Psychiatric patient brutally beats hospital worker in northern Israel

The hospital workers are planning to strike for a half-day on Tuesday to protest the violence.

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
Updated: JUNE 19, 2017 05:46
A patient deals with stress [Illustrative] (photo credit: INGIMAGE)
A patient deals with stress [Illustrative]
(photo credit: INGIMAGE)
A patient at the Sha’ar Menashe Mental Health Center near Pardes Hanna kicked a staff member in the head on Sunday, causing a concussion and other severe physical injuries.
The worker was rushed while he was vomiting and his vision was blurred to the Hillel Yaffe Medical Center in Hadera, where he was due to undergo a CT scan of his head and treatment.
The alleged assailant is a 30-year-old patient who arrived last Wednesday for the highest level of secure hospitalization at the psychiatric hospital, after being involved in violent incidents and injuring a nurse while institutionalized in Be’er Ya’acov.
The patient hit another patient during a meal in the dining room at Sha’ar Menashe.
The hospital staff, which numbered six nursing-care workers, tried to restrain the assailant and deliver treatment to stop his fit of rage and violence. The patient managed to beat a staff member and kicked his head brutally. The rest of the crew were then able to control the unruly patient and restrain him.
The hospital workers decided to strike for a half-day on Tuesday to protest the violence.
The Health Ministry, which owns Sha’ar Menashe, said it regretted the injury and voiced appreciation to the staff for coping with the hospitalized patients. It promised to make every effort to maintain the security of the staff and patients.
The ministry recently set up a special committee to review treatment of patients in mental hospitals who are isolated or physically restrained. The committee is expected to examine new methods of intervention, the ministry said.
“The resources we allocate are far from sufficient,” said Health Ministry Director-General Moshe Bar Siman Tov. “But we will continue to allocate money.
The shortage in the system has been created over many years in the mental health system, and the problems there are difficult.”