separated demonstrators from the ICE building. Federal officers followed the protesters into a nearby camp and were soon sur- rounded. Other federal offi- cers used pepper spray to get the officers out of the protest camp. Two protesters were arrested on charges of assault and trespassing on federal property. Another protester was arrested earlier Monday in an unrelated incident. Junction City building explodes; racial slur, symbol found Associated Press JUNCTION CITY — A building northwest of Eugene in Junction City exploded and burst into flames. The Register-Guard reported that authorities, including the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Fire- arms and Explosives, and Junction City police are investigating the cause of the early Monday explosion and fire. Authorities say a swastika and a racial slur were found spray painted at the scene. Junction City Police Chief Bob Morris says the cause of the fire is suspicious. Author- ities on Monday had not been able to contact the building’s owners. State business records show Irene and Devon Hunt- ley bought the building in 2015. Morris said they were renovating the building, which had been used as an insurance office, to become a restaurant. care and Medicaid Services stripped the hospital in Lake- wood of its certification and federal funding, totaling $53 million a year and about 20 percent of its budget. Gov. Jay Inslee said he wants the state to change the way it handles the mentally ill with a system that allows some patients to live in smaller facilities but that it’s making inroads. “We have been on a course correction to turn this ship around and we are continu- ing on that course of improve- ment,” the Democrat told AP. ‘They wouldn’t bathe her’ Bowser’s mother, Sharon BEND — A weed-killer that killed thousands of pon- derosa pines near Sisters has been linked to the deaths of other trees outside Sunriver and possibly across Oregon. Dale Mitchell, the Oregon Department of Agriculture pro- gram manager, says an inves- tigation found that the active ingredient in Perspective may have killed dozens of ponder- osa pines outside Sunriver. The Bulletin reported the Deschutes County Road Department sprayed the her- bicide along two main roads that lead in and out of Sunri- ver in 2013 and 2014. Chris Doty, the depart- SEATTLE — A count of orcas in the Pacific Northwest indicates that no calves have been born for the last three years, resulting in a 30-year population low. The Seattle Post-Intelli- gencer reported the annual census of Puget Sound’s killer whales has counted 75 across three southern resident pods. The census also reported two orcas missing and pre- sumed dead. Researchers say the dwin- dling whale numbers are linked to pollution and a decreasing primary food source. Pollution can accumu- late in the orca’s prey and get Retaliation Psychiatrists said they faced similar treatment. Three said they were repri- manded for objecting to man- agement decisions that put patients and staff at risk. Two were fired, and the other was Voters to decide in November By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau PORTLAND — Law enforcement and busi- ness leaders on Monday announced their opposition to an initiative petition to repeal the statewide sanctuary law. Multnomah County Sher- iff Mike Reese said the law prohibiting the use of state and local resources to enforce federal immigration law has worked well since it was passed more than 30 years ago. “Our current law allows police agencies to appropri- ately share information with our federal partners when a crime occurs. It creates clear guidelines to help local law enforcement navigate the complicated immigration strategies and policies at the federal level,” Reese said. “It keeps our local police focused on solving crimes by letting victims and witnesses know that they can report crime to us without fear of their immi- gration status. It also ensures our deputy sheriffs and police officers don’t become embroiled in the politics of immigration enforcement.” The state law applies when ment’s director, says the road- side spraying is done to reduce the amount of flammable grass. The Oregon Department of Agriculture has notified the U.S. Environmental Pro- tection Agency of the situ- ation. The offices are dis- cussing the possibility of strengthening the language on the label for Perspective. Southern resident orca population hits 30-year low Associated Press comment on the allegations, referring questions to the state attorney general’s office, which didn’t respond to multi- ple emails and calls. Kelly Stowe, a spokes- woman for the Department of Social and Health Ser- vices, said the agency is work- ing with the governor’s office on funding options after the recent inspection cost the hos- pital federal dollars. Employees say manage- ment punishes those who chal- lenge decisions. Nursing supervisor Paul Vilja filed a complaint last December after a man who was found not guilty by rea- son of insanity in the deaths of multiple people was moved from a secure ward into one with limited security. “I said you are endangering my patients and he’s a risk for escape,” Vilja told the AP. The health department agreed with Vilja’s concerns, but he was moved to the med- ical records department within a week. He couldn’t work with patients for six months but was recently told he can move back to the ward. Vilja has filed a whistleblower complaint. removed from patient care. Dr. Michael Quayle sued the hospital claiming he faced a hostile work environment after reporting expired and improperly stored meat. A jury awarded him about $550,000 in December 2016. Dr. Joseph Wainer wrote an editorial in a local newspa- per and statement for a court claiming “a systemic culture of retaliation, discrimination and bullying.” He was put under investigation and told to leave the hospital. Dr. Jay Jawad said he objected to a management decision to discharge his patients and faced investiga- tion and loss of his clinical responsibilities. Wainer and Jawad were later told that the investiga- tions were closed with no find- ings. They have sued the hos- pital and the health department claiming retaliation. The facility has lost 15 psy- chiatrists in three years with no new hires, according to a hos- pital worker who didn’t want to be named for fear of being fired. And instead of nurses, the institution hired “nurse educators” who don’t see patients, the worker said. Lawmakers have pressed the hospital to create a staff- ing model that will allow ade- quate funding for nurses, but the facility keeps asking for overtime funds that are “unac- countable,” state Rep. Laurie Jinkins said. Police, business leaders speak out against state sanctuary law repeal Herbicide may have killed trees in central Oregon Associated Press Struthers, was committed to the hospital for depression in 2014 and stayed through 2015. Bowser said she began to see bruising on her mother’s body and found fungus covering her feet. “They wouldn’t bathe her,” Bowser said. “She would tell me that another patient hit her.” Bowser said her mother’s room was covered with gar- bage, and she began to suffer falls that broke her arm and hip. Her mother also was sexu- ally assaulted on several occa- sions, Bowser said. Staff thought a regis- tered sex offender placed on Struthers’ ward was safe around older patients because he was a “child molester, not adult rapist,” according to an email that licensed mental health counselor Mark Allen sent to hospital officials and was acquired by Bowser’s lawyer. Allen said the encounter appeared to be between two consenting adults. The prob- lem is Struthers was commit- ted to the hospital because she could not take care of herself, said Bowser’s lawyer, James Beck. Struthers died at a different facility in 2016. Bowser sued Western State Hospital and the state Department of Social and Health Services, which oversees the facility, claiming abuse and neglect. The agency declined to stored in their fat, making the killer whales more suscepti- ble to disease by a suppressed immune system. The main food source for orcas is Chi- nook salmon, which are not as numerous as they once were. WANTED Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber Northwest Hardwoods • Longview, WA Contact: John Anderson • 360-269-2500 Jonathan House/Portland Tribune Andrea Williams, executive director of Causa, a statewide immigrant rights group, speaks to reporters about the launch of the official campaign against Initiative Petition 22, which would repeal Oregon’s 31-year-old sanctuary law. a person’s only crime is being in the country illegally. Reese appeared with San- dra McDonough of the Port- land Business Alliance on Monday at the Northwest Health Foundation in Portland to explain why they oppose Initiative Petition 22. The appearance was one of five events held around the state to mark the beginning of the campaign against the repeal, Oregonians United Against Profiling. More than 80 businesses, labor organizations, faith and civil rights groups and law enforcement leaders have joined the coalition against IP 22. Other law enforcement leaders, including Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel, also have expressed support for the sanctuary law. On the national level, the International Association of Chiefs of Police and other police organizations have opposed involving local law enforcement in federal immi- gration enforcement. The Oregonians United Against Profiling campaign against IP 22 earned that name from the history of the sanctu- ary law, said Andrea Williams, executive director of Causa, a statewide immigrant rights organization. “At that time, Oregonians, including U.S. citizens, were being harassed by local police demanding to see their papers, and people were afraid to go to the police for help,” she said. Oregon lawmakers passed the sanctuary law in 1987 in response to widespread racial profiling of immigrants. In one high-profile case in 1977, Del- miro Trevino, a U.S. citizen of Mexican descent, was arrested at a restaurant in Independence because police suspected that he was undocumented. He later filed a class-action suit, and his lawyer, Rocky Bari- lla, went on to win election in 1986 as a state representative — becoming the first Latino elected to that position in the state’s history. He introduced the legislation that established the sanctuary law, winning support from both Democrats and Republicans. “The most important job for local police is solving local crimes and keeping commu- nities safe,” Williams said. “Police need the trust of the community to do their jobs.” Cynthia Kendoll, president of Oregonians for Immigration Reform, who helped organize signature gathering for IP 22, was not immediately available for comment. But Kendoll has said in the past that part of the goal of the initiative is to pre- vent undocumented immi- grants from using local ser- vices intended for Oregonians. IP 22 appears likely to land on the November ballot after sponsors turned in more than 110,000 signatures to the Ore- gon Secretary of State’s Office by the deadline. The secretary of state’s office is in the process of veri- fying the signatures. Ron and Sherry Howser of Oceanside, Ca. observed their 40th anniversary with re-commitment vows and a ceremony on June 17, 2018 at the home of her parents Ken and DeLores Richards of Astoria. In celebration, songs were provided by their son Nick and wife Ashley, sister Lori and friend Dale, and her parents. The couple dressed in Ruby Red colors in commemoration of 40 years. Sherry and Ron were married in Clatskanie, Oregon on June 17, 1978 at the Church of Christ. Sherry was raised in Clatskanie and the couple met after graduation. They have sons Nick Howser (Portland) and Jon Howser (Kelso).
