The number of assaults on employees by patients at a state mental health facility in Hagerstown has jumped in the past year.
Statistics released to The Baltimore Sun in response to a public records request show that there were 121 injuries to employees at the Potomac Center during the 12 months that ended June 30. There were 76 in the previous year.
AFSCME, the union that represents the workers, called a news conference at the Hagerstown facility last month to protest the growing number of assaults on its members at facilities operated by the state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
The union focused on the Potomac Center, but representatives said assaults were a growing problem at other facilities as well.
Assaults are down at three other large department facilities that treat seriously mentally ill patients, many of whom entered the system as a result of criminal activity.
Data for the Clifton T. Perkins, Springfield and Spring Grove hospital centers show that the three facilities were poised to close out budget years with small to significant decreases in assaults on workers.
In the case of Springfield, located in Sykesville, assaults by patients caused 37 injuries in the 10 months that ended April 30. There were 66 during the previous 12 months.
The Potomac Center is more troubled. Assaults there have been in double digits for 11 of the past 15 months.
Christopher Garrett, a department spokesman, said the center's managers can't explain the spike.
Jeff Pittman, a spokesman for AFSCME Council 3, said the union is not surprised by the improvement at the other three hospitals. He said the union and management have been working together closely to reduce violence at those facilities.
He said the Potomac Center is a campus-like facility that traditionally has specialized in treating patients with developmental disabilities, but the courts have been referring more difficult and dangerous patients to the department, which has been housing them at the Potomac Center without beefing up security.
Pittman did not blame the facility's managers.
"Most employees feel like management is supportive, but they are not empowered to hire enough staff to ensure security for patients or workers," Pittman said. "This rests with the governor."
Doug Mayer, a spokesman for Gov. Larry Hogan, said the union had its facts wrong. The governor has increased the department's funding, he said, and will continue to make it a priority.
"At some point, we hope that the AFSCME leadership will stop their foolish and erroneous blame games and be willing to work with the administration on ideas that really change Maryland for the better," Mayer said.
twitter.com/michaeltdresser