During the past five years, officials have verified more than 190 cases in which state hospital employees physically or sexually abused psychiatric patients. These cases have been reported at all seven state hospitals. A sampling of the reports:

Georgia Regional Hospital/Atlanta (29 substantiated cases)

A temporary worker reported that a hospital technician engaged in a series of altercations one evening in November 2004 with a 19-year-old male patient. When the patient refused to go to his room, the technician allegedly pulled him by the neck and the head, and then kicked and pushed him when he fell. Later, according to an incident report, the technician became upset with the patient for talking too loudly, pushed him into his room, and called in another patient to help discipline him. The temporary worker reported noises from the room that sounded like "hitting, banging and fighting." Still later, the incident report says, the technician threatened the patient with another beating. Although hospital officials verified the temporary worker's allegations, the technician remained on the state payroll, records show, and no charges were filed.

Northwest Georgia Regional Hospital, Rome (31 substantiated cases)

Three years after patient Rickey Dean Wingo died while three hospital employees held him facedown on the floor, three other patients received injuries during physical restraints. In May 2005, a patient restrained after attacking a staff member received a bloody nose. In September, a patient who struggled with staff members fell on the floor, causing a head wound that required three stitches. And in November, a 16-year-old patient who was restrained after throwing objects and pushing furniture suffered a broken arm. State reports reflect no disciplinary action against any of the eight employees involved in the incidents.

East Central Regional Hospital, Augusta (48 substantiated cases)

Hospital officials verified several instances in 2003 and 2004 in which employees engaged in what reports described as degrading behavior toward patients. Twice in about a month, employees reported that a technician poured fingernail polish remover on female patients' private parts; she was fired about two months after the second report. In another case, the hospital fired a technician who was discovered with his pants down, bent over in front of a 37-year-old male patient, his buttocks touching the man's face. In yet another incident, according to a report, a technician was fired after persuading a 40-year-old male patient to eat a cigarette butt. "This action," officials wrote, "is considered to be degrading, belittling and disrespectful and is considered to be abuse." As in the other cases, the hospital police filed no charges.

West Central Georgia Regional Hospital, Columbus (12 substantiated cases)

A patient alleged in January 2004 that two staff members dragged another patient across a common area of the hospital; one of the employees allegedly hit that patient and sprayed her with a cleaning solution. The hospital's patient rights committee verified the allegation, but the facility's police department said the incident was not a crime.

Southwestern State Hospital, Thomasville (10 substantiated cases)

An agitated patient attacked a hospital worker, who in turn hit the 27-year-old patient in the head. Other staff members intervened, and the hospital fired the worker the next day. No charges were filed against the employee or the patient as a result of the January 2005 incident.

Georgia Regional Hospital/Savannah (19 substantiated cases)

In October 2003, a supervisor instructed a hospital technician to take a 34-year-old forensic patient outside. Instead, the patient alleged, the technician took her into a bathroom, pulled her hair and beat her in the face. The supervisor later found the patient "with a blue, swollen left cheek," a state report says. The technician admitted assaulting the patient. The state's final report on the incident says: "The employee in question was terminated. Case is considered closed unless otherwise notified."

Central State Hospital, Milledgeville (45 substantiated cases)

A 10-year-old patient alleged in January 2005 that an employee pushed her face to the floor after she vomited. Then, the girl reported, the employee pulled her by the neck into another room. The hospital fired the employee "due to misconduct," an incident report says, but no charges were filed.