Members of Maryland?s House of Delegates backed off attempts to expedite the closure of the Rosewood Hospital Center, approving a bill that instead requests a yearlong study of the 200 employees and disabled residents at the facility and the future use of the Owings Mills campus.
Delegates Monday voted unanimously on a bill amended to remove all references to closing the facility or to reports of abuse and neglect that initiated the movement. Bill sponsor Del. James Hubbard, D-Prince George?s, said the changes came at the request of Gov. Martin O?Malley and give the center a year to fix problems.
“I think the problems are well-known,” Hubbard said. “This gives them a year to deal with the forensics patients, the land, the understaffing, all the issues that have been barriers in the past.”
Family members of residents who fought to keep the facility open celebrated the bill, which still needs Senate approval, but cautioned the battle to keep Rosewood open will continue. They testified earlier this month that community homes aren?t adequately prepared to accept the severely disabled and court-ordered patients housed at Rosewood. Some family members said Rosewood has improved in recent years.
“It was the best we could do,” said Harry Yost, whose son has lived at the center for the past 40 years. “It?s a good place and, doggone it, it should be given its recognition.”
Advocates of closure called the amendments disappointing, but said they still support the bill. Virginia Knowlton, of the Maryland Disabilities Law Center, said her group will push for closure, which she said doesn?t require legislation.
The center released a report in January that said deaf residents weren?t given an interpreter, and residents were restrained with straitjackets for minor offenses. The insufficient care, they said, wasn?t worth the $190,000-per-year price for each resident.
“We?ve seen that when the state really wants to close a facility, they can fairly rapidly,” Knowlton said.
Lawmakers said they expect the bill to pass the Senate easily by the end of the week.
