Days after a patient died from a severe beating, federal regulators have ordered the state mental hospital in Columbus to quickly correct dangerous conditions that may have contributed to the assault.

Patients at West Central Georgia Regional Hospital, where Luis Marrero was severely beaten, are in "immediate jeopardy" of harm, regulators said Tuesday. If the facility doesn't reverse the situation shortly, it could lose its federal funding.

JOHN AMIS/Special (ENLARGE)

Patients at West Central Georgia Regional Hospital are in 'immediate jeopardy' of harm, federal regulators said Tuesday. Staffing is a problem at all seven of the state's mental hospitals.

Family photo (ENLARGE)

Luis Marrero, 53, died following a beating in early May. Another patient has been charged in the attack.

ABOUT THIS PROJECT Federal probe: • Justice Department finds 'critically deficient' conditions | Report PDF • Patients' safety slighted • Remedy will be costly • Feds hit Columbus hospital Call for reforms: • Mental hospitals under review • Consumer advocates seek tighter controls Part 1: A young Sarah Crider is among the victims Part 2: Suicide exposes neglect Part 3: A fatal struggle -- but no punishment Part 4: Lax security, easy escape, tragic ending Part 5: Rapid decline at hospital shatters family Part 6: Patients shunted to inns, shelters, streets • Two who lived — and two who died Part 7: Children housed with alleged offenders Part 8: A lonely end to a life of madness Part 9: Unlicensed homes can pose deadly dilemma Justice delayed?: Worker charged in 2004 sex case still not tried Questionable deaths: • A look at cases around the state Verification: Over 190 abuse cases verified Workers: Volatile environment also threatens staff Solutions: • Experts offer ideas • Feds can step in Interactives: • Map: Locate Georgia's mental hospitals • Video: Reporter discusses findings

Late Tuesday, the state Department of Human Resources, which manages Georgia's seven mental hospitals, said it was doubling the number of nurses at West Central Georgia Regional from 18 to 36. DHR spokeswomen said staffing was a "key issue" in the regulators' complaint and a problem at all seven of the hospitals.

The action by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services amounts to the latest indictment of Georgia's troubled psychiatric health care system. Already, the U.S. Justice Department is investigating whether conditions in the state hospitals violate patients' civil rights, auditors have issued blistering reports on the quality of care in two of the facilities, and a state commission is preparing to study ways to overhaul the entire system.

These inquiries came in response to a recent Atlanta Journal-Constitution series, "A Hidden Shame," that reported on deaths, patient neglect and abuse, overcrowding and understaffing in the state hospitals. The newspaper found that at least 115 patients died under suspicious circumstances from 2002 through 2006 and that more than 190 cases of patient abuse by hospital staff members had been substantiated during the same period.

The citation of the Columbus hospital came from a recent unannounced inspection shortly after Marrero, 53, died from injuries suffered in a beating in early May. Police charged another patient, Terry Cox, in connection with the attack.

The Marrero case is under investigation by both DHR and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

Marrero, a U.S. Army retiree, had been hospitalized with schizophrenia at West Central Georgia Regional in April after getting into an argument at the Columbus group home where he lived, relatives said. The fatal beating came about two weeks after he was admitted.

He had had violent episodes in his past, including a case that led to a manslaughter conviction in the late 1980s. His family attributes that incident to his mental illness.

Officials at the Columbus facility have begun responding to the federal citation, said Kenya Bello, a DHR spokeswoman. She said the hospital would hold a "hiring fair" in Columbus today in an effort to hire 18 more nurses by June 1.

"The key issue was staffing," Bello said. "That is being managed appropriately."

Inadequate staffing levels, according to another DHR spokeswoman, Dena Smith, "is a problem at the hospital and other hospitals."

West Central Georgia Regional has often been overcrowded and understaffed, according to patient advocate Sue Marlowe, president of the Columbus chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

"Full staffing levels at the hospital must be made a priority in order to maintain the safety of patients and staff," Marlowe said Tuesday.

Federal officials declined Tuesday to say whether regulators had cited the hospital because of the Marrero case. They also would not say specifically what the recent inspection found.

Lee Millman, a spokeswoman for the federal Medicare and Medicaid centers, would say only: "It is a crisis situation relating to the health and/or safety of patients."

However, DHR has declined to say how many patients were in the Columbus facility when Marrero was attacked or how many employees were on duty. Both issues, the department said, are part of an investigation into Marrero's death.

The Medicare and Medicaid centers gave the hospital until June 16 to draft a plan to correct its deficiencies. Regulators will conduct another unannounced inspection to see whether the plan is working satisfactorily.

A complete cutoff of federal funding is rare and could cripple operations of the Columbus facility. DHR could not say Tuesday how much federal money is at stake in Columbus.

The case reflects the violence that regularly occurs in the state hospitals.

The Journal-Constitution reported in January that overcrowding in many hospital units, coupled with understaffing, contributes to an atmosphere where injuries are common.

Hospital employees claim more injuries from altercations with patients than from all other causes combined, according to the Journal-Constitution's analysis of state workers' compensation data.