State defends plan to improve psychiatric hospitals

By Craig Schneider

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

State officials defended their plan to improve the troubled state psychiatric hospitals Wednesday, submitting court documents to counter complaints by the U.S. Justice Department that the state was failing to adequately fix the centers.

The state asserted that it has taken significant steps to address the problems in the seven psychiatric hospitals.

The conflict stems from a critical Justice Department investigation into a mental health system in which advocates say abuse, neglect and poor medical care have contributed to hundreds of patient injuries and deaths.

The state entered into an agreement with the Justice Department in January to improve the hospitals. But the Justice Department recently informed the court that it could no longer support its own motion to have the court adopt that agreement.

A federal judge this month declined to accept the agreement, but allowed Georgia time to respond to the criticism.

The state's filing Wednesday argued against the request by the Justice Department and mental health advocates to hold a court hearing on the state's progress.

Tom Wilson, a spokesman for the state Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, said the state has until Jan. 15 to be in "significant compliance" with the settlement. Judging the outcome at this point is premature, he said.

He also said the state is concerned that the Justice Department and advocates may use such a meeting, called a status conference, to attempt to broaden the scope of the agreement.

The state's court papers said, "The state respectfully suggests that it would be a waste of this court's time to have a status conference."

It is now up to U.S. District Judge Charles A. Pannell to determine whether to order a status conference. The rift between the state and the Justice Department represents a setback in their agreement. If the judge determines in January that the state has not complied with the agreement, the judge can void it.

The Justice Department has asserted that the state's lagging progress has led to patient suicides, rapes and homicides in the state hospitals.

The state pointed to several improvements, including the creation of a separate state agency in July to handle mental health issues, an agreement whereby the leadership at one hospital was transferred to the Medical College of Georgia, and the recent hiring of two dozen experts to work in the hospitals.

Mental health advocate Ellyn Jeager said she felt the state's response was dismissive of the concerns.

"It had a nasty undertone," she said of the state's court response. "If they feel they're doing their best, I don't know why they would oppose" a hearing.