Norristown State Hospital 'An Atrocity' Amid Coronavirus: Workers

NORRISTOWN, PA — There have been dozens of positive cases of coronavirus at Norristown State Hospital among both patients and staff, and staff members have experienced a severe shortage of cleaning supplies and personal protective equipment to protect themselves against the outbreak, according to two present employees and one former employee who did not wish to be identified under fear of reprisals. Additionally, workers say they are being pressured to not report symptoms of the virus.

The state has declined to confirm the total number of cases, and they also provided a very different picture of the cleaning supplies and protective gear situation, saying supplies are being monitored daily and that the hospital is following all of the guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and from the Department of Health.

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"The Department of Human Services and leadership at Norristown State Hospital are unequivocally committed to keeping staff and residents safe during the COVID-19 public health crisis," a spokesperson for the Department said in a statement.

Norristown State Hospital is one of six state-run, long-term psychiatric facilities presently in operation. There are 120 forensic beds for general psychiatric patients, and 255 beds reserved for the Regional Psychiatric Forensic Unit. Long-term care facilities have come under increased scrutiny in Montgomery County in the past week, as 138 of the county's deaths have been residents of such homes, as of Monday afternoon. There are hundreds of cases countywide in both residents and staff.

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According to one employee who has worked for Norristown State Hospital for more than 10 years, there were 50 cases of coronavirus between both patients and staff as of Wednesday, April 15. There were also at least 30 patients with fevers who had not yet been tested, according to that employee.

"This is an atrocity, and scary to think that people who work there are potentially bringing the virus back into the communities where they live," a former employee familiar with the situation at the Hospital said.

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Employees claimed that testing for employees and staff had been restricted because the Hospital had run out of tests. The state rejected those claims as misleading, saying it had never been the policy to test all staff. All residents and staff " who demonstrate high risk for exposure or symptoms" of the virus continue to be tested, as they were from the beginning, officials said. They added that they are in the process of acquiring more testing equipment and supplies that will enable more testing to be done at numerous locations around the state, including Norristown State Hospital.

Staff are presently being trained on use and maintenance of this testing equipment, and the state said this increased testing would be available in the "near future." They did not provide an estimated date.

While the state says that all employees "are using PPE according to current guidance issued by the CDC and the Department of Health," staff say the quantity of protective gear has been insufficient. Specifically, two employees report that they were each given two N-95 masks and told that was all they would be receiving. The heart of the conflict seems to lie at what the Hospital is deeming as a high-risk area, on the one hand, and what employees consider to be high-risk.

"The kinds of PPE utilized may vary based upon the risk of exposure per area to which staff are assigned, but some level of PPE is mandatory and being provided for all staff on the campus," the Department of Human Services spokesperson said.

A spokesperson for State Rep. Matt Bradford (D-70) said that his office had received complaints regarding access to protective gear, and that they were assured by the Department of Human Services that all proper precautions were being taken."

The situation has led to "significant" call-outs among staff members, the state confirmed, leading to a staffing shortage. This has led to a grim situation for some who have remained, as certain staff members have been mandated to work overtime.

The state said that Norristown State Hospital's administrators are negotiating with the union to allow more flexibility in shift lengths.

The Hospital has also had to request volunteers to help staff overtime shifts, utilized upper level staff to cover overtime, and is training ancillary staff to perform a wider array of functions to help cover the staffing shortage.

Another one of the employees, a medical professional, was concerned with what they saw as misinformation in a pamphlet about the virus and safety that was distributed to staff. That pamphlet stated that "COVID-19 is not airborne." Scientists are still scrambling to understand the virus, and "airborne" can take on multiple meanings. However, the virus does travel through air, and can be transmitted through "aerosols," tiny particles in the air, according to UCLA researchers.

Further, workers are concerned that the handling of the situation, given the emotionally sensitive population of the Hospital.

"The situation is very bad and management will still has not addressed the employees about what is going on and they have not had anyone talk to the patients that are growing more and more concerned everyday," one employee said. "It can be a volatile situation when you have no information and violent offenders. This malpractice and incompetence of management has put the employees, patients, and the community at risk."

A total of 79 long term care facilities and group homes in Montgomery County have seen coronavirus cases. While Montgomery County has offered help to all of these homes, they do not oversee any of them — including Norristown, which is run by the state.

A spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services provided a lengthy statement in response to inquiries on the situation at Norristown State Hospital.

Various mitigation steps have been taken since positive cases were identified among Norristown State Hospital staff and patients. Signs are posted around Norristown State Hospital advising staff on COVID-19 mitigation and prevention procedures, including proper handwashing practices, guidance on coughing safely, and social distancing.

Norristown State Hospital has an infection control nurse on staff that sends daily reminders regarding precautions. All staff are using PPE according to current guidance issued by CDC and the PA Department of Health, and are counseled on proper use and disposal. Supplies of PPE are monitored daily.

Hospital facilities are cleaned and sanitized regularly, and extra cleaning is being done to avoid spread of COVID-19 across Norristown State Hospital’s patient units.
Hospital staff have identified areas of potential COVID-19 exposures and taken steps to isolate those areas and patients from other areas and patients in the hospital. Patients who test positive are not moved back to regular units until symptom-free as per CDC/DOH guidance. All staff serving patients in these potential exposure areas have been issued PPE with the guidance of public-health professionals.

Masks and gloves have also been provided to staff in non-exposure units. All staff who had been in contact with those who tested positive have been notified as well as all any staff working on a unit that is utilizing PPE. The department will continue to evaluate the needs of staff and patients at Norristown State Hospital and follow the guidance of public-health professionals to keep people safe from COVID-19. We are not able to release data on patients or staff at this time but are developing a data governance process that will ensure accuracy in future disclosures.

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