Facility avoids closure

The beleaguered Whisper Ridge Behavioral Health System - a 60-bed facility that is down to having only five or six residents - has avoided being shut down by the state by entering into a one-year operating agreement that includes $30,000 in fines.

The Virginia Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services had sought to revoke the Charlottesville facility’s license in February after state inspectors discovered multiple human rights violations, charges of sexual assault and six suicide attempts within a two-month period.

The facility, which treats 13- to 17-year-olds who have been diagnosed as having mental health or substance abuse problems, agreed Tuesday to make significant changes to its medication, staffing and training policies. It will also hire independent consultants to monitor quality improvements, the planned reduction in the use of restraints and the facility’s overall compliance with the agreement.

“The execution of this agreement reflects that Whisper Ridge has implemented improvements in care and has enhanced quality and safety controls,” Taylor Davis, CEO of the facility, wrote in a statement. “I look forward to Whisper Ridge being a key community resource for adolescents.”

Other terms of the consent agreement include Whisper Ridge instituting a new behavioral modification program, constructing a 4-foot security wall around access points to the roof from the interior courtyard and maintaining a caregiver-patient staffing ratio of at least 1-to-4 during the day and 1-to-6 at night.

In February, licensing staff for the state mental health department found that the facility had a severe nursing staff shortage that needed to be addressed immediately. “Current staffing only allows for one nurse on a shift at times (for coverage of 55 or more residents),” the February findings reported. Staff other than nurses worked at the facility, but overall a licensing official wrote, “Staffing is often inadequate, both in numbers and ability to provide therapeutic services.”

To address the staffing issue, the facility has not only hired new personnel, but also has a significantly lower patient total than it did in February. Recently, the 60-bed facility had only five or six residents, said Leslie Anderson, director for the office of licensing for the state mental health department.

Anderson explained that the low numbers might not have been a result of any reduction efforts on the part of Whisper Ridge.

“When a facility has its license revoked, placing agencies that place children tend to remove children,” she said.

Davis did not return telephone messages Tuesday afternoon.

The consent agreement limits future admissions to four residents per month, to permit “a gradual increase,” Anderson said.

The agreement also states that none of the new residents can be sex offenders or have a history of severe aggression, chronic self-harm behavior or a range of other exclusionary diagnoses.

“This is the opportunity for Whisper Ridge to prove that it can run a facility and to meet the health and safety needs of children,” Anderson said.

Over the next 12 months, the state mental health department will conduct regular visits, both announced and unannounced, Anderson said. Whisper Ridge, at 2101 Arlington Blvd., must continue to comply with the agreement through June 15, 2007.

The Charlottesville Police Department is still investigating allegations of sexual assault.

“One investigator has been working on the case pretty much full-time since the date of the search warrant,” said Capt. J.E. “Chip” Harding. Police first searched the facility on Feb. 23. “It’s been a fairly lengthy and detailed investigation.”

Contact Sarah Barry at (434) 978-7266 or sbarry@dailyprogress.com.