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January 23. 2 00 8
L aw & J ustice
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(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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Missing and Exploited Children
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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
Joseph was last seen wearing a black
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RENESSA HARPER
Current Age: 9
Date Missing: Aug. 3,2007
Missing From: N o rth H o lly w o o d , CA
Kenessa may be in the company of
her non-cuslodial mother; she may
use the alias last name McGrue.
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
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