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In the interest of speed and timeliness, this story is fed directly from the Associated Press newswire and may contain spelling or grammatical errors.
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LA mental health facility fined for violations
Thursday March 27, 2003
LOS ANGELES (AP) One of two mental-health facilities under
investigation for a series of patient escapes and other violations
was fined $3,000 because an employee allegedly had sex with a
schizophrenic patient.
County officials are also looking into whether the facility,
Sylmar Health and Rehabilitation Center, acted negligently in
failing to stop a mentally ill patient from swallowing two pencils
and a toothbrush earlier this month.
Inspectors from the state and county launched a surprise
inspection of Sylmar and its adjacent sister facility, Foothill
Health and Rehabilitation Center, earlier this month because of
concerns about lax supervision.
The fine predates the inspection for an employee who allegedly
had sex with a patient after she asked him for a kiss. The
citation, which normally carries up to a $1,000 fine, was tripled
because of previous patient-care violations.
In response to the citation, Sylmar's administrator, Cherlyn
Hawkins, wrote that the employee involved had been fired and that
staff training would be held each quarter to avoid such problems.
In addition, patients will be encouraged to report any sexual
advances by the staff, she said.
Los Angeles County has paid $41 million since 1998, including
$8.9 million in the fiscal year ending in June, to house severely
mentally ill patients at the two locked psychiatric facilities.
Last year alone, at least 50 residents escaped or attempted to flee
from Foothill and Sylmar, both owned by Golden State Health Centers
Inc.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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