ST. PAUL — Standing beside nurses who recounted the surge in workplace injuries at the hands of violent patients at the state-run psychiatric hospitals, Gov. Mark Dayton urged legislators Wednesday to pay for critical upgrades and staffing increases.

Minnesota’s Security Hospital in St. Peter and the Anoka-Metro Regional Treatment Center have both struggled for years with staff shortages, resulting in exhausted workers who pile up overtime hours. And an influx of increasingly violent patients shuttled into their care from county jails has triggered a string of workplace assaults and worker compensation claims since 2013.

Dayton renewed his call to lawmakers who are considering how to spend a $900 million surplus to pour millions of dollars this year into each facility to complete renovations, improve sightlines and boost staffing. The need to better care for mentally ill patients — and keep workers safe — is imperative, the Democrat said.

“For years now, they’ve suffered from persistent neglect and underfunding,” Dayton said. “This is money that is so urgently needed to operate these facilities in a minimally safe and therapeutic environment. It can’t be ignored.”

Some nurses say their safety concerns have been exacerbated by a 2013 law that has transferred hundreds of mentally ill inmates from jails into their care. The situation at Anoka-Metro is so dire that the federal government has warned the facility may lose $3.5 million in annual funding due to the workplace conditions.

Jackie Spanjers, a nurse and local union president at Anoka-Metro, shared stories of patients punching, biting and kicking overwhelmed nurses.