Nurses and local officials warned Monday of the dangers of low staffing, high turnover and closed beds at UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital in Pittsburgh amid what they described as a dire mental health crisis afflicting the nation.
Several dozen Western Psych workers represented by the SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania union raised their concerns during a rally outside the hospital in the city’s Oakland neighborhood at which they displayed signs that said “United for our patients” and “UPMC: Do your part to address the mental health crisis!”
Saying they feared staffing problems were undermining the hospital’s ability to provide effective care, the workers and their supporters called for more resources to help retain and recruit nurses at the region’s largest behavioral health facility…