Testing Needed at Ancora

Courier Post
Editorial
February 11, 2010

Ancora Psychiatric Hospital in Winslow has had many problems over the years with violence, escapes and other incidents. A number of things have factored into the problems, including Ancora staffers who just didn't do their job.

Late last month, a new state law sponsored by local Assembly members Louis Greenwald and Pamela Lampitt, both D-Camden, went into effect that should help things at Ancora by making sure staffers there are sober and fit to do their jobs.

The law -- written in response to some of the problems at Ancora that investigations showed were due to staff failings -- requires random drug testing among employees at all state psychiatric hospitals and veterans' homes. Supervisors at these facilities now have the power to order a drug test for any employee who shows signs of being drunk or high. And, all candidates for employment at a state veterans' home or psychiatric hospital will have to pass a drug test to get the job.

This is a needed measure that should work to weed out those workers at Ancora who simply can't be entrusted to work with patients who pose a danger to themselves and to others.

Ancora needs many reforms. This is one of them we're glad to see approved. It could quickly have an impact.