About 21% of staff at Solnit South, Connecticut’s psychiatric hospital for children based in Middletown, are out on workers’ compensation for injuries sustained on the job, the Hartford Courant reported Aug. 24.
Lawmakers have called the situation a “safety crisis,” while employees have raised concerns about staffing, worker injuries and facility conditions. Farmington, Conn.-based UConn Health, which operates the hospital, and the Department of Children and Families, which oversees it, said they are investing in staffing and facility upgrades.
Here are six things to know:
1. Darnell Ford, children’s service unit supervisor at Solnit, estimated that 64 out of 300 employees are out on workers’ compensation with significant injuries. To address shortfalls, he also estimated that nine to 15 employees are working 16-hour shifts.
2. Independent monitor reports from June 22 to July 3 said staffing was at “critical levels,” with over 100 shifts needing to be filled on weekends. Administrators paused admission of new patients because of staffing issues.
3. Reports from July 5-18 documented 22 staff injuries over the previous four weeks. Of those, 10 resulted from patient assaults and 12 occurred during restraints.
4. Independent monitor reports also flagged that staff voiced concerns about facility maintenance failures, including holes in the roof, broken sidewalks, garbage piled in hallways and overgrown grounds limiting outdoor space.
5. Service Employees International Union 1199 called for at least $21 million in support. The funds would be used to restore and expand staffing, rebuild therapeutic programming and create three specialized public-sector programs.
6. UConn Health and the Department of Children and Families said they are addressing staff shortages by accelerating hiring and hiring temporary resources for nursing and additional security. They also said they are securing state funding for facility upgrades.
DCF Commissioner Susan Hamilton and Andrew Agwunobi, MD, CEO and executive vice president for health affairs at UConn Health, said in a joint statement to Becker’s:
“UConn Health and the Department of Children and Families are unwavering in their commitment to delivering the highest quality psychiatric care for children and youth across Connecticut while also prioritizing the safety and wellbeing of the employees who care for them.
“We recognize that these are exceptionally challenging times. The young people we serve increasingly present with acute and highly complex conditions. These realities can result in unpredictable and high-risk responses during treatment, making our mission both critically important and difficult.
“We acknowledge that the conditions at Solnit South require improvement and we are addressing these concerns. It is our belief that the recent partnership between UConn Health and DCF, which commenced on April 15, 2026, brings together the clinical expertise, resources and operational support needed to strengthen care for patients and create a safer environment for employees. Already, we have seen meaningful progress as a result of our collaborative efforts, and we are committed to continued improvements in both facility conditions and care quality and facility conditions.
Addressing staff shortages
- Accelerating hiring through an automatic rehiring process for direct care vacancies and more frequent new employee onboarding
- Easing near-term staffing constraints by bringing on contract employees until vacancies are filled
- Expanding overtime opportunities, including voluntary double-time on critical weekend shifts
Keeping our staff safe
- Hiring temporary resources for Nursing and additional security while full-time employees are being onboarded
- Formalizing staff-to-patient ratios and approving position refills—56 since mid-April—to meet outstanding needs
- Approving new RN and CSW positions to cover deficits in the negotiated staffing plan
Partnering with staff and committed to improvement
- Holding regular meetings between administration and 1199 union representatives to review changes and staffing plans and operational changes
- Bringing on a full-time Independent Monitor to evaluate operations and compliance on an ongoing basis
- Securing state funding to update hospital dorms, improve safety at nurses’ stations, address ligature risks, and resolve other facility compliance needs
“These actions reflect our ongoing commitment to address concerns raised by employees, to strengthen safety and to work collaboratively to provide the best possible environment for both patients and staff.”
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