JAMESTOWN, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – The North Dakota State Hospital board heard the latest safety report from Deb Eissinger, Quality Support Services Manager at the hospital.

In the report from July 2019 through June 2020, Eissinger reported that there were 171 employee safety incidents.

Eissinger says 23 state hospitals in 14 states belong to the Western Psychiatric State Hospital Association (WPSHA) and they do benchmarking through them to interpret the data.

Of the 17 injuries requiring medical attention through client interaction, two were sprains/strains, one was struck by an object, six were struck and this produced bruises or similar injury, five fights, one burn, and two received scratches.

Eissinger says with the 23 participating state hospitals in WPSHA, they ranked sixth lowest in staff injuries. She says they also did comparatively well with seclusions and restraints.

In the client satisfaction surveys, Eissinger stated NDSH compared well with both NRI & WPSHA.

Larry Culp, Director of Safety & Security at NDSH, reports that over the past year, they’ve continued to take all safety measures and precautions.

Culp also discussed the Emergency Management COVID Sub-committee they created in March. He says they’ve been meeting to ensure they had proper precautions and plans in place.