Families who live near Harbor Oaks Hospital in New Baltimore railed against the facility’s proposed expansion Tuesday, crowding a meeting at city hall and demanding the hospital improve safety before completing a major addition.
“Harbor Oaks as a facility is not functioning properly or staffed properly for the type of patients that they have,” said Krista Armstrong, a New Baltimore resident. “And now they’re going to build a new facility, and who knows if staffing will increase?”
Residents filled last night’s meeting in response to a recent 7 Action News investigation into the hospital that revealed accounts from former staff members who say Harbor Oaks was routinely and sometimes severely understaffed, putting patients and employees at risk.
The WXYZ report also uncovered stacks of police reports since only 2015 showing a pattern of alleged physical and even sexual abuse among patients--abuse that staffers say was made possible by a lack of manpower. In addition, Michigan's Occupational Health and Safety Administration found 76 cases of assaults on staff by patients since 2013.
Harbor Oaks CEO Sari Abromovich was expected to be in attendance at Tuesday’s meeting of the New Baltimore Planning Commission, but canceled at the last minute and asked the commission to postpone her hospital’s request until next month.