Nurses and staff at Tewksbury State Hospital say that the Massachusetts Department of Health has had a change of heart, and agreed to reinstate the use of security tools after several violent incidents last month.
A spokesperson for the state Office of Health and Human Services confirmed to GBH News that it has “agreed to an approach that will involve reinstating defensive weapons for security staff in non-clinical spaces within the hospital but will continue to prohibit them from clinical spaces.”
In April, the hospital banned staffers from using pepper gel, batons and handcuffs.
Last week, after a series of violent incidents by patients within the hospital last month, the MNA and other hospital unions met with state leaders to discuss the security situation and ongoing changes they’d like to see for patients and staff.
As a result of those meetings, in coming days, security officers at Tewksbury will be equipped with pepper gel, baton, and handcuffs, and authorized to use them except in areas where patients receive clinical services, including inpatient wards, treatment rooms, and procedure rooms.
During patrols, the officers will secure the tools in “rapid-access locked safes,” and in situations involving patients or visitors who are displaying aggressive or threatening behavior or armed with a weapon, security staff will call local police.
MNA spokesperson David Schildmeier said the union is pleased that the state has reconsidered, but said more needs to be done to keep patients and staff safe.
“This is an important development for the safety of our staff and patients, but we need to go father to deal with the root cause of this violence, which is the increase in the forensic population at these facilities, and that must include the creation of forensic units specific to this population, which is key to preventing these assaults occurring in the first place,” Schildmeier said.
The MNA maintains that 70% of the population at the hospital are forensic patients or those adult patients requiring mental health treatment that involved in the criminal justice system.
The state disputes that figure and said it’s much closer to between 30%, and says that pepper gel has only been used at the hospital twice in the last 10 years.
During the month the complete ban was in effect, Tewksbury Police Department had responded several times to security calls at the hospital.
Ryan Wilkins, is a nurse at TSH said it’s been a long 30 days of working under difficult conditions.
“It’s an important development, but we really need to get a handle on how to take care of this very unique and complex forensic population, and to make sure our staff are prepared to respond appropriately,” he said.
