With yet another state mental hospital in danger of losing federal funding following a patient death, Dempsey Benton, head of the state Department of Health and Human Services, has tapped a familiar face to help fix the facility.
Patsy Christian, who was forced to resign in June as director of Central Regional Hospital in Butner after she commissioned a portrait of herself with money intended to benefit patients, was dispatched to Cherry Hospital in Goldsboro Tuesday following a critical report issued by regulators, reports Michael Biesecker.
Though an SBI investigation requested by Benton to determine whether Christian violated state purchasing laws is still unresolved, Benton said through a spokesman Wednesday that her 30 years as a nurse and hospital administrator qualified her to troubleshoot the problems at Cherry.
After she stepped down as director at Central, Benton created a new administrative position for Christian that kept her on the state payroll to “improve quality management and compliance with regulatory requirements.” Her salary is $114,056.




Re: Christian to help fix Cherry Hospital
This is not the first time incidents like this have happened at Cherry Hospital, most of which have gone unreported to the appropriate agencies. I wonder how liable I am for not bringing the other incidents to light, now. It's not like I didn't question administration re: the way they had handled these other incident's, I did, and have suffered for my concern/questioning. I had a discussion with a doctor recently and he said nurses are different, they advocate for the patient first, going on to say they should advocate for the hospital, too. I carry a heavy burden, knowing what I know, it plays on my mind daily. People ask me why don't I quit? I don't quit because I care about my patients, I feel I am there for a reason. And re: Christian to help fix...it's political, nobody that would use patient money to hang a picture of herself ever cared about any patient.