DPH launches investigation into the Hospital for Behavioral Medicine
Photo I Courtesy of Hospital for Behavioral Medicine
The Hospital for Behavioral Medicine is located at 100 Century Dr. in Worcester.
The Hospital for Behavioral Medicine in Worcester is under investigation by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, marking the Department’s fourth investigation into a Central Massachusetts hospital in fewer than three months.
Details of the investigation remain unknown, as the DPH wrote to WBJ in a Friday email it could not provide additional information due to its ongoing nature.
Evelyn Alsup has led the Hospital for Behavioral Medicine since January. Prior to her employment there, she was employed at Strategic Behavioral Health in Garner, North Carolina, where a state investigation found her unfit to lead the facility.
The Garner psychiatric facility was shut down while under Alsup’s leadership as CEO by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, with the government agency also issuing violations to the hospital including unauthorized handcuffing and drugging of a minor and the escape of an adult patient, according to a news article by The News & Observer in Raleigh, North Carolina. The hospital agreed to pay $175,000 in administrative penalties.
The Hospital for Behavioral Medicine is a joint venture with UMass Memorial Health, based in Worcester.
Alsup replied to WBJ's request for comment through email on Friday stating the hospital has not had communication with the DPH.
"We have had no communication between DPH and our hospital about any investigation," she wrote.
When asked for comment, UMMH Media and Public Relations Director Shelly Hazlett wrote in a Friday email to WBJ that the system defers to DPH regarding the investigation.
The Hospital for Behavioral Medicine opened its doors in 2019 after UMMH eliminated 13 psychiatric beds at its University Campus to make room for more medical-surgical beds.
The controversial decision was heavily criticized by the DPH and the Massachusetts Nurses Association, the nurses union representing a number of nurses within UMMH.
David Schildmeier, the MNA’s director of public communications, wrote in a Friday email to WBJ that the union was skeptical of Hospital of Behavioral Medicine’s creation to begin with and hopes the DPH takes its investigation seriously. The MNA does not currently represent nurses at the hospital.
“When UMass Health, a not for profit provider closed desperately needed psychiatric beds on its UMass University campus, and instead touted its plan to open this for profit operated mental health facility, we raised concerns about the impact this would have on the quality and safety of patient care as whenever we have seen for profit providers enter the behavioral health market, the result for patients has never been positive. We can only hope that the DPH takes aggressive steps to ensure patients at this and other for-profit facilities receive the care they are entitled to,” said Schildmeier.
The DPH’s most recent investigation comes after the Department announced it had launched investigations into three Central Massachusetts hospitals owned by Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare following hospital-related incidents and complaints it received from the MNA. The Department began investigating Leonard Morse Hospital in Natick on Aug. 23, its investigation into Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester on Sept. 12, and its investigation into Framingham Union Hospital on Sept. 23.
Mica Kanner-Mascolo is a staff writer at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the healthcare and diversity, equity, and inclusion industries.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This article has been updated to include Evelyn Alsup's reply to WBJ's request for comment.
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She was found unfit to lead a psychiatric facility in North Carolina but UMMH believes she is good enough for Worcester? I’d love to hear their explanation for this.
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