ROCKLAND PSYCHIATRIC UNIT’S CHIEF SUSPENDED, ACCUSED OF PHYSICAL CONFLICT WITH PATIENT
By Steve Lieberman and Jane Lerner

Lower Hudson Journal news
Jan 8 2009
NY

The medical director of the Rockland County Mental Health
Department’s psychiatric in-patient unit has been suspended, pending an
investigation into an accusation that he had a physical confrontation
with a patient, officials within county government confirmed yesterday.

Although officials declined to discuss the situation surrounding
Dr. Vahan Kouyoumdjian, they said such a suspension is done to protect
the individual accused and the patients and that it does not suggest
that the person is guilty of anything.

Mental Health Commissioner Mary Ann Walsh-Tozer said she could not
discuss a personnel issue, but that people within county government
said the doctor was suspended Monday for an incident reported a week
earlier. They were not authorized to discuss the issue.

Speaking generally about the county’s policies regarding an employee
accused of wrongdoing, Walsh-Tozer said a suspension could be ordered,
pending an internal review of all of the allegations.

"If there is an incident that causes any level of concern, in order
to protect everyone involved, we would do a suspension with pay,"
Walsh-Tozer said. "This is not a statement of guilt other than putting
someone on administrative leave while we look into the situation."

She said many times the review would find that the accusations were
unfounded.

"Just because someone says something, doesn’t mean it’s so," she
said. "The reasons we don’t talk about the people involved is we
don’t want to harm their reputation or put out information that’s
partially or completely inaccurate."

Kouyoumdjian, whose salary in 2007 was $158,714, has no malpractice
charges filed against him and has not faced any disciplinary action
by the state Department of Health, according to state records.

Kouyoumdjian attended medical school in Armenia and did graduate work
in psychiatry at New York Medical College in Valhalla. He received
his license in 1996 to practice medicine in New York, according to
state records.

He could not be reached for comment yesterday.

The unit overseen by Kouyoumdjian includes a 43-bed hospital at the
county’s Dr. Robert L. Yeager Health Center in Ramapo that is designed
for short-stay crisis stabilization for people in an acute episode of
mental illness or life crisis, according to the department’s Web site.

Incidents involving patients must be reported to the state Department
of Health. Walsh-Tozer declined to comment on whether the incident
was reported.

But even if an incident involving a doctor were reported, the state
Health Department doesn’t release information or confirm that a
complaint exists until the Office of Professional Medical Conduct
reviews the accusations.

"We review all complaints received by the department on a case-by-case
basis," spokesman Jeffrey Hammond said yesterday. "We certainly would
have an interest in any case involving alleged patient abuse."

Other than the Health Department, such accusations could be forwarded
to the state Attorney General’s Office or the Rockland County
Sheriff’s Department, which would investigate any allegations at
county facilities.

Sheriff’s Detective Lt. William Barbera said the department had
not been advised of any incident involving a doctor at county
facilities. Barbera said the two state agencies also could have
been notified if an incident occurred or it could first be handled
internally.

"We have not been contacted," Barbera said. "We will investigate if
needed. They haven’t called back. We don’t know what they want us to
do, if anything, at this point."