Just one week after Texas officials threatened to shut down Dallas-based Timberlawn Behavioral Health System due to patient safety concerns, the psychiatric hospital announced it is voluntarily closing its doors Feb.1, according to The Dallas Morning News.
After a child reported she was raped at the hospital, Texas health officials threatened Jan. 12 to impose a $600,000 fine and revoke Timberlawn's license, one of the strongest steps it can take against healthcare facilities. This was not the first safety problem that occurred at the hospital. In 2014, a suicidal woman was left alone and killed herself. In 2015, a women reported she was raped by another patient and in 2017, a 13-year-old girl who was a victim of past sexual abuse was raped by a 17-year-old patient, according to the report.
In a letter written to staff Thursday, Timberlawn's CEO James Miller cited a decreased patient population, increasing availability of beds at other behavioral health facilities and the cost to refurbish aging buildings as reasons for the voluntary closure. He did not cite any of the safety concerns as reasons for closure, but said he is confident the hospital fixed its safety problems to comply with federal regulations. The results of the latest government inspection are not yet available.
Currently, only 15 of the hospital's 144 beds are filled. The hospital plans to stop admitting new patients after it passes its federal inspection.
"Our intention to close Timberlawn comes after completing a comprehensive, careful review," Mr. Miller wrote, according to the The Dallas Morning News.