Department of Health Services, Arizona State Hospital

The report addresses issues relating to the Arizona State Hospital’s ability to provide a safe and therapeutic environment for patients. The hospital’s patient treatment units are often insufficiently staffed to provide patients with appropriate treatment and a therapeutic environment. The hospital’s staffing issues, including high turnover and vacancy rates, are long-standing and are compounded by problems in the method used to allocate staff among the patient units. In addition, ASH’s facilities do not provide an adequate environment for treating patients. As of January 1999, 6 of the 11 patient units had more patients than state licensing standards allow. Further, many of the hospital’s facilities are old and deteriorating, creating additional hazards that place patients and staff at risk. Finally, ASH currently lacks long-term plans to guide its future, although it has recently initiated a planning process.

The report also presents information on ASH’s Sexually Violent Persons Unit, and the status of ASH’s efforts to regain Medicare certification.