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DMH: No procedural
failings at facilities
(December
2004 Issue)
By Ami Albernaz
A Massachusetts Department of Mental Health investigation has
found no procedural failings in two facilities from which a patient
escaped prior to allegedly killing another patient at a third facility.
McLean Hospital in Belmont and Arbour-HRI Hospital in Brookline
were the targets of the investigation after Bradley Burns, 29, allegedly
strangled William Mosher, 32, at Bridgewater State Hospital on August
28. The investigation was intended to determine if information about
Burns's behavior had been properly passed on between facilities.
Three weeks prior to the incident at Bridgewater, Burns had reportedly
choked a staff member at McLean to escape that facility, and took
a patient hostage at Arbour-HRI the next day in order to flee that
one, according to published reports.
Although there were no adverse findings of the investigation against
McLean and Arbour-HRI, important clinical information did not make
it to the Arbour-HRI staff, says DMH chief of staff Lester Blumberg,
J.D. Prior to Burns's admittance to Arbour-HRI and after his escape
from McLean, he had been held briefly at Mount Auburn Hospital.
A fax from Mount Auburn indicating that Burns posed a threat to
others was sent to Arbour-HRI, but was not found until after Burns
escaped the facility, Blumberg says.
The DMH recommended that Arbour-HRI improve its handling of documents,
Blumberg says, and that faxes from other facilities and pertaining
to patients' behavior go directly to the Arbour admissions staff.
During the investigation, Arbour-HRI spokesperson Judy Merel said
the facility "didn't have all the information we would have liked"
when Burns was admitted. She could not be reached for comment following
the investigation. Cindy Lepore, a spokesperson for McLean, declined
comment on the case.
The state Department of Corrections launched its own review of
conditions at Bridgewater State at the time of the killing, to determine
why Burns was permitted to access other patients at Bridgewater
State in spite of the previous choking assaults, says Kelly Nantel,
a spokesperson for the department. A review conducted immediately
after the alleged murder found that staffing had been adequate and
all policies and procedures properly in place, Nantel told Massachusetts
Psychologist. The current investigation will determine whether changes
in the hospital's policies and procedures are necessary.
Burns was charged with murder in Brockton District Court on August
30.
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