Universal Health Services: Patient Protection Agency Releases Disturbing Report on Psychiatric Institute of Washington

July 8, 2021

Disability Rights DC, a private, non-profit legal service agency, which is the federally mandated protection and advocacy program for people with disabilities in the District, is accusing the Psychiatric Institute of Washington (PIW) of “very disturbing specific and systemic failures.”

In a report released this month, Disability Rights DC published details of its multiple investigations into allegations of abuse and neglect, including one death, at PIW over the past few years.

“PIW is one of 400 facilities owned by Universal Health Services (UHS), a large corporate entity that provides healthcare services nationally,” says the report. “UHS-operated behavioral health services have received criticism nationally, recently culminating in a $122 million civil settlement with the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) in 2020. Allegations made in lawsuits that were resolved as a result of this DOJ settlement include the failure to provide adequate staffing, training, and supervision of staff, as well as the improper use of restraint and seclusion.”

Among other allegations are “the failure to discharge patients when hospitalization was no longer necessary, the failure to develop and/or update treatment plans, and the failure to provide adequate psychotherapy and discharge planning.”

The Psychiatric Institute of Washington (“PIW”) is the only private, for-profit hospital in the District, that specializes in psychiatric and substance use disorders.

A patient named William Grant died at the facility on April 26, 2020 due to the institute’s alleged failure to initiate timely, potentially lifesaving measures, including CPR. Grant became unresponsive and seemingly stopped breathing while he was left unattended by nursing staff on the day he died, according to the report, which attributes the claim to video footage.

“Although a physician ordered Mr. Grant to receive 1:1 staffing for safety purposes, nursing staff failed to follow this order. Inexplicably, once staff, including nursing staff, discovered him in this condition, they did not act: PIW staff failed to properly assess him, failed to perform CPR, and failed to provide any potentially lifesaving measures for at least 21 minutes,” the report explains.

Disability Rights DC additionally concluded that PIW staff’s documentation of the circumstances surrounding Grant’s death conflicted with the videotape footage in question.

In addition, sexual assault allegations involving staff have not been properly investigated, the report says.

The report also accuses the DC Department of Health of failing “to adequately investigate the allegations of neglect related to Mr. Grant’s death.”

Source: Jane Smith, “Disability Rights DC Releases ‘Disturbing’ Report on Psychiatric Institute of Washington,” DC Post, June 22, 2021, URL: https://thedcpost.com/psychiatric-institute-of-washington-abuse/