Psychiatrist agrees to stop violating patients' personal rights

As seen in this report

A Santa Ana psychiatrist has agreed to stop violating patients' personal rights and step down from the board of his nonprofit foundation in order to keep open the 18-year-old organization that treats the mentally ill.

John Henry Massimino, who will remain the medical director of the John Henry Foundation, also promised to comply with state eviction regulations and notify families that financial contributions are purely voluntary.

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The agreement comes five months after the state sued to force Massimino and Chief Operating Officer Patricia Kelly out of the foundation, saying they "engaged in conduct inimical to the health, safety, morals and welfare" of their clients. The suit said clients were wrongfully evicted and families were pressured to contribute to the foundation.

The foundation leaders signed the agreement days before the state was to hold hearings on the allegations. Kelly, who resigned in the spring, agreed to surrender her administrator certificate and never apply for one again. Massimino agreed not to stockpile or relabel medications and to allow state regulators unobstructed access to the facility.

Terry Kennedy, president of the board of directors, said the relapse prevention plan will allow the foundation to better serve the residents. The organization runs a 34-bed residential facility called Moore Village in Santa Ana. Another facility, Manor House, was closed last year.

"We see this as a victory of cooperation over conflict in the best interest of our residents, who struggle on a daily basis with the difficulties associated with chronic mental illness," Kennedy said.

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