Head of DHHS demands discipline

Cherry Hospital closes the ward where a neglected patient died, and 15 staff members are reassigned

The man whom Gov. Mike Easley charged with fixing North Carolina's mental health system said Friday that hospital administrators failed to properly discipline employees responsible for leaving a patient without food for nearly a full day before he died.

Dempsey Benton, head of the state agency that oversees the state mental hospitals, said that Jack St. Clair, director of Cherry Hospital in Goldsboro, has been ordered to re-examine the discipline, which ranged from counseling to five-day suspensions. The discipline was too lenient, Benton said, especially in a case in which a patient was neglected. Benton, in response to questions, said he would support a criminal investigation if warranted.

Fifteen of the 16 hospital employees who administrators determined had some responsibility for the man's poor care still work there. The other employee, a registered nurse, resigned during an investigation.

Benton, who this year vowed greater transparency in hospital operations, said Cherry failed in its responsibility to notify him and the public about the circumstances surrounding the April 29 death of Steven Sabock.

The death of Sabock, 50, came to light only when a federal investigation revealed it this month. Staff neglect of Sabock is one reason that Cherry is in danger of losing its federal funding.

Closing the ward

On Friday, Cherry closed the 23-bed ward where Sabock died. The fifteen staff members were removed from jobs providing direct patient care. They will be given other assignments for 60 days and required to go through additional training and, in Benton's term, re-education. If St. Clair decides they are ready, those employees will be able to return to jobs caring for patients but will work under a training supervisor, Benton said.

Sabock died after sitting in a chair more than 22 hours without food or help going to the bathroom. An autopsy showed that he died of a heart condition.

Benton expressed confidence in St. Clair, who has been the hospital director 2 1/2 years.

"He's done some good things," Benton said. "We didn't get this one right."

St. Clair, who did not attend the news conference, did not return a telephone call Friday.

Outrage abounds

Sabock's death is being used by critics nationwide as an example of poor government medical care. Patient advocates, news commentators and the public have been outraged about the trickle of information about discipline of negligent staff at Cherry. The internal hospital investigation showed at least two employees falsified hospital records in the case. The hospital's standards manager, Mabel Suddreth, who is responsible for internal investigations and developing plans to correct problems, has been removed from that job and given other duties.

The patient advocacy group Disability Rights North Carolina launched its own investigation this week. Vicki Smith, the group's executive director, said the preliminary investigation showed that staff conspired to "cover up the circumstances of Mr. Sabock's death by falsifying records."

The moves Benton announced could bring some improvement, Smith said, but "I don't have the same confidence that Secretary Benton has in St. Clair's ability to change the direction of the organization."

She said her staff will monitor Cherry more frequently.

Security video recorded Sabock sitting in the dayroom, akin to the living room of a hospital ward, largely unattended while staff played cards and watched television. Staff did not follow a doctor's orders for giving Sabock fluids or checking his vital signs.