AP Features, September 14th, 2007
Rat droppings, sewage leaks and razor blades in the lawn paint a harrowing picture of life at Maryland's largest residential facility for severely disabled adults, according to a state report.
A report prepared for the state Office of Health Care Quality and released late Wednesday extended a ban on admissions to the troubled Rosewood Center in Owings Mills. If conditions don't improve, the report warned, state and federal funding could be cut off, which would effectively close the state-run facility.
The report calls for an independent monitor to be added to oversee Rosewood by Oct. 1.
Rosewood, which has about 170 patients, has long been considered a troubled institution. Last year, a patient was stabbed by another patient, and new admissions to Rosewood have been stopped since January.
"We continue to have concerns that the problems haven't gotten better," said Wendy Kronmiller, director of the health care office.
Among the disturbing finds in the state review, conducted in August, were rat droppings near the food service area and sewage leaking onto medical equipment.
Nine of 14 patients requiring tube feedings were not getting adequate nutrition. One patient was found with repeatedly broken ribs after needing Heimlich maneuvers from choking, and in some cases the broken ribs weren't treated. In another case a patient received only a verbal reprimand after biting another's ear.
The state survey also found potentially dangerous debris _ including razor blades, nails and screws _ outside buildings used by the patients.
The report details lapses in care, such as bruises on patients that were not investigated and a doctor who prescribed an antibiotic to a patient who was allergic to it.
The Maryland Disability Law Center, which has long called for Rosewood to be closed, said the latest report shows it is too late to solve Rosewood's problems with a 25-hour-a-week independent monitor.
"This institution, with the conditions these people are experiencing, just needs to be closed," said Nancy Pineles, lawyer for the Law Center.
However, a group of patients' advocates opposes closure of Rosewood. Glenn Brown, vice president of Rosewood Auxiliary, said Rosewood needs a chance to fix lapses and considers some of the problems to be merely "paperwork deficiencies."
Brown's daughter, 49-year-old Jean Brown, is profoundly retarded and has lived at Rosewood since she was 7.
"She needs total help with everything, but she's very happy there," said Glenn Brown, who lives in Hyattsville. "When she was first there it was not as pleasant a place as we would like, and now I consider Rosewood a state-of-the-art facility."
