In the News

Transfers of disabled out of state-run hospitals into community homes still a problem

Almost 10 percent of the 480 people with developmental disabilities who have moved out of state hospitals since July 2010 have died after their placement in community residences.

Chris Bailey, a spokesman with the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, when asked about deaths after hospital transfers, told GHN that 44 occurred from mid-2010 to early May of this year.

On Sunday, Alan Judd, in an Atlanta Journal Constitution article, described horrific incidents of abuse or neglect following the transfer of these patients into group homes. Forty patients placed in group homes have died, Judd reported, with 30 of those deaths classified as unexpected.

Many of the deaths appeared to be from natural causes, Judd reported.

The article also said that officials documented 76 reports of physical or psychological abuse; 48 of neglect; and 60 accidental injuries.

Continue reading this story here: http://chronicle.augusta.com/latest-news/2014-06-24/transfers-disabled-still-problem?v=1403608114

The original story ran in The Augusta Chronicle on June 24, 2014.