Disability Rights Rhode Island is alleging patient abuse at Cranston, R.I.-based Eleanor Slater Hospital after a video showed 12 correctional officers conducting a contraband search and stepping over a patient, according to a Feb. 19 report by USA Today.
The patient was "lying on the floor, in apparent distress, wearing no clothing other than boxer shorts and socks," Morna Murray, executive director of Disability Rights Rhode Island, wrote in a letter to the state agency that runs the psychiatric hospital.
"Twelve officers, one after the other, step over the petite-framed, older male patient with no apparent regard for his safety or human dignity," Ms. Murray wrote in the letter sent to Richard Charest, director of the Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals and interim CEO of Eleanor Slater.
Staff didn't try to help the patient, and he was left on the floor during the Dec. 10 search, according to the letter cited by USA Today. Ms. Murray wrote that the patient was then "forcibly grabbed by staff" and dragged across the floor to his room where he was assaulted by another patient.
"The video depicts highly inappropriate and what appear to be acts of abuse,'' Ms. Murray alleged.
Surveillance of the incident was released Feb. 1 after weeks of "delay and legal arguments," Ms. Murray said.
A state agency spokesperson said it "disagrees with the characterizations" and that the search was appropriate, according to USA Today.
The department's "leadership believes the search, which followed incidents of patient self-harm involving contraband, was carried out in an appropriate manner and not in violation of law or policy. DOC correctional officers are experts at conducting searches and finding contraband," according to a statement cited by USA Today.
Disability Rights Rhode Island's "conclusion that the search involved 'highly inappropriate and what appear to be acts of abuse' ignores the professional and courteous manner in which the DOC officers conducted themselves," the state spokesperson said.
Becker's has reached out to Eleanor Slater Hospital for comment and will update this article as new information becomes available.