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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Eye On Boise

Report: SW Idaho Treatment Center did not meet staffing requirements

Here’s a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A state-operated Idaho treatment center that houses adults with mental health and developmental issues was severely understaffed for half of this year, according to a state report. The report from an inspection conducted in July found that the Southwest Idaho Treatment Center in Nampa did not have the minimum number of required staff members for about two-thirds of all shifts from January to July, the Idaho Statesman reported on Thursday.

The report by the state Bureau of Facility Standards stated that an administrator of the facility told an inspector that they were aware of the issue, but they were "not able to implement more staff due to budget constraints." Niki Forbing-Orr, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Health and Welfare, said the state-run facility corrected the issue within days of the inspection, and it has maintained the minimum staffing requirements since. "We hired more people, and then staff worked overtime to make sure we were meeting those ratios," Forbing-Orr said.

The report also stated that the inspector observed a staff member call a resident a "dummy" and that another ignored a resident who was banging her head on a countertop. Another resident was attacked by other patients at least nine times between May and July. Staff notified the guardian of the resident of only one attack despite the guardian's request for notification every time.

The facility currently has 25 residents and more than 100 employees.



Betsy Z. Russell
Betsy Z. Russell joined The Spokesman-Review in 1991. She currently is a reporter in the Boise Bureau covering Idaho state government and politics, and other news from Idaho's state capital.

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