Troubled Timberlawn psychiatric hospital is closing before the state can shut it down
DALLAS -- Timberlawn psychiatric hospital says it is voluntarily closing its doors, just a week after state officials threatened to shut down the century-old treatment center because it was too dangerous for patients.
“Our intention to close Timberlawn comes after completing a comprehensive, careful review,” chief executive James Miller wrote Thursday in a letter to staff obtained by The Dallas Morning News.
He later issued a similar statement to The News, saying that the hospital’s owners had decided to shutter it in December, before the state threatened to yank its license and fine it $600,000. Timberlawn is appealing those sanctions.
It’s unclear exactly when the last patient will leave Timberlawn, which was once a premier mental health facility but in recent years has had safety problems, including sexual assaults.
Read more: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/investigations/2018/01/18/dmn-investigates-troubled-timberlawn-psychiatric-hospital-closing-before-state-can-shut
