BOSTON: Carney fires 29 in abuse incident

Hospital says probe into sex assault on patient led to purge

May 28, 2011|By Liz Kowalczyk, Globe Staff

 

Carney Hospital fired the staff of its adolescent psychiatry unit Thursday, after an investigation into an employee’s alleged sexual assault of a patient uncovered serious patient safety problems.

Hospital president Bill Walczak said he hired former attorney general Scott Harshbarger and his law firm a month ago to investigate the assault allegation and conditions on the 14-bed locked unit for extremely troubled teens.

When he read Harshbarger’s report Thursday, Walczak said he decided to replace the nurses and other staff on the unit.