The state will try to find money to help Cherry Hospital in Goldsboro compensate for its loss of federal funds, a top state administrator said Friday.

Cherry Hospital, one of the state's mental hospitals, found out this week that the federal government is not going to provide about $800,000 a month in insurance payments for some poor patients the hospital treats because inspectors determined the hospital is dangerous. Cherry's budget this year is about $73.8 million.

Earlier this week, one of the state's top mental health officials said that the state might not have enough money to make up for the federal loss and that a leaner budget could affect hospital operations.

In a prepared statement, state Health and Human Services Secretary Dempsey Benton said Gov. Mike Easley assured him he would "do all within his power" to find money to supplement Cherry's budget.

The federal government's action speaks to the need find out how the hospital's problems developed and to restore public confidence in Cherry, Benton said.

"I will take whatever actions I deem necessary in order to make Cherry Hospital a safe and secure environment for the patients under its responsibility," he said.

State administrators have called Cherry's problems systemic. A glimpse of what that means for patient care and staff working conditions is illustrated in lengthy federal investigators' reports.

In early August, investigators found that a patient, Steven Sabock, was left sitting in a chair for more than 22 hours without food while staff members in the room played cards and watched television. Sabock, 50, died of a heart condition April 29, after his day without food.

While the hospital was in the midst of re-educating staff on proper patient care as part of its improvement plan, two hospital workers were accused of beating a patient.

When inspectors returned to Cherry in late August they found that hospital staffers were afraid to report patient abuse for fear of retaliation. Inspectors also faulted oversight in a case where a man known to be dangerous broke another patient's cheekbone while a group was left unsupervised.

The hospital has closed the ward where Sabock died, and the state hired a hospital management company for a plan to fix Cherry.

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