Psychiatric Care

In an article yesterday about the lack of psychiatric care for violent youths, the name of Dr. Christiane Tellefsen, acting superintendent of Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center, was misspelled.The Sun regrets the errors.After a 16-year-old youth was recently charged in Baltimore County in the slaying of an 18-year-old man, he was examined by two physicians who recommended that he receive an emergency psychiatric evaluation.But when officers contacted the Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center that same night -- the only state mental institution that treats the criminally insane -- they were told the hospital would not admit the youth because it only takes adult patients.

I agree wholeheartedly with Susan Reimer ("Failing Bobby," Aug. 30) that the situation with the alleged Perry Hall shooter Robert Wayne Gladden Jr. is so sad. Being a nurse and employed in psychiatric care for a number of years, I know we missed the boat on this one. Bobby was trying to let someone know by his actions that he was in trouble. All the bells and whistles were there. I certainly hope now that he can get the proper treatment. My prayers are with both families. It would also help if there some type of policy for uniforms or a standard dress code.

Police searched yesterday for a homeless man with a history of mental illness who has been charged in the stabbings of two people, one fatally, inside a North Baltimore condominium early Tuesday. Vladislav N. Filatov, 30, a Russian immigrant, was released from a psychiatric unit in the past year after being convicted of carrying a 6-inch knife and kicking mirrors on the sides of eight cars parked on the Johns Hopkins University campus two years ago, court records show. Police have issued an arrest warrant charging Filatov with first-degree murder and attempted murder.

As a member of the community that St. Joseph Medical Center serves, as one whose family has received care at St Joseph, and as a former employee, I appreciate the recent commentary by Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien ("St. Joseph Medical Center: A Catholic tradition of reverence, integrity, compassion and excellence," Jan. 1). It has been with great sadness that I have observed the reputation of the hospital being diminished. As the archbishop points out, its history has been a proud one focused on providing quality care for the people of Baltimore.

A 67-year-old Hampstead man who was held not criminally responsible in a 1989 assault on his family -- an attack that occurred five years before the man's wife was stabbed to death by the couple's 17-year-old son -- must continue receiving psychiatric care for at least another five years, a Carroll County Circuit Court judge ordered yesterday.Judge Raymond E. Beck Sr. heard reports from psychiatrists testifying for and against dropping the conditions of release imposed on Eugene Marshall Fick of the 4000 block of Farm Woods Lane.

Behind the locked door, the new inpatient psychiatric unit at Northwest Hospital Center is freshly painted in soothing hues of blues and greens. Patients in the 12-bed unit pace the hallway or sit quietly by tables in the dining area. Though they suffer from serious mental illnesses, they are lucky to be here. The unit has been open for two months and has turned away potential patients. The demand for care at the small unit is symptomatic of the broader need for more hospital beds for the mentally ill in Maryland, said Dr. Samuel Adler, chief of psychiatry for Northwest and Sinai hospitals and Levindale Hebrew Geriatric Center.

A mentally ill Annapolis man admitted yesterday to shooting at police in an incident last summer that led to a four-hour standoff at a city public housing project. Demarrow Antjuan Williams, 26, pleaded guilty to two counts of felony assault and one weapons charge stemming from the July 30 incident. In exchange, other charges in that and three more cases will be dropped. Williams beamed at relatives who attended the brief hearing before Anne Arundel County Circuit Judge Joseph P. Manck.

I agree wholeheartedly with Susan Reimer ("Failing Bobby," Aug. 30) that the situation with the alleged Perry Hall shooter Robert Wayne Gladden Jr. is so sad. Being a nurse and employed in psychiatric care for a number of years, I know we missed the boat on this one. Bobby was trying to let someone know by his actions that he was in trouble. All the bells and whistles were there. I certainly hope now that he can get the proper treatment. My prayers are with both families. It would also help if there some type of policy for uniforms or a standard dress code.

In an article yesterday about the lack of psychiatric care for violent youths, the name of Dr. Christiane Tellefsen, acting superintendent of Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center, was misspelled.The Sun regrets the errors.After a 16-year-old youth was recently charged in Baltimore County in the slaying of an 18-year-old man, he was examined by two physicians who recommended an emergency psychiatric evaluation for him.But when officers immediately notified the Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center -- the only state mental institution that treats the criminally insane -- they were told the hospital would not admit the youth because it takes only adult patients.

Saying the punishment is too severe for a woman nearly in ruin, attorneys for former Baltimore Comptroller Jacqueline F. McLean have asked a judge to effectively void her conviction in a corruption scandal last year so that she may keep her $23,850 annual pension.The motion -- which is being hotly protested by the state special prosecutor -- asks that Mrs. McLean's sentence for theft and misconduct be modified to "probation before judgment," which would strike the convictions from her record.

The Maryland Insurance Administration is investigating complaints that some psychiatric patients have been forced to wait hours - in some cases, several days - to be hospitalized because their insurance companies have not responded quickly when emergency room doctors called to verify coverage.The Baltimore health department has sent the state agency information about 10 cases in recent months in which patients endured long waits to be admitted to hospitals because their insurance companies could not be reached for approval.

After almost a century spent caring for the mentally ill, Crownsville Hospital Center is shutting its doors. Sometime this week, the state hopes to transfer the handful of patients who remain at the hospital - a move that will complete the closure of the historic, state-run psychiatric complex in Anne Arundel County. The shutdown will leave the state with just two primary residential facilities for the mentally ill: Spring Grove Hospital Center in Baltimore County and Springfield Hospital Center in Carroll County.

After almost a century spent caring for the mentally ill, Crownsville Hospital Center is shutting its doors. Sometime this week, the state hopes to transfer the handful of patients who remain at the hospital -- a move that will complete the closure of the historic, state-run psychiatric complex in Anne Arundel County. The shutdown will leave the state with just two primary residential facilities for the mentally ill: Spring Grove Hospital Center in Baltimore County and Springfield Hospital Center in Carroll County.

The $93 million renovation of one of the nation's oldest psychiatric care facilities is designed to accent the acclaimed institution's reputation. Sheppard Pratt Health System's new complex in Towson will include a four-story hospital with 192 beds. A gym will be attached. Some of the 113-year-old buildings will be upgraded and used for a resident adolescent program, outpatient therapy services and administrative offices. For the first time, the hospital will have a separate ambulance entrance.

The Carney man accused of shooting his father with a rifle Tuesday night and calling 911 to report the killing was being held yesterday at the state's maximum security psychiatric hospital in Jessup, Baltimore County police said. Mark A. Tomick, 35, was arrested shortly after the shooting in his home in the 3000 block of Fourth Ave. and charged with first-degree murder, police said. His father, Andre E. Tomick, 62, of the 700 block of Chestnut Hill Road in Forest Hill, Harford County, was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

A mentally ill Annapolis man admitted yesterday to shooting at police in an incident last summer that led to a four-hour standoff at a city public housing project. Demarrow Antjuan Williams, 26, pleaded guilty to two counts of felony assault and one weapons charge stemming from the July 30 incident. In exchange, other charges in that and three more cases will be dropped. Williams beamed at relatives who attended the brief hearing before Anne Arundel County Circuit Judge Joseph P. Manck.

The $93 million renovation of one of the nation's oldest psychiatric care facilities is designed to accent the acclaimed institution's reputation. Sheppard Pratt Health System's new complex in Towson will include a four-story hospital with 192 beds. A gym will be attached. Some of the 113-year-old buildings will be upgraded and used for a resident adolescent program, outpatient therapy services and administrative offices. For the first time, the hospital will have a separate ambulance entrance.

Sheppard Pratt Health System announced yesterday an ambitious $80 million plan to build an addition and renovate two aging wings at its hospital, all as part of a strategy to cement the system's reputation as a premier provider of inpatient psychiatric care. The project, which will add 165,000 square feet of hospital space and replace 196 beds, is the latest in a series of moves at the 111-year-old campus on North Charles Street as it responds to changes in the mental health industry. Officials said yesterday that the new wing will bring the hospital - whose patients are housed in a building dating to 1891 - into the 21st century.