Health care workers at the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services called out the agency’s leadership on Thursday for not addressing a high number of staff vacancies they say is creating an unsafe environment for workers and patients. More than 600 positions are currently vacant at DMHAS, according to the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Coupled with a population with more acute needs than ever requiring intensive care, those vacancies have created a crisis that has resulted in a higher rate of employee injuries, union representatives said. “There need to be more bodies on the floor. Patients are not getting the care they need and our members are getting hurt,” said Rebecca Simonsen, vice president of the SEIU 1199NE State Division, during a press conference Thursday near the entrance to Connecticut Valley Hospital in Middletown. This summer, the union brought a petition to DMHAS Commissioner Nancy Navarretta, signed by a supermajority of its membership, demanding the department take action to ensure a safe working environment for their workers, who staff state-run behavioral health centers including Connecticut Valley Hospital and Whiting Forensic Hospital. “We want her to do the right thing,” Simonsen said of Navarretta. “But we need to see action from her. We have not, and we will do whatever we need to do to improve services for the patients.” Rebecca Simonsen, vice president of the SEIU 1199NE State Division, speaks at a press conference on Thursday about staffing vacancies at the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. Credit: Laura Tillman Simonsen said that a vote of no confidence in Navarretta could be on the table in the future. Responding to a request for comment Thursday, Navarretta wrote that DMHAS remains committed to ensuring that the work environment is safe for all. “We are proud to note that our staffing levels today are higher than they were before the pandemic, and we have worked diligently to address both staffing needs and worker safety. Safety is a top priority at DMHAS, which is why we have strong emergency response systems and maintain staffing ratios based on acuity that prioritize both the safety of our employees and the individuals we serve. We value the voices of our employees and remain dedicated to addressing concerns through collaboration.” Since the petition was brought to Navarretta, the union says that DMHAS has made limited progress and staffing vacancies remain at dangerous levels. “Meanwhile the Office of Policy and Management is claiming a budget crisis and blaming the so-called fiscal guardrails — or as we like to call them, the fiscal roadblocks,” Simonsen said. The state of Connecticut has more than $4 billion in a budget reserve fund, the so-called “rainy day fund,” intended by Gov. Ned Lamont to be used in case of a fiscal emergency like a massive recession. But workers on Thursday said that money is needed desperately now, repeating the refrain, “it’s raining.” “You have a direct responsibility to send us home whole,” said Pastor Samuel Saylor, one of the speakers, addressing the governor. “Stop being stingy with the dollars the taxpayers give you to make sure life is better in Connecticut. Life is not better in certain parts of our community and we need to make them better for the worker.” DMHAS employees at a press conference Thursday argued that staffing vacancies create a dangerous work environment for workers and patients. Credit: Laura Tillman Tamika James, Lead Forensic Treatment Specialist at Whiting Forensic Hospital, said that she has been injured a dozen times on the job, including an injury that required neck surgery. “Unfortunately due to some comp related issues, they kind of are rushing us to get back to work now. A lot of unfair measures are taken, we can’t take care of each other in this environment. So it’s hard to take care of the patients that need us.” Brian Williams, a union organizer and certified addiction counselor with DMHAS, said workers are often injured on the job when they are responding to a psychiatric emergency, and those injuries have accelerated in volume and severity. “The level of injuries they’re seeing right now is nowhere near where it has been over the past five years, ten years,” Williams said. Recently, Williams said, a group of seven workers were injured in one incident and another group of six workers were injured in a separate incident. In the second case, one of those workers had to be transported to a hospital by ambulance. Sharon White, a mental health assistant at Connecticut Valley Hospital, said that she is often required to work overtime multiple times a week, working until 11 p.m. instead of 3 p.m. because there is not enough staff. Going to work has become a practice in uncertainty. “I just don’t know what I’m coming into — that’s what’s scary,” White said. “I want to go home in one piece.” White said she witnessed a patient grab a nurse, put her in a headlock and attack her. “When we call an ‘all available,’ that means staff that’s available is supposed to come, but when you’re running the building bare minimum, no one is available to come and help.” Tyler Kimball, also a mental health assistant at Connecticut Valley Hospital, described the challenges on a typical shift: a blind patient who needs urgent assistance to go to the bathroom, a dementia patient disrobing, a patient with a traumatic brain injury who is overstimulated. “It’s taking a toll on myself and others, Kimball said. “It’s really ironic that I work for the Department of Mental Health but they don’t manage their workforce with a consideration for mental health. There’s no emotional intelligence from them. They’re kind of making a staff to patient pipeline.”