Adithya Sambamurthy, The Bay Citizen

Napa State Hospital is plagued by violent assaults on staff

The oldest daughter of a psychiatric technician murdered inside Napa State Hospital has filed a claim against the government-owned mental institution, the State Department of Mental Health and the State of California under the California Tort Claims Act.

On October 23, Donna Gross, 54, died of asphyxiation after she was robbed and then killed in an enclosed courtyard inside the hospital.

A patient, Jess Willard Massey, 37, was arrested and charged with Gross' murder.

Sherriff's deputies said they found Gross' watch, two necklaces and her earrings in Massey's room. Last week, Massey pled not guilty.

The claim, brought by San Jose attorney David Draper on behalf of Gross' eldest daughter, Anna Bock, alleges Gross died because the State of California failed to comply with an agreement it signed with the federal government in 2006 to provide safe conditions for its employees at Napa State Hospital, and other state hospital facilities within the state. 

"The State’s failure to comply with the federal judgment directly led to the death of Donna Gross," Draper said.

The claim, which gives the state six months to settle or face a formal lawsuit marks the latest salvo on behalf of workers at the troubled mental hospital, which has approximately 1,200 patients.

Last month, The Bay Citizen reported that over the past two years there had been 224 instances of injuries inflicted by patient assaults that caused Napa hospital employees to miss at least one day of work.

In 2009, there were 1,580 crimes, including 1,275 batteries and 103 felonies, at the hospital, according to the police officers’ union and the hospital administration. The vast majority of those cases never led to prosecution.

An official with the California Department of Mental Health declined to comment on the claim brought on behalf of Donna Gross.

"The Department of Mental Health cannot speak to pending claims or litigation," spokeswoman Jennifer Turner said in an e-mail.

On Friday, workers at Napa State Hospital crowded into a special legislative hearing at Napa Valley College to share their concerns with Assemblyman Michael Allen and state Sen. Noreen Evans (both D-Santa Rosa).

At the hearing, Allen, a former psychiatric nurse said a major problem was the high number of patients referred to Napa State Hospital by the criminal justice system.

“Napa State Hospital is not built for that kind of patient population, nor was the staff trained to handle that kind of patient population," Allen said, according to the Napa Valley Register.