Every year about this time, Oregon labor unions honor colleagues who have lost their lives on the job. This year is especially poignant for members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, or Oregon AFSCME, with the death late last year of Haley Rogers, a 26-year-old mental health worker. She was stabbed to death on the job by a resident while working an overnight shift alone at a 10-bed behavioral health treatment facility in Gresham.
Her death was preventable, and we must ensure that nothing like it happens again. There are issues both specific to this worksite and systemwide that must be addressed. The company was not following basic safety protocols.
Knives were not adequately stored, people were working alone, workers were not provided tools such as walkie talkies and the facility lacked enough security cameras, according to an Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigation that occurred before her death. The company was fined, but it was too late. Her family and our community needlessly lost a dedicated, kind and compassionate soul who should be with us today.
Oregon’s mental health crisis means that too many people have not had access to adequate and appropriate care, through no fault of their own, and too many mental health professionals on the front lines shoulder the burden of decades of underinvestment. Professionals like Haley go into this work because they care deeply about providing Oregonians with the care they .
