Staff at New York state-run psychiatric hospitals are hired to help people in need of mental health care, but what if that job is putting their own health at risk?

CBS News New York investigator Mahsa Saeidi exposed violent incidents at these hospitals and found out what's being done to protect both patients and staff.

• See more CBS New York Investigations

Head of nurses union estimates assaults happen twice a week

The Office of Mental Health oversees New York's 24 psychiatric centers, of which four are so-called forensic facilities for individuals in custody.

An OMH spokesman said in a statement:

"OMH has a zero-tolerance policy toward violence in our programs and we take very seriously any assault on our staff or patients. We are constantly evaluating our workplace policies and practices, utilizing the best available approaches to improve safety at our facilities and protect our workers from harm –something that is reflected in the small number of assaults on staff at facilities that collectively serve upward of 5,000 patients annually."

Since 2020, the state's recorded 57 assaults, or roughly 10 a year.

But the head of the nurses union, Wayne Spence, says it's much more common. Relying on data from a state system used to log potential workers comp claims, he estimates there are two assaults per week across the state, on average.

Last year, hundreds reported "workplace violence," which includes assaults, threats and aggressive behavior.

• Do you have a story that needs investigating? Let us know.

Nurse placed in medically induced coma after being punched by patient

Registered nurse Peter Shiffman worked at a state-run psychiatric center on Staten Island from 1999 until last September, when he was punched by a patient.

"And the morning of this attack on my husband, my husband spent 30 minutes talking him down and they gave him an injection," wife Erin Shiffman said. "He came out of his room and sucker-punched my husband in the side of the face."

She continued, "From what I was told, my husband clenched [both of his fists] like this and went straight back and cracked his head."

His injuries were so severe, he had to be placed in a medically induced coma.

"He almost died," Erin Shiffman said.  

The patient was arrested for felony assault. State records show he had a prior conviction for attempted sexual abuse. Because of that, Erin Shiffman says he was high-risk and should have been placed in a "secure care unit" for violent individuals, not a standard, in-patient facility.

"I blame the state because that patient should have never been there," Erin Shiffman said. "You can't let criminals into a hospital with people in the general population."

Peter Shiffman is now living with a traumatic brain injury, which makes it tough to even walk.

"I remember nothing from my assault or ever meeting the person who supposedly hit me," he said. "The ICU staff held it as a miracle."

He says that patient ended his career.

"The pain now is something I have never imagined in my life," Peter Shiffman said. "For me, I work just to get through each day. It is hard. It's startlingly difficult."

Nurse practitioner Carl Ankrah was slashed in the face without warning at a different state-run psychiatric center in 2019. The patient, who was later arrested and convicted, allegedly smuggled a razor and turned it into a weapon.

"He went right there from the corner of my eye all the way through my left [ear]," Ankrah said. "If he had gone a little bit deeper, I would not be here today."

"The model that we're asking them for used to exist"

In the wake of the attack on Peter Shiffman, OMH made major policy changes at the Staten Island psychiatric center.

"Since the South Beach incident, we retrained staff on risk assessment, have ran monthly drills to ensure their readiness, established a critical response unit, and tightened our partnership with local law enforcement, among other safety enhancements," an OMH spokesperson said in a statement.

The state is also considering a secure care unit there for violent individuals who are not in custody.  

The Shiffman family wants the policies to be implemented statewide.

"Do you know that when that patient that assaulted my husband was taken off the unit, the patients clapped for him to be gone because they were petrified for their lives? They were cowering in their rooms, afraid. They clapped," Erin Shiffman said.

Spence is calling for better intake screenings.

"The gentleman who assaulted Peter Shiffman ... He fought with the parole officers. He was violent with them," he said. "But no one looked at his background."

He also wants immediate removal of violent patients and additional forensic-like secure care units.

"Every mental health facility used to have a forensic unit," he said. "The model that we're asking them for used to exist."