Ancora--From the Asbury Park Press 19 Feb 2008
WINSLOW — Slowly, progress is being made toward fixing years of long-standing problems at Ancora Psychiatric Hospital, says Assistant Human Services Commissioner Kevin Martone.
A community warning system, which failed in December, has been improved so that nearby residents will be called the next time a patient escapes from the hospital grounds, Martone said. Staff must now contact police immediately if a patient is unaccounted for instead of looking for the patient first. A new, higher fence outside and new cameras inside will improve security.
To cut down on overtime and payroll abuse, the hospital will be installing time clocks.
In 2006, 300 employees each received at least $10,000 in overtime pay. Almost $9.1 million of Ancora's $85 million budget, or 10.7 percent, was spent on overtime. None of the employees are currently required to punch a time clock. But that will change, Martone said.
The 37-year-old assistant commissioner, appointed to make reforms by former acting Gov. Richard J. Codey, said he thinks many staff members are welcoming reforms.
"I think we still have staff that we need to get more engaged in therapeutic activities with patients. But I think that's part of the culture change that Greg (Roberts, the new chief executive officer) and I have been talking about for a while now.
"It's going to take a little bit of time to get everyone into that mindset," he said.
He said he and Roberts have been meeting constantly with the people at all levels of the hospital to explain the changes they want to make. Essentially, instead of patients watching TV and wasting days as they may have done in previous years, Martone and Roberts say they want patients to be getting therapy so that they have the best chance of rejoining society.
"We've done a lot of changes," Martone said. "I think we've got more to go. What's interesting to me, at some of the meetings we've had down there, is you've got a group of very dedicated staff who are frankly" angered "about what's been going on at the hospital for a long time.
"And that's the group that we want to tap into. That's the group that we want to help us make the turn down there. Not every employee down there is a bad employee. In fact, most of them are good employees."
A community warning system, which failed in December, has been improved so that nearby residents will be called the next time a patient escapes from the hospital grounds, Martone said. Staff must now contact police immediately if a patient is unaccounted for instead of looking for the patient first. A new, higher fence outside and new cameras inside will improve security.
To cut down on overtime and payroll abuse, the hospital will be installing time clocks.
In 2006, 300 employees each received at least $10,000 in overtime pay. Almost $9.1 million of Ancora's $85 million budget, or 10.7 percent, was spent on overtime. None of the employees are currently required to punch a time clock. But that will change, Martone said.
The 37-year-old assistant commissioner, appointed to make reforms by former acting Gov. Richard J. Codey, said he thinks many staff members are welcoming reforms.
"I think we still have staff that we need to get more engaged in therapeutic activities with patients. But I think that's part of the culture change that Greg (Roberts, the new chief executive officer) and I have been talking about for a while now.
"It's going to take a little bit of time to get everyone into that mindset," he said.
He said he and Roberts have been meeting constantly with the people at all levels of the hospital to explain the changes they want to make. Essentially, instead of patients watching TV and wasting days as they may have done in previous years, Martone and Roberts say they want patients to be getting therapy so that they have the best chance of rejoining society.
"We've done a lot of changes," Martone said. "I think we've got more to go. What's interesting to me, at some of the meetings we've had down there, is you've got a group of very dedicated staff who are frankly" angered "about what's been going on at the hospital for a long time.
"And that's the group that we want to tap into. That's the group that we want to help us make the turn down there. Not every employee down there is a bad employee. In fact, most of them are good employees."
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