Napa State Hospital Employee Hurt In Latest Assault
NAPA (CBS SF) – A psychiatric technician at Napa State Hospital was injured Sunday when a male patient became agitated and aggressive, a psychiatric technicians' union representative said Monday.
"This is just another day on the job with us," said Brad Leggs, president of the California Association of Psychiatric Technicians.
KCBS' Chris Filippi Reports:
The patient became agitated late Sunday morning with a female psychiatric technician's assistant and started swinging, Leggs said.
The inmate punched a male psychiatric technician in the face when he intervened, Leggs said. The technician went to the hospital's medical unit and then went home and was to see his private physician, Leggs said.
The inmate was not arrested, Leggs said. The Napa County Sheriff's Office did not respond to the incident, Capt. Tracey Stuart said.
The inmate, who had previous confrontations, was in the area of the hospital that houses patients sent there on criminal cases, Leggs said.
Jennifer Turner, spokeswoman for the California Department of Mental Health, said in a prepared statement that on Sunday "a forensic patient assaulted staff resulting in minor injuries to a few staff. Hospital police responded to the scene and worked with staff to de-escalate the situation."
The attack comes just a month after Napa State Hospital was fined $100,000 for safety violations by the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health.
Cal-OSHA said the facility did not do enough to protect workers after psychiatric technician Donna Gross was strangled in October.
37-year-old patient Jess Massey is scheduled to go to trial for her murder later this year.
Two other hospital employees have been attacked in recent months.
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