UPMC Altoona co-workers have started at GoFundMe page for patient care technician Travis Dunn, who was taken to UPMC Presbyterian with a fractured skull, brain bleed and other injuries after being assaulted by a patient in the emergency department on Saturday. Courtesy photo

Colleagues of the UPMC Altoona patient care technician who was taken to UPMC Presbyterian with a fractured skull, brain bleed and other injuries after being assaulted by a patient in the Altoona Emergency Department on Saturday have started a GoFundMe page to help with medical bills, rehabilitation, lost income, household expenses and other potential costs.

The target of the effort to help Travis Dunn is $60,000, with $36,635 raised as of late Tuesday night.

The announcement about the GoFundMe page was part of a joint news release from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents Dunn, and SEIU Healthcare PA, which represents the registered nurses at UPMC Altoona, and it lists several demands for safety improvements that the unions say they’ve been seeking “for many years.”

“(W)e were appalled by this attack, but we were not surprised,” due to the “resistance from UPMC” against those demands, including a demand for more robust staffing, which would provide greater protections against problems, while also helping to prevent frustrations among patients and even employees that tend to aggravate problematic situations, according to the news release and UPMC Altoona registered nurse Kevin Clark, who spoke to the Mirror by phone Tuesday.

“There is a mental health crisis in our region and across the country, and hospital workers are on the front lines,” the unions’ news release states. “We are the ones who regularly bear the verbal and physical abuse from patients who too often do not have adequate mental health care and support.”

A fatal incident resulting from an enraged patient at UPMC Memorial in York this year shows the urgency of reform, according to the unions.

Clark didn’t know Dunn well, but encountered him in shared work areas “on multiple occasions,” Clark said.

Dunn “had a very gentle and calming personality,” ideal for establishing rapport with patients, especially when there were mental health emergencies, Clark said.

He is also “very much a go-getter,” willing to “go above and beyond” to help co-workers and generally do what needs done in the emergency department, where Clark worked full time at one point, and where he still works occasionally.

As a patient care tech, Dunn’s duties include “assisting in basic levels of care,” and sometimes “sitting detail” for mental health patients “deemed violent and a risk to themselves or others,” Clark said.

Clark isn’t certain whether Saturday’s incident occurred while Dunn was serving as such a “safety sitter,” he said.

“Travis is known among his friends and coworkers as compassionate, hardworking, and always willing to lend a helping hand,” states the narrative on the GoFundMe page. “He has dedicated his career to caring for others in their moments of greatest need — now it’s our turn to care for him.”

The GoFundMe page can be found at: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-travis-heal-after-a-tragic-assault.

Nurse-patient ratio high

There are 300 fewer RNs working at UPMC Altoona than the 840 working there in 2013 when UPMC took over, even though the number of “patient days” has held steady since then, according to SEIU Healthcare PA, citing data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Overall employment at the hospital has also decreased from about 2,200 to about 1,450 since the UPMC takeover, according to the union.

Emergency department wait times were shorter than the state and national averages prior to the takeover, but are now worse than both, according to the union.

There are times when the nurse-patient ratio is as high as 9-1, which can lead to care levels that are “severely hindered,” Clark said.

In recent times, such issues and the consequences they’ve produced have generated community complaints about the hospital, Clark said.

“The community is seeing the problems play out in real time,” he said.

In discussions with management, the union has asked for a focus on recruitment and retention, Clark said.

Many “bedside nurses” from UPMC Altoona have relocated to other facilities for better pay or better opportunities for career advancement, he said.

There has been some “headway” in the discussions with management, but it seems management doesn’t take the union complaints seriously enough, he said.

Management generally cites those issues as being a national problem, he said.

But the organization can do better, Clark stated.

“When something like this happens to one of our coworkers, it sends shockwaves through every department,” said Fred Shaffer, president of the AFSCME local that represents 500 UPMC Altoona employees, including Dunn. “We just hope those shockwaves are felt by those at the top of the company and they are moved to finally do something to address the safety concerns and understaffing issues that we have all seen brewing for years.”

The AFSCME local also hopes that the incident spurs enactment of House Bill 926, the Health Care Workplace Violence Prevention Act, which is stalled in the state Senate, according to an AFSCME spokesman. HB 926 would require hospitals to create a violence prevention committee with frontline workers, mandate proactive plans to stop violence, protect staff from retaliation for speaking up and give the state power to hold hospitals accountable for not following safety plans, according to the AFSCME spokesman.

Incident ‘deeply distressing’

UPMC hasn’t ignored the safety issues, according to an emailed statement from a UPMC spokesperson, in response to a Mirror request for comment on the unions’ news release.

Saturday’s incident was “deeply distressing,” UPMC stated.

Still, “(t)here was no gun involved, and no weapon was detected by our magnetometer or other screening systems,” UPMC stated. “This was a violent act by a patient in crisis — a heartbreaking example of the challenges health care workers are facing nationwide as workplace violence in health care settings continues to rise.”

“We have taken significant, ongoing steps to strengthen safety and security across UPMC hospitals and facilities,” UPMC stated. “We have engaged top national security experts to assess and advise on enhancements, held meetings with employees and physicians to hear their concerns and ideas, and implemented hundreds of improvements — including advanced education and training, active drills, panic buttons, secure rooms, reduced access points, and enhanced facility entrance technologies.”

According to the news release, the unions are demanding:

— A full and transparent investigation into Saturday’s incident, including how and why current safety protocols failed, and what measures could have prevented it.

— A clear, enforced zero-tolerance policy for violence or threats against health care workers — by patients, visitors or staff.

— Posted signs in every area of the hospital that assaulting a health care worker is a felony.

— Panic alarms installed in every patient care area.

— Metal detectors installed at all patient and visitor entry points.

— Enhanced security presence and faster response times, particularly in high-risk areas such as the ER, and during off-peak hours.

— Mandatory de-escalation and workplace safety training for all staff, with regular refreshers.

— Comprehensive support for affected employees, including paid leave, trauma counseling and legal or workers’ compensation assistance as needed.

— Direct involvement of frontline employees and union representatives in developing and implementing safety improvements.

UPMC “remain(s) unwavering in our commitment to providing a safe, secure environment for everyone who works, receives care, or visits our facilities,” UPMC stated in its response to the Mirror’s request for comment.

“When any member of our UPMC family is injured, our first priority is their health, recovery, and well-being,” UPMC stated. “Everyone deserves to feel safe at work.”

Alleged assailant behind bars

The alleged assailant in Saturday’s attack, Bradley S. Lloyd, 40, of Tyrone, is 6 feet, 11 inches tall and weighs 245 pounds, according to court documents. He is in Blair County Prison on felony charges of aggravated and simple assault and related charges. He has been denied bail.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.