Oregon Health Authority officials told a legislative panel Monday they are taking steps to prevent future patient deaths or serious injuries at Oregon State Hospital in Salem. And Dave Baden, the authority’s deputy director — who temporarily stepped in as superintendent at the facility — said the culture at the hospital needs to improve.
The hearing before the Senate Interim Committee on Judiciary was about the prevention of patient deaths and did not discuss specific cases. The last such unexpected patient death hit the hospital hard: Kenneth Hass died March 18 at Oregon State Hospital, lying motionless on a seclusion room floor for more than four minutes before staffers watching him entered to check his pulse.
By then, he was dead after falling a third and final time within the span of an hour while under staff observation…