THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 19, 1996 TAG: 9607190469
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: 52 lines
Faced with lawsuits from the U.S. Department of Justice, Virginia has agreed to improve conditions at two state-run institutions for the mentally disabled.
The two agreements, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, resolve suits filed in March.
The Justice Department charged that Eastern State Hospital, in Williamsburg, and Northern Virginia Training Center, in Fairfax, didn't evaluate and treat patients properly; didn't ensure that living conditions were safe; provided inadequate medical care; and didn't ensure that trained staff members were always on hand.
The state denied that standards at the facilities were inadequate.
``Our view is that we've been providing a good, acceptable standard of care all along and that we've been in compliance with standards,'' said Stan Butkis, associate commissioner of the state Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services. Butkis said so little separated the sides that they decided to come to an agreement and drop the suits
Once the terms have been implemented, the suit will be dismissed, the Justice Department said.
``We are pleased that this chapter has come to a close,'' said Deval L. Patrick, federal assistant attorney general for civil rights.
``These agreements are a good result for everyone,'' said state Attorney General James S. Gilmore III.
The Justice Department began investigating the Northern Virginia Training Center in May 1990. The center houses individuals with developmental disabilities.
The department opened its investigation of Eastern State, which houses individuals with psychiatric disorders, in 1993.
The lawsuits alleged a boy at the Fairfax center died of asphyxiation when a plastic glove lodged in his throat. At Eastern State, a patient died of cardiac arrest after being given eight prescription drugs. MEMO: PROVISIONS
Under the agreements with the Justice Department, the state will:
Provide adequate psychiatric and psychological treatment and medical
care for residents at both facilities.
Ensure that all living conditions are safe and that residents are
protected from harm.
Ensure that each facility is adequately staffed.
Develop a quality management plan at both facilities that allows
officials to monitor implementation of the remedial measures.
Ensure that every resident is evaluated to determine whether
placement in the facility is appropriate. by CNB