__________________ Œlu' IJnrtlauh (© h seruer___
January 23. 2 00 8
L aw & J ustice
Page B3
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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
•». .
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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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Corey Pritchett
way. A few weeks later, she didn't
have enough money to buy C hrist­
mas presents. 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."
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Endangered Missing
JOSEPH FRAZIER
Current Age: 17
Date Missing: (kt. 24.2007
Missing From: T u k w ila. W A
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RENESSA HARPER
Current Age: 9
Date Missing: Aug. 3,2007
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Kenessa may be in the company of
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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
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