Multnomah County officials failed to follow-up on several reports of abuse or neglect from the first year of Unity Center for Behavioral Health’s operation, the Multnomah County District Attorney’s office acknowledged Tuesday. But District Attorney Rod Underhill announced that his office did not find any reason to press criminal charges against any county employee.

The DA’s office launched an investigation in the midst of an internal review by Multnomah County of the county health department’s procedures.

The Oregonian/OregonLive reported last year that county staff who were in charge of investigating and taking action on complaints about suspected abuse or neglect of seniors and people with disabilities had received several serious reports starting within the first month of Unity opening.

However, it was unclear at the time whether anyone ever looked into those complaints, and county officials said that no action was ever taken if an investigation did occur.

In fact, health department officials could not confirm what the county’s state-mandated role was in the process of investigating reports of abuse or neglect.

County Operating Officer Marissa Madrigal called for a full review of the complaints and how they were handled to figure out the proper procedures the the county must fulfill. In the midst of that, two key officials were placed on leave and then fired.

County investigators eventually referred several cases to the prosecutor’s office because they raised concerns that county staff might have broken the law in the handling of the reports.

The county then paused its internal review while awaiting whether there would be criminal charges.

The DA’s office said Tuesday that the county’s adult protective services division did not report findings to law enforcement when it likely should have, but that prosecutors and county leaders agree that it was not to intentionally harm anyone and that no staff had ignored their legal requirements.

The breakdown at the county came amid a separate state investigation of patient and employee safety at Unity. That inquiry began in March 2018 and found similar problems to those received by the county many months earlier. The state had never seen any of the complaints submitted to the county before the state’s own review began.

The state found widespread problems at Unity that touched on nearly every aspect of its operation and led to the deaths of at least two patients.

Unity is Portland’s main private psychiatric emergency center and takes in people in crisis and also treats people long-term. While Multnomah County isn’t in charge of the center, county social service workers are stationed there and others visit several times a week because they work closely with many patients.

Multnomah County is also Portland’s lead mental health care provider, so many people who receive help through government insurance are treated at Unity.

This is a breaking story that will be updated as more information is available.

-- Molly Harbarger

mharbarger@oregonian.com | 503-294-5923 | @MollyHarbarger

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