A Maryland state-run psychiatric hospital has made numerous security changes in the wake of three patient-on-patient killings over the past 14 months, according to the state’s top Department of Health and Mental Hygiene official.
Joshua Sharfstein, the department’s secretary, called the killings “unacceptable and tragic” in testimony before the state Senate Finance, Budget and Taxation Committee.
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The most recent happened on Oct. 27, when Andre Mayo allegedly killed fellow inmate Rogelio Mondragon at the Clifton T. Perkins Hospital in Jessup.
A review of the killing found that staff monitoring the hallway didn’t see Mayo enter Mondragon’s room and Mondgragon’s door was unlocked, Sharfstein said. Since the slaying, he said, a second hall monitor has been added to each maximum-security unit and monitoring procedures have been adjusted. A review of ward security systems is also under way.
A week before that incident, authorities say Vitali Davydov killed David Rico-Noyola, his roommate at the hospital. A review by the Office of Health Care Quality “did not identify any deficiencies” related to the killing, according to Sharfstein.
But in September 2010, Saladin Taylor was charged in the death of fellow inmate Susan Sachs. An investigation found that Sachs’ door was unlocked and staff members were sleeping and didn’t notice Taylor enter the room. Three staffers were fired after the slaying. Sharfstein said the killing prompted the hospital to add hall monitors to maximum-security units, create a female-only maximum-security and update employee training.
Sharfstein said 95 percent of Perkins patients are there for court-ordered treatment.
