Eastern State Hospital Shakes Top Leaders Charged with Ignoring DV Allegations by Former Nurse Now Charged with Murder | Local News | Spokane | Interior of the Pacific Northwest

[ad_1]

Click to enlarge

Photo of young Kwak

Eastern State Hospital: Under new management at this time.

Eastern State Hospital chief executive Mark Kettner and chief operating officer Ronda Kenney have both been “temporarily reassigned,” officials said, as the state is investigating how senior officials at the hospital responded to allegations of domestic violence against a former nurse now accused of murder.

Former medic Joshua Phillips allegedly stabbed to death an Eastern State employee he was dating, Kassie Dewey, and attempted to kill his 5-year-old daughter, court documents show. In May, the Inlander explained how Phillips was previously arrested for suffocating another colleague in the Eastern State he dated. But without an internal investigation and without the hospital reporting the allegations to the state health department, Phillips was allowed to return to work. Eastern State staff warned senior management Phillips was dangerous, but they say their concerns were dismissed before Dewey was killed. Click to enlarge

Mark Kettner, no longer CEO of Eastern State Hospital

Last week, the Department of Health and Human Services released an internal review of Phillips’ employment via a public documents request that further confirmed the Inlander’s report. Tyler Hemstreet, a spokesperson for DSHS, has confirmed that the personal investigation of Kettner and Kenney is linked to Phillips’ treatment. DSHS has appointed Tony Bowie and Mary Joe Currey respectively as interim CEO and COO. Bowie previously worked as CEO of the Child Study and Treatment Center at Western State Hospital in Lakewood. Currey previously held an administrative position in the Department of Corrections.

Internal review released last week to Inlander confirms that Eastern State leadership failed to follow its own policies and procedures following Phillips’ arrest for domestic violence for assault in the second degree in July 2019. The review and subsequent report were led by DSHS Assistant Secretary Sean Murphy. .

The report says management was aware of the charges against Phillips in the summer of 2019, as the Inlander previously reported. Phillips allegedly strangled a colleague he was dating who asked the Inlander to identify him by her first name, Jennifer. She says he reacted violently that night when she tried to break up with him.

Yet no one at Eastern State has opened an internal investigation into Phillips in accordance with a DSHS administrative policy on domestic violence in the workplace, according to the review. This policy stated that Phillips could have been subject to dismissal as a result of the arrest.

In a decision approved by Kettner, the hospital placed Phillips on an alternate assignment in a non-patient care post and he did not return to work until the spring of 2020 due to a medical condition. Upon his return, a no-contact order was still in place between him and the victim.

“Eastern State Hospital does not have a clear process for staff to follow when issuing a no-contact order to management,” the review said. “This was confirmed when various supervisors provided different responses when we asked them what the process was for staff to make contactless orders.”

Phillips pleaded guilty to domestic violence misdemeanor charges in June 2020. While this conviction does not prevent him from having unsupervised access to vulnerable adults, state Department of Health policy states that the hospital, which was aware of the conviction, should have informed the Nursing Care Quality Insurance Commission of the charge. They could have investigated whether Phillips could keep his nursing license.

Meanwhile, staff remained concerned for the safety of Jennifer and the other women working with Phillips.

On July 10, 2020, Nursing Director Shelli Huey emailed Kenney with her concerns.

“This staff is concerned about [Jennifer’s] security, he always comes to her house, drops off objects, etc. Huey wrote, referring to the staff member who sent him the email.

But that summer, Jennifer, who continued to feel terrorized by Phillips, resigned and left town.

Jennifer says she still struggles with the abuse she previously suffered from Phillips, especially after seeing what he allegedly did to Dewey. She now tells the Inlander that she feels somewhat validated by the internal review and reassignment of Kettner and Kenney.

“I needed someone to recognize what he did to me, neglect. And it’s not just these two [Kettner and Kenney], but also the other managers who knew it, “says Jennifer.” I don’t know if anyone realizes that I will never be the same again.

By the time Jennifer had left Eastern State, Phillips had started dating Dewey, a 35-year-old mental health technician there. On April 9, 2020, Dewey broke up with Phillips, chasing him out of the house and changing the locks on the doors.

Two days later, he infiltrated her detached garage and attacked her, stabbing her 26 times, according to court documents. He also stabbed his daughter, Lilly, according to the charges.

Phillips remains in Spokane County jail on $ 1.5 million bail.

[ad_2]