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Hospital Downsizing and Patients' Assaults on Staff

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Abstract

Although the downsizing and closing of state mental hospitals is occurring with increasing frequency nationwide, there appears to be only one case study of the clinical impacts of downsizing state hospitals. In this study, Snyder7 reported a four-fold increase in frequency of assaults on staff as the hospital census decreased. The present paper is a second case study of state hospital downsizing and closing in which the frequency of assaults on staff decreased by 63%. Possible explanations for the two differing outcomes are considered, and some general guidelines for the downsizing and closing of state hospitals are proposed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Massachusetts Department of Mental Health. Faculty of Harvard Medical School in the Department of Psychiatry. Department of Psychiatry, The Cambridge Hospital, Cambridge, MA, 02139

    Raymond B. Jr. Flannery (Director of Training)

  2. The Massachusetts Department of Mental Health, Faculty of Harvard Medical School in the Department of Psychiatry, USA

    M. Annette Hanson (Deputy Commissioner for Clinical and Professional Services)

  3. the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health, Faculty of Harvard Medical School in the Department of Psychiatry, USA

    Walter E. Penk (Director of Evaluation Research)

  4. The Massachusetts Department of Mental Health, USA

    Gary J. Pastva (Assistant Commissioner of Quality Management) & Marc A. Navon

  5. The Assaulted Staff Action Program, USA

    Georgina J. Flannery (Research Associate)

Authors
  1. Raymond B. Jr. Flannery
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  2. M. Annette Hanson
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  3. Walter E. Penk
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  4. Gary J. Pastva
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  5. Marc A. Navon
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  6. Georgina J. Flannery
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Flannery, R.B.J., Hanson, M.A., Penk, W.E. et al. Hospital Downsizing and Patients' Assaults on Staff. Psychiatr Q 68, 67–76 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025409222084

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025409222084

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