Gustavus students may spend four years studying and living in St. Peter and never learn the small town is home to hundreds of mentally ill and dangerous individuals.
In a random survey of 15 first-year students, none had heard of the Minnesota Security Hospital. Yet, the campus is located only a mile away from the facility.
The Minnesota Security Hospital in St. Peter was built in 1866, the first of four Security Hospitals in Minnesota meant to reduce to increasing number of mentally ill individuals filling Minnesota jails. It was quickly overflowing with patients deemed by the courts to be mentally ill and dangerous.
When it comes to treating and containing the mentally ill and dangerous, many forces have to come together. Laws have to be written and followed. There are issues of financing. And then there are the people. The patients who need proper treatment. The staff members who risk their safety, even their lives. These forces rarely work in harmony.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reported in July of 2015 that the facility already had 68 workplace injuries just this year, 54 of which were caused by aggressive patients.
The Weekly sought information regarding staff/patient contact and self-defense policies from several sources. From the Human Services Department The Weekly was redirected to the Office of Ombudsman for Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities and from there was redirected to a Minnesota Department of Services liaison.
“Generally, in situations where a patient at the Minnesota Security Hospital is acting in a way that poses an immediate threat of harm to themselves or others, staff can use seclusion and restraint,” the Minnesota Department of Human Services said. “However, there are a small number of patients at the Minnesota Security Hospital who are committed only as developmentally disabled, not as mentally ill. We cannot use any sort of mechanical restraints to restrain these patients.”
Every source seemed hesitant to talk. The Weekly was eventually able to contact a staff member at the St. Peter facility who asked to remain anonymous for fear of losing their job.
“The staff have no way to defend themselves. They have very selective moves they can use, and any expert would laugh,” they said. “The patients can get away with murder. They can literally get away with murder. And they have. It really is that crazy.”
It is clear that the current approach is not working. The facility has been making an alarming number of gruesome headlines over the past several years.
In 2014 the Security Hospital was fined after an investigation determined maltreatment had led to the death of one of their patients. Patient Darnell Dee Whitefeather was charged with murder after killing a fellow mentally ill patient, Michael Francis Douglas, according to CBS Minnesota. Whitefeather stomped on Douglas’ head as many as 30 times in an attempt to get the attention of the staff. Investigators reported it was likely Douglas was unconscious and dying for an hour and a half before staff found him. Eight days prior, Whitefeather had assaulted another patient, breaking his nose, according to the StarTribune.
The facility was fined $1,000 and had its conditional status extended. All this, after the Minnesota Security Hospital had already been placed on conditional license status in 2011 for other incidents of patient maltreatment.
In January of 2015, Senator Kathy Sheran reported the Security Hospital would have to lay off staff if they didn’t receive emergency funding. An estimated $10.4 million would be needed to keep up with staff and safety requirements.
In July of this year a female staff member at the hospital was treated for injuries after being assaulted by a patient. The patient reportedly smashed the staff member’s head into a brick wall and kicked her repeatedly.
In September, 45-year-old Patrick Grande escaped from supervision while on an outing at the Mankato River Hills Mall. The Department of Human Services reported he posed “no danger to the public” and he was located and returned to the hospital that night. Grande was committed in 1993 for aggravated robbery.
“There is a lot that isn’t in the news,” the staff source at the St. Peter facility who wished to remain anonymous said. “The only way to resolve the problems is if the people revising the laws worked at the hospital as Security Counselors for a week.”
Despite the stream of headlines and investigations, staff members continue to feel unsafe.
“When upper management is in the spotlight, they give out pretty words that could mean anything. It’s just pretty language,” the staff source said. “It’s not reformed. You have to ask the people that are actually in the field.”
On Tuesday, Governor Mark Dayton held a two hour meeting at his residence with top facility executives, state commissioners, lawmakers, security counselors, and a patient advocate, according to the Mankato Free Press. Attendants said Dayton demonstrated a “heightened sense of urgency.”
Director of Campus Safety, Carol Brewer, says Gustavus is prepared for the event that a patient at the Security Hospital might pose a threat to the campus.
“If there was an imminent threat to campus safety…an emergency message would be sent out. This is one of the reasons it is so important for all community members to keep their emergency information updated,” Brewer said. “If the threat was in a specific building, we may choose to lock down that building and/or adjacent buildings. We would, of course, work with police in providing access for an apprehension.”
Brewer added that email alerts would also keep students updated about the patient’s escape and apprehension.
The stories unfolding at the Security Hospital are relevant to the Gustavus community not just because of proximity.
Students studying law, ethics, nursing, and psychology will face the difficulties of balancing what looks good on paper, and what works in practice. Without a cohesive vision of the Security Hospital, and the needs of the staff and patients, policies will continue to fall short, and lives will continue to be at risk.