Gov. Mark Dayton urges Legislature to pass spending for psychiatric facilities

Gov. Mark Dayton laid out a plan Wednesday to spend $177.3 million on state psychiatric facilities to improve patient and staff safety.

"Decades of neglect have made these facilities more dangerous to both care providers and recipients," Dayton said in a news release. "It is imperative that the Legislature correct some of these deficiencies this year."

Dayton's plan would spend $30.3 million on the hospital in Anoka and community psychiatric hospitals across Minnesota, money to hire nurses to improve care and alleviate ongoing security concerns. The plan would send $22 million to the security hospital in St. Peter for improved security systems, more staff and a special unit for patients with developmental disabilities. Dayton's bonding bill would also spend $70 million for the security hospital in St. Peter, to complete a renovation that is expected to improve staff and patient safety.

Both the facilities in Anoka and St. Peter have been plagued with attacks on patients and staff, with attacks at the security hospital in St. Peter causing the state Department of Human Services to be levied with a $63,000 fine last year for the unsafe work environment. DHS has appealed the fine.

Dayton was flanked by three state workers at a Wednesday news conference. They shared first-hand experiences of the challenges of working at the facilities, where the patients are often unstable and sometimes violent.

Jackie Spanjers, who has held nursing and other positions for 20 years in Anoka, said the facility has become a dangerous place to work. She suffered a ruptured bicep and torn rotator cuff after trying to intervene in a conflict at work, preventing her from favored pursuits like hunting and work on her farm.

"We do this work because we care about our patients -- even when they beat and bruise us," she said.

An unintended consequence of the law has been to mix violent patients with more vulnerable patients, which Spanjers said was a dangerous and volatile combination.

Sen. Kathy Sheran, DFL-Mankato, was at the news conference to support Dayton's proposal. She said the spending may not be "the most glamorous way to spend money, but it is a moral imperative."

Getting the Legislature to accede to the request will not be easy. The latest budget forecast showed a shrinking surplus, which majority majority House Republicans had hoped to use on tax cuts anyway.

Dayton has proposed $1.4 billion in state borrowing for the traditional every-other-year bonding bill, including money for the hospital projects, but Republicans are pushing for far less, in some cases half what the governor is seeking. A super majority is needed to pass the bonding bill, which means it will have to attract votes in both parties.