North Carolina psychiatric hospital expands, now faces crippling staff shortages

Broaden Hospital in Morganton, N.C., one of the state’s largest psychiatric hospitals after a $160 million expansion in 2019, is facing staffing shortages, which former workers say is “running [staff] to death,” local news source WSOC-TV reported July 12.

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“They can’t keep anybody due to pay, due to staffing, due to people getting hurt and just the unfairness of administration,” Kayla Wood, a former Broaden employee, told WSOC-TV.

Taylor Presnell, a former hospital employee who worked at Broaden for seven years, told WSOC-TV that she liked working there but left last year because of pay. 

“[Staffing shortages] run CNAs to death, and some nurses have to get on floor to help, Ms. Presnell told WSOC-TV. “It can get dangerous if there’s a shortage.”

The hospital employs over 1,000 people and has previously held job fairs to fill staff vacancies, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services told WSOC-TV

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