A state run hospital for the severely mentally disabled was threatened with closure after putting the safety of residents in danger.  State officials say they’ve fixed the problems at central state hospital but parents of the residents are still worried.

Central state hospital paid more than fifty thousand dollars in fines and nearly had its funding cut off for three serious violations involving the safety of its clients.  With recent staff cuts and the possibility of more state budget cuts, the loved ones of central state residents are worried there might be a relapse to poor care:

Missy McKiernan’s 26-year-old son Colin has mental retardation, autism and a condition that causes uncontrollable seizures.  He’s one of 33 residents of central state hospital’s Bingham Unit.  And while McKiernan is generally pleased with the care her son is getting, she was worried about his safety:

McKiernan was concerned because, according to records obtained by WHAS11 news, central state hospital was cited for three serious type A violations in March and April, meaning the safety of residents was in jeopardy.  Records show in one case, the hospital failed to quickly move a resident who was subjected to 32 incidents of abuse and injured by other mentally retarded residents. 

Another resident turned unresponsive with a dropping heart rate when given Zyprexa, a drug the staff knew he’d have a bad reaction to.  And the last incident involved a client who had a history of swallowing things but still had access to toothbrushes, latex gloves and other dangerous items. 

Since the citations, the state has hired a new administrator for central state, improved training for staff and done more monitoring of clients.  But 10 staff members were laid off last week and there could be more budget cuts, leaving Missy McKiernan worried that central could slip backward where care or even lives, may be put back in jeopardy.