Sometimes, important stories are buried beneath the mass of other national news. Here is one such story from the Atlanta Journal Constitution. (Note: free registration required)See also this important AJC investigation series "A Hidden Shame"
Federal officials are opening an investigation that could force Georgia to dramatically improve conditions at its state psychiatric hospitals, where an Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation found that overcrowding, understaffing, abuse and neglect have contributed to scores of suspicious deaths.
The U.S. Justice Department's Civil Rights Division notified Gov. Sonny Perdue's office of the investigation as state lawmakers prepared to adjourn a legislative session in which several proposals calling for an overhaul of the mental health system failed to win passage.
Although attempts to secure more funding and independent monitoring of the system appear to be dead, a resolution creating a reform commission is pending as the General Assembly enters its final day.
The federal intervention came three months after the AJC found that at least 115 hospital patients had died under suspicious circumstances from 2002 through 2006. The AJC series, "A Hidden Shame," also reported on more than 190 cases of physical and sexual abuse of patients.
The Justice Department letter said its investigation of the seven state-run mental hospitals will look at "protection from harm," medical care and discharge planning. "We encourage the state to cooperate with our investigation," the letter said.
News of the Justice Department's involvement drew praise —- and a measure of regret —- from a relative of one of the deceased patients.
"It's such a shame the federal government has to step in to save lives of innocent citizens in the state of Georgia," said Janie Webb-Miller, whose brother Michael Webb, 59, of Duluth died in December from a bowel obstruction after spending three weeks at Georgia Regional Hospital/Atlanta. "Where are our elected officials? You hate to think your own state doesn't care enough to do something."
Officials at the state Department of Human Resources, which operates the hospitals, would not comment in detail Thursday on the investigation, saying they don't know what course the inquiry will take. But, said Dena Smith, a Human Resources spokeswoman: "As with any investigation or any inquiry or anything, we intend to always cooperate fully as a partner with this investigation."
The department has acknowledged problems in the facilities but disagreed with the number of deaths being characterized as "suspicious." Regardless, the agency says it is working to improve conditions.
Repeated citations by federal and state inspectors have failed to correct chronic problems, the AJC found. At Georgia Regional Hospital/Atlanta, for instance, federal inspectors found that problems such as overcrowding, fighting among patients and a lack of therapy sessions were present both in 2002 and in 2006, even though hospital officials had promised to address those issues.
Bert Brantley, a spokesman for Perdue, said the governor was busy monitoring the end of the legislative session and had not seen the letter, which was sent Wednesday.
A spokeswoman for the Justice Department in Washington said Thursday that the investigation will formally begin next week.
"We're hoping to work cooperatively" with Georgia officials, said the spokeswoman, Cynthia Magnuson. Such probes are complex and often lengthy, she added.
Under a federal civil rights statute to protect people in government institutional care, Justice has investigated conditions in facilities for the mentally ill and those for the mentally retarded in several states.
In North Carolina's state hospitals, the department in 2004 identified staffing shortages, deficient treatment and discharge planning for patients, inappropriate seclusion and restraint of patients, and use of medications that investigators deemed a "chemical restraint." In Vermont in 2005, the department cited a state hospital for its "cell-like" rooms and "dehumanizing" conditions.
If its investigation warrants, the Justice Department could file a lawsuit in federal court seeking to force Georgia officials to overhaul the hospitals.
In January, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, a consumer advocacy group, asked the Justice Department to investigate what it called "unacceptable and intolerable" conditions in Georgia's mental hospitals.
The federal intervention is necessary, said Ron Honberg, NAMI's director of policy and legal affairs. The AJC investigation, he said, "described what is nothing short of a crisis, and with large numbers of people dying as a result of abuse and neglect."
Citing the lack of new funding from the Georgia General Assembly, Honberg said, "I don't see anything [being] done to address the problems."
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