Troubling reports have surfaced from the Psychiatric Institute of Washington (PIW), the only psychiatric hospital in Washington, D.C., raising serious concerns about the safety and management of the mental health facility. Vyonce Lawson, who started as a mental-health technician at PIW, initially felt grateful for the opportunity to help patients facing mental illness. However, she soon encountered alarming conditions, including understaffed units, unsanitary housing, and frequent violence among patients and staff.
According to Lawson and other former employees, repeated requests for help were ignored and basic needs such as adequate food were often not met. This shortfall frequently heightened tensions among patients, leading to outbreaks of violence. Lawson described feeling unsafe, eventually likening the facility to a prison rather than a place of treatment. She and other staff members struggled to manage patients in psychiatric crisis, with one incident involving a particularly violent patient who assaulted multiple staff members and sparked chaos that lasted for hours.
Several former employees disclosed that patient care suffered due to chronic worker shortages, with some saying they were left alone in dangerous situations. Employees sometimes failed to transfer violent patients to other units, forcing victims to remain near their attackers. Fears among staff led to high turnover rates. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration later cited PIW for failing to protect employees from recognized hazards, though PIW disputed these findings and pledged to contest the citation…