UConn Health adding 37 positions to stabilize children’s psychiatric hospital

UConn Health is adding 37 positions and has deployed private security guards as it works to address staffing, safety and regulatory issues at a state-owned psychiatric hospital for adolescents, according to a report presented to a UConn board committee. The update, included in materials for the Sept. 17 meeting of UConn’s Joint Audit and Compliance Committee, details efforts to stabilize the Albert J. Solnit Children’s Center’s South Campus in Middletown, which provides inpatient psychiatric care for adolescents with serious mental health needs. UConn Health assumed responsibility for the hospital’s operations and regulatory compliance after the 50-bed facility was transferred to John Dempsey Hospital’s license April 15. Solnit’s employees and facilities remain under the state Department of Children and Families. The report said significant staffing, facility and regulatory challenges emerged during the transition. The state Office of Policy and Management has approved 14 registered nurse and 23 children’s services worker positions, and recruitment is underway. Temporary nurses are being brought in while permanent workers are hired, and higher overtime rates are being offered to help cover shifts, according to the report. A private security firm has been hired, with guards trained and deployed in inpatient units. An independent monitor is also working on-site 40 hours a week, and new procedures have been established to review and investigate incidents. Bond funding has been approved for building improvements, including new exterior, security and patient-room doors, upgrades to nurses’ stations and additional security cameras. In a statement, UConn Health said the staffing and operational changes are intended to ensure Solnit consistently provides “safe, high-quality care” to children and families. It said it is working with DCF and other state partners on longer-term policy and facility improvements. UConn Health expects Solnit’s operations to stabilize meaningfully within two to four months, although larger facility and infrastructure improvements will take longer, according to the presentation. The transfer made Solnit a satellite of John Dempsey Hospital, UConn Health’s flagship facility in Farmington. It also helped UConn Health remain eligible for a federal drug-discount program by increasing the hospital system’s share of low-income patients. UConn Health had faced the potential loss of approximately $60 million in annual savings if it fell below the program’s eligibility threshold.