Investigators have issued a scathing report criticizing a state-run Baltimore County residential center for the mentally disabled, recommending that federal funding be cut off if the center's staff does not stop patients from hurting themselves and abusing others.
Wendy Kronmiller, director of the Office of Health Care Quality at the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, wrote the citation letter to Rosewood Center in Owings Mills this week. The pattern of violations was so serious that investigators stopped their annual review in midstream to put Rosewood on notice, according to Kronmiller.
"Conditions at your facility pose an immediate jeopardy to the individuals," Kronmiller wrote to center director James Anzalone.
Investigators noted a woman who hit her head repeatedly on a radiator, requiring sutures to close her wounds, and another man who "broke through locked doors of the residence and ran full speed, head first into the metal Dumpster." Incidents of residents harming others include a man who was pushed off gym bleachers by two residents and a mentally ill robbery suspect who had three fights within a month of his admission.
"The facility staff had knowledge of clients who physically abused other clients and/or were self-injurious," the report issued Tuesday found. "The facility did not thoroughly investigate incidents and had not implemented effective preventative measures to protect the individuals from actual and potential physical abuse or self-injury."
If Rosewood officials do not correct the center's deficiencies by Oct. 18, state officials said they will recommend suspension of its Medicaid funding, which is almost half of the center's annual budget.
According to state inspectors, Rosewood officials said they are trying to correct the problems identified. A message left for Anzalone was not returned yesterday.
Several advocate groups for the disabled applauded the internal report, saying its critical findings were long overdue.
"It's been a pretty huge deal for us dealing with the problems there. The violations are horrific and illegal," said Lauren Young, director of litigation at the Maryland Disability Law Center, whose organization has called for Rosewood's closure.
Rosewood was founded in 1888 as the Asylum and Training School for the Feeble Minded. In 1970, Rosewood housed 2,744 people with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities.
