Claim says Eastern nurse punched patient

This spring, a 24-year-old Yakima woman filed a $4 million tort claim against Eastern State Hospital, alleging that a psychiatric nurse threw her to the floor and punched her in the face.

The woman, Katie Teresa Sheneberger, suffered such emotional distress that “her ability to respond to treatment has been seriously undermined,” her attorney wrote in a March 15 filing.

“My client is primarily interested in making sure this doesn’t happen to anyone else,” said James Tree, a Yakima attorney.

The claim is the latest in a series of legal woes for the psychiatric hospital, including a class-action lawsuit that forced the hospital to open a separate wing for patients with developmental disabilities and the arrest of a psychiatric nurse last year for allegedly raping a patient.

The Department of Social and Health Services, which oversees Eastern State Hospital, released a statement that the nurse, Warren Smith, was placed on administrative leave immediately after the incident was reported. The agency said Smith resigned during the investigation.

State spokesman Jeff Weathersby declined to answer any questions regarding whether the hospital was properly filing reports on allegations of abuse or neglect, citing the potential pending legal action. A hospital spokeswoman referred calls to Weathersby.

In an initial investigation into Sheneberger’s claims, a federal watchdog group found the psychiatric hospital in Medical Lake repeatedly violated state law and hospital reporting standards, part of a pattern of inadequate care that has been ongoing for years, according to the Washington Protection and Advocacy System (WPAS), a nonprofit investigative group.

WPAS is “extremely concerned about the current conditions of care and the treatment at (Eastern State Hospital),” according to the tort claim.

Deborah Dorfman, WPAS’ director of legal advocacy, said her office has repeatedly warned the hospital’s administration that its failure to properly investigate and record allegations of patient abuse compromises the care of residents.

“My frustration continues to grow when I see the errors that take place, particularly at an administrative level,” Dorfman said. “There are very clear laws about when you are supposed to report abuse.”

Earlier this year, the hospital failed to properly report an allegation of sexual abuse by a staff member against a patient, Dorfman said.

“It was reported to the administration, and the administration didn’t do anything,” she said.

After inquiries from WPAS, the hospital investigated the claim and produced a one-and-a-half page report, she said.

“On its face, it looked like they didn’t take a lot of very basic steps,” Dorfman said.

The report followed other allegations that the state’s two psychiatric hospitals have been slow to discipline union employees in recent years.

At Western State Hospital, the state paid nearly $800,000 to a woman who alleged that a hospital manager harassed her and used his position as a union leader to retaliate against her. The manager, Barrette Green, was accused of harassing numerous female co-workers during a 15-year career before he was fired in 2003, according to the Associated Press.

Last fall, licensed-practical nurse Guylin M. Johnston, 43, allegedly locked a psychiatric patient in an Eastern State Hospital laundry room and raped her. In February, a jury deadlocked on the rape charge but acquitted Johnston of indecent liberties. In May, Johnston was also charged with bribing and coercing another hospital worker to lie at his rape trial.

Johnston had previous convictions for malicious mischief and assault, as well as two internal complaints of sexual abuse, according to state records.

The alleged victim filed a $750,000 tort claim against the state earlier this year, and her attorney said the hospital failed to properly discipline Johnston.

“One of her biggest fears is having to return to Eastern State Hospital,” attorney Jim Sweetser said. “She is very distrustful now of the whole mental health care system.”

In the Sheneberger claim, her attorney said that staff members taunted and ridiculed her and that the hospital failed to appropriately protect her from repeated suicide attempts in 2001 and 2002.

On Aug. 3, 2002, Smith, a psychiatric nurse, allegedly shoved Sheneberger to the floor so forcefully that “her feet left the ground.” The previous month, Smith had kneed Sheneberger in the stomach and punched her in the nose, according to the tort claim.

Other staffers said Smith’s actions were “really excessive” and unnecessary, according to the tort claim. The documents say that the Washington State Patrol recommended that Smith be charged and that the Spokane County prosecutor issued a warrant for his arrest.

A search of Superior Court records on Friday did not find a criminal case against Smith.

The WPAS investigation found the hospital “failed to protect (Sheneberger) from harm.”

“Katie was placed in a hostile and abusive environment where she learned that she cannot trust her treatment providers,” Tree, the attorney, wrote in the March 15 filing. He continued, stating that “she may never be able to develop the trust she needs in order to respond effectively to treatment.”