Mayview Hospital Workers Hold Candlelight Vigil After Deaths of Two Discharged Patients

Caregivers Call on State to Ensure Patient Safety

Despite a blistering snowstorm and below-freezing temperatures, workers from Mayview State Hospital came together with patients' families, clergy and other concerned community members at a candlelight vigil to remember two patients who died after being recently discharged.

Mayview is slated to be closed by the end of 2008 and the nearly 300 patients at the hospital will either be transitioned into the community or moved to other state mental health facilities. Both caregivers and families are concerned about the safety of Mayview patients during this process and want to ensure that everyone will receive the services they need in the community.

Donna Curti, a pharmacist at Mayview and a member of SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania worked at the Western Center, a state facility for people with mental retardation, when it closed a few years ago.

“We all have stories of other consumers that have met untimely ends, and we have been forced to watch helplessly,” said Curti. “We would like to be able to guarantee the safety and the continuation of quality care for all the Mayview residents, and we don’t want to see anyone slip through the cracks.”

The two patients who died after being discharged were receiving services in the community. Anthony Fallert, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia,  drowned after falling from the Birmingham Bridge in Pittsburgh. He had been discharged from Mayview Hospital and was living at a community facility on the South Side.

“Tony was such a pleasant person. He would give you the shirt off his back,” said Susan Williams, mother of Anthony Fallert. “There needs to be more group homes available. Tony was waiting to find a new group home when he died. He only lived 5 months after being discharged.”

After a short service for the two men, attendees of the vigil called on the Rendell Administration to ensure that current patients receive quality, reliable services in the most appropriate setting for their needs.