As seen in this report from News Channel 3 in Kalamazoo, Michigan
KALAMAZOO, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) - We are learning more Wednesday night about a criminal investigation into 16 Kalamazoo Psychiatric Hospital employees.
Kalamazoo Public Safety is investigating 19 incidents of possible patient abuse, and all of them involve the same patient.
Wednesday, that patient and his family agreed to tell us their side of the story.
"Pretty much the whole time I was there, I was treated very poorly," said former KPH patient Michael Joseph Rowley, who spent two years at the hospital.
"They would constnatly provoke him into a fight," said his mother, Carla Rowley. "Then they would drag him into a room and beat him up and, you know, that's recorded."
Rowley and his parents told Newschannel 3 over the phone Wednesday afternoon that he has various disorders that make him violent and aggressive, and he also has at least three assault convictions.
We asked him if he ever assaulted employees at KPH.
"Well, to be honest, many times," he said, adding that he was provoked.
"They would tease me, they would bully me," Michael said.
But there was an incident with a resident care aid in June.
"He bent my arm way back and was smacking me around," Michael said. "My arm got broken in two spots."
That sparked the criminal investigation and 28 employee suspensions.
"The actions of the staff are probably prosecutable," said former KPH Interim Director Cynthia Kelly in an October interview with Newschannel 3.
In the course of that interview, Kelly told Newschannel 3 that staff reviewed hundreds of hours of surveillance as a part of their investigation.
"There are a few things that I viewed even just this morning that...restraint was used and it was completely uncalled for," she said.
Current and former employees say forced overtime, exhaustion, and irritation is a major factor.
"You go to work for your 8 hour shift, and you're told you have to stay 16, you have no choice," said an anonymous former employee in mid-September.
Records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act show 236 resident care aids work at KPH.
Through October of this year alone, resident care aids were mandated to work double shifts 4,736 times.
The Department of Community Health hopes to hire a permanent director at KPH before the end of the year.
That person will be charged with reviewing all policies and safety concerns.
As for Michael Rowley, he says he was transferred to another psychiatric hospital on October 10, as the criminal investigation got underway.
DCH expects more information from Kalamazoo Public Safety regarding possible charges by mid-December.
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