Riverside Psychiatric Hospital Faces Weekly Inspections Following Reports of Abuse
Mental health officials in D.C. have initiated weekly visits to Riverside Hospital in Northwest Washington, following a report by the legal advocacy group University Legal Services, Inc., charging them with "serious and persistent abuse and neglect." According to a news report in the Washington Post, the psychiatric hospital for children under 21 years of age, has a troubling history of abuse and neglect accusations, including one recent case involving the death of a 14-year old girl who died after ventilator assistance and emergency cardiac surgery eventually failed to save her life. Riverside is accused of negligence in ignoring the symptoms of her impending cardiac emergency and contributing to her death. Though the D.C. Department of Mental Health has not de-certified the hospital, the Post report notes that the agency has not referred any patients to the facility since last week, when the facility voluntarily stopped accepting long-term patients. The hospital's lawyers maintain that the temporary halt in accepting patients was unrelated to these latest accusations of abuse -- accusations which include instances of punching, choking, slapping, pushing, threats, and chemical and physical restraint.
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