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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 23, 2008)
__________________ Œlu' IJnrtlauh (© h seruer___ January 23. 2 00 8 L aw & J ustice Page B3 r — 300 N. Killingsworth | Phone (A P )— T heU .S. D epartm enlof Justice has found num erous civil- rights violations o f patients at the Oregon State Hospital. In a report released Jan. 16, fed eral investigators listed inadequate conditions and practices at the mental hospital ranging from life- threatening use o f restraints to widespread patient-on-patient as sault. Federal law entitles patients to certain standards o f care. State health officials say many im provem ents have been m ade since the investigation took place in 2006, but acknow ledged prob lems still exist. "The conditions reported ... are com pletely unacceptable," said Dr. B ru c e G o ld b e rg , d ir e c to r o f O regon's D epartment o f Human Services. "It’s unacceptable as a state and it’s unacceptable for us as a state hospital for the health and w ell-being o f our patients.” The Oregon State Hospital is the state’s primary psychiatric facility for adults, which has a main hospi tal in Salem and other satellite facili ties. O fficials found violations in Sa lem and at its smaller Portland cam pus, which is used for psychiatric rehabilitation. Some o f the cases highlighted in the 48-page report include: Nearly 400 cases o f patient- against-patient assault over one year. Infection control issues such as mice in rooms, deaths from pneu m onia and outbreaks o f norovirus and scabies. Patients injuring them selves, including multiple suicide attempts, while under staff observation. Failure to follow com m on stan dards of care: A patient with a dis order that causes excessive thirst was left at the w ater fountain and gained 13 pounds in w ater weight in one day. Patients being put in seclusion indefinitely: One patient had been in seclusion for a year with no other treatm ent when investigators ar rived. O ther issues included im proper m edication, failure to diagnose mental health conditions, im proper use o f restraints, nurses w orking excessive overtim e and patients waiting for discharge for more than a year after being approved. T h e rep o rt sets o ut re c o m m ended changes but does not set tim elines to com plete them. It is the latest in a series o f critical looks at the hospital. M ultiple state-com m issioned reports found m ajor health and safety dangers there, prim arily from the crum bling cen tury-old facility in Salem. The Oregon Legislature last year authorized $458 million to build two new state-operated hospitals by 2013, including a 620-bed hospital in Salem and a 360-bed facility in Junction City. Officer who Killed Unarmed Motorist Hired Sery w as cleared o f any w rong doing, but the sh o o tin g sparked a p u b lic o u tc r y a n d le d M ultnom ah C ounty D istrict A t torney M ichael S chrunk to hold a public inquest. Sery resig n ed a few m onths later, saying he had d ecid ed to becom e a teacher. He has taught 11 th g rad ers at S o u th w est C h ris tian School, w hich is affiliated w ith S outhw est B ible C hurch, a n o n d e n o m in a tio n a l ch u rc h in B eaverton. H e's also w orked in the college m inistry and oth er m in istries, said Scott G ilch rist, senior pastor. "We com pleted an extensive For police work in Beaverton (A P )— A form er police officer w ho fatally shot an unarm ed A f rican-A m erican m otorist in the St. J o h n ’s n eig h b o rh o o d o f north P ortland has been hired by the B eaverton P olice D epartm ent. Jason S ery, 32, shot Jam es Jah ar P erez three tim es during a traffic stop in 2004. Sery claim ed he saw P erez pull a clen ch ed fist from his right pocket, thinking he w as p ulling out a gun. A second o ffic er, S ean M acom ber, then fired his T ase r gun at Perez. Jason Sery ‘Pastor’ Sentenced to Prison for Fraud Z'»YI w «'.z •». . .,*•«. • Victims taken in real-estate scams (AP) — A man from Gresham and Sandy w hocalled him self “Pas tor C orey” to gain the trust o f vic tims in a real-estate scam was sen tenced last week to alm ost eight years in prison. Corey J. Pritchett, 44, would use clients’ money to remodel and sell houses, prom ising 30 percent re turns. O r he sold or rented homes that he didn’t own or manage. He once sold two separate people the same house on the same day. In all, P ritchett w as convicted o f 32 counts tied to scam m ing v ic tim s o u t o f an e s tim a te d $ 43,000 from 2004 to 2006. P ros ec u to rs said he ch e ated m any m ore victim s than the nine cases he w as charged w ith. Pritchett will also appear later this month in C lackam as County Circuit Court, where he faces 25 more charges o f defrauding people. The victim s repeatedly said they trusted Pritchett because he was a pastor. Investigators, how ever, said that by the tim e Pritchett was arrested in May. his congregation had been reduced to his relatives. S p e c ia l p r o s e c u to r S im o n W hang said Pritchett often took advantage o f the needy and has 44 civil judgm ents against him dating back 17 years and ow es several hundred thousand dollars. O ne victim, a single m other o f five, told the judge Pritchett had visited her home and met her chil dren, but took $ 1,000 from her any- background investigation before Officer Sery was hired," Chief David Bishop said in a statement. "Based on the background investigation, we determined Officer Sery had been cleared three tim es o f any w rong doing. His background investiga tion was probably one of the best of the best." Elden Rosenthal, the lawyer who representing the family o f Perez in acivil rights lawsuit against the city o f Portland, said he was surprised Sery has returned to police work. The law suit is on hold while the 9th U.S. C ircuit Court o f Appeals co n siders w hether the Police Bureau's use o f force policy is constitutional. Officer Guilty of Misconduct A Portland Police officer has pleaded guilty to official m iscon duct and resigned after an inves tigation into an inappropriate re lationship with a young woman w ho suffered from mental health problems. The Portland Police Bureau said that 34-year-old Jason Faulk had an inappropriate sexual relation ship with a w oman in her mid-20s who called 9 1 1 to report that she was being harassed. D etectives consulted with m en tal health professionals, the victim ’s case w orkers and prosecutors dur ing the investigation. They deter mined there were no threats or co ercion involved. Faulk was a 10- year veteran o f the Portland force. 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Another w oman said her family becam e hom eless be cause o f the $2,000 they gave Pritchett. Pritchett, who represented him self, m aintained his innocence: "At no tim e did 1 ... conspire to go out and rip anybody off." (9 7 1 ) 5 0 6 -0 9 1 4 Tues-Sat I lam -8pm Have you seen me? Swan Garden Missing and Exploited Children 6228 N. Interstate Avenue 1-800-THE-LOST APRIL JGL1.5 licensed Eitheticion N o il Tech, Shin Analyst & Make Up A r it i (Next to New Seasons on Interstate) Endangered Missing JOSEPH FRAZIER Current Age: 17 Date Missing: (kt. 24.2007 Missing From: T u k w ila. 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If you have any information please contact: The National Center for Missing anil Exploited Children 1-800-THE-LOST ( 1-800-843-5678) This public service announcement provided by the Portland Observer Newspaper. , (503) 286-1339 [ Civil Rights Repeatedly Violated State hospital has range of ills n Sun - Thu. 11 a.m.-12 a.m. Fri-Sat 11 a.m. - 2 a.m. Free Chinese food with cocktail Every Friday - 9 p.m.-11 p.m. Newly Remodeled Restaurant & Bar | J