Parkland staffers defending themselves in a civil rights lawsuit are now disputing findings of the 2011 regulatory report that sparked a massive government crackdown on dangers at the hospital.
Parkland Memorial Hospital is still grappling with a cultural demon: staff violence against mentally ill patients.
The reality check has surfaced on two fronts, we revealed in Sunday’s edition.
Our main story described how in March a psychiatric ER nurse shoved a toilet paper roll into a patient’s mouth while another staffer covered her head with a sheet. “Blood stains can be seen on the toilet tissue” after removal, said a police report that drew on surveillance camera footage.
Texas regulations clearly prohibit force that interferes with a patient’s ability to breathe or communicate. Even more, the incident comes three years after the seminal abuse case of Parkland psych patient George Cornell.
The federal investigative report detailing illegal physical restraint used on him shortly before he died sparked a sweeping safety crackdown, a virtual government takeover, and repeated pledges by Parkland to develop a safe, compassionate culture for psych ER patients. Officials also promised to retrain or get rid of problem employees.
Yet we found that the same supervising nurse regulators faulted for failing to monitor Cornell’s restraint – Sherwin De Guzman – was at the scene of the recent gagging incident. Parkland officials released a statement on Monday saying the staff involved in the March case had been trained on safe use of restraints, and called their actions “unacceptable.” Two were fired, two resigned and a fifth received “corrective action.”
