One of West Virginia's two state-run psychiatric hospitals has been overcrowded for at least four years, prompting patients to sleep on cots, forcing employees to work excessive hours and creating an "accident waiting to happen," according to a report released Monday morning.

The state Office of the Ombudsman for Behavioral Health cited Mildred Mitchell-Bateman Hospital in Huntington for widespread problems after inspecting the facility and interviewing patients and hospital employees.

During the inspection, the psychiatric facility housed 117 patients, even though it's only licensed for 90 beds.

Patients told inspectors rooms were dirty and smelled of urine. One patient stated, "They're just warehousing me," according to the report.

Overcrowded rooms lacked privacy, and several patients were in rooms without bathrooms, inspectors found.

The report describes staff morale as "extremely low and fatalistic." Employees complained that overcrowding has created a situation where "people are just on top of each other."

Bateman gets an excessive number of aggressive patients because private facilities won't accept them, according to employees who were interviewed.

Hospital workers also are upset with a practice called "freezing," in which they're ordered to work back-to-back eight-hour shifts, according to the report.

The hospital has hired 90-day temporary employees to help full-time staff, but the system doesn't work, Bateman employees said. The inexperienced temps often wind up working with the most aggressive and violent patients, according to the report.

Bateman workers also told inspectors that there aren't enough wheelchairs for patients who can't walk.

The ombudsman's office recommend the state fix Bateman's problems and overcrowding within 90 days.

Read more in Tuesday's Gazette.

One of West Virginia's two state-run psychiatric hospitals has been overcrowded for at least four years, prompting patients to sleep on cots, forcing employees to work excessive hours and creating an "accident waiting to happen," according to a report released Monday morning.

The state Office of the Ombudsman for Behavioral Health cited Mildred Mitchell-Bateman Hospital in Huntington for widespread problems after inspecting the facility and interviewing patients and hospital employees.

During the inspection, the psychiatric facility housed 117 patients, even though it's only licensed for 90 beds.

Patients told inspectors rooms were dirty and smelled of urine. One patient stated, "They're just warehousing me," according to the report.

Overcrowded rooms lacked privacy, and several patients were in rooms without bathrooms, inspectors found.

The report describes staff morale as "extremely low and fatalistic." Employees complained that overcrowding has created a situation where "people are just on top of each other."

Bateman gets an excessive number of aggressive patients because private facilities won't accept them, according to employees who were interviewed.

Hospital workers also are upset with a practice called "freezing," in which they're ordered to work back-to-back eight-hour shifts, according to the report.

The hospital has hired 90-day temporary employees to help full-time staff, but the system doesn't work, Bateman employees said. The inexperienced temps often wind up working with the most aggressive and violent patients, according to the report.

Bateman workers also told inspectors that there aren't enough wheelchairs for patients who can't walk.

The ombudsman's office recommend the state fix Bateman's problems and overcrowding within 90 days.

Read more in Tuesday's Gazette.