Tag: Mildred Mitchell-Bateman Hospital

DHHR Asks W.Va. Supreme Court to Stay Mental Hospital Orders

  A state agency has asked the West Virginia Supreme Court to stay three circuit court orders regarding the state’s psychiatric hospitals.

Kanawha County Circuit Court Judge Duke Bloom issued the orders in an ongoing case centering on the treatment of patients and employees at the hospitals.

One order involves employee pay at William R. Sharpe Jr. Hospital in Weston and Mildred Mitchell-Bateman Hospital in Huntington. Another requires the DHHR to immediately reduce the number of patients at each hospital.

The third order directs the agency to implement a plan to ease staffing shortages.

The Department of Health and Human Resources requested the stay last week and amended its request Monday, asking for a ruling prior to Sept. 16, when the Division of Personnel meets to consider the proposed pay raises.

Plan Approved to Ease Staff Shortages at Two W.Va. Hospitals

A judge has approved a plan to ease staff shortages at two West Virginia psychiatric hospitals.
 
According to media reports, Kanawha County Circuit Judge Duke Bloom approved the plan for the Department of Health and Human resources hospitals.

 
In doing so, he dismissed potential contempt charges against the department for failure to comply with court orders.

 
The plan involves the William R. Sharpe Jr. Hospital in Weston and the Mildred Mitchell-Bateman Hospital in Huntington.

 
Under the plan, DHHR will order market rate studies for both hospitals to determine competitive wages for direct-care workers.

 
The plan also would institute a special hiring rate and 3-percent retention incentives each year, but would not include additional incentives for years served. 
 

W.Va. Agency in Contempt of Mental Health Orders

A judge has ordered two West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources officials to appear in court later this month after finding the agency in contempt of court orders regarding the state’s psychiatric hospitals.

The DHHR also must immediately reduce the number of patients at William R. Sharpe Jr. Hospital in Weston and at Mildred-Mitchell Bateman Hospital in Huntington to ease understaffing.
 
The Charleston Gazette reports Kanawha County Circuit Court Judge Duke Bloom issued the order on Tuesday.
 
Bloom directed Health and Human Resources Secretary Karen Bowling and Bureau for Behavioral Health and Health Facilities commissioner Victoria Jones to appear at a show-cause hearing on July 15.

Jones told the newspaper in a statement that none of the bureau’s actions warrants a contempt order.
 

Judge Nixes W.Va. Plans for Fixing Psychiatric Hospitals

  A Kanawha County judge has rejected a state agency’s plan to address issues at West Virginia’s two psychiatric hospitals.

The judge on Wednesday rejected proposals submitted by the state Department of Health and Human Resources regarding William R. Sharpe Hospital in Weston and Mildred Mitchell-Bateman Hospital in Huntington.

The hospitals have been the focus of an ongoing court case centered on the appropriate treatment of mental-health patients remanded to state care.

Other issues included staffing shortages and noncompetitive wages for workers. One of the proposals included privatizing the facilities.

The Charleston Gazette reports that the department has been ordered to develop alternate proposals within 10 days.

Plan Ordered for W.Va. Psychiatric Hospital Issues

The Department of Health and Human Resources is facing a June 11 deadline to come up with a plan to address issues at the state’s two psychiatric hospitals.
 
These issues include staffing shortages and noncompetitive wages for workers.
 
The Charleston Gazette reports that Kanawha County Circuit Court Judge Louis “Duke” Bloom ordered the plan on Tuesday. Bloom said the court might develop its own plan if the DHHR doesn’t submit one.

As of March 30, there were 48 vacant positions at William R. Sharpe Hospital in Weston and 41 vacancies at Mildred Mitchell-Bateman Hospital in Huntington.
 
Both hospitals also lack critical-care staff that put them in violation of state code.
 
Bloom’s order came in a case originally filed in 1981 that dealt with the treatment of mental health patients.
 
 

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