Ervin's brother Maxwell reportedly told jurors that the man thought his father was "an imposter" and that Alexander "was a trained member of the CIA on a mission to kill him.". Investigators from Adult Protective Services, a state agency that looks into possible mistreatment of adults with disabilities, set out to determine if the restraint used on Clayton was tantamount to abuse. The Vernon facility was located at the now unused Victory Field Army Air Corps training field and served about 400 patients. Get the Android Weather app from Google Play, Sign Up for Daily News & Breaking News Newsletters, Sign up for Digging Deep: Inside KXAN Investigates newsletter. General Psychiatry, Addiction, Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Neuropsychiatry. The first patient was admitted to this new facility in 1922. The state hospital system has been notoriously understaffed for years. The Vernon campus was mandated by the 70th Texas Legislature to provide services to six populations: In January 2018 the NTSH re-opened the Victory Field location[3][4] to house adolescent with dually-diagnosed substance abuse and mental health problems most of whom are there as a condition of their probation, having had significant involvement with the juvenile justice system. Learn about sundowning syndrome, a condition characterized by increased confusion and agitation in the late afternoon and evening. 208-476-4511. VERNON, Texas (KEYE) - A police department in North Texas says a patient with Austin ties who was committed at the North Texas State Hospital after being . Published: Jan. 13, 2022 at 4:34 PM PST. Fax: 940-552-1007. Keith Clayton's death is an example of the sometimes-fatal effects of restraints used to subdue patients at Texas' state-run facilities for people with mental illness institutions that face an uncertain future due to unpredictable funding, crumbling infrastructure and a growing demand to house patients from an overcrowded criminal justice system. In 1970 the . Still Practicing: Tracking Problem Doctors, Texas Coronavirus Vaccine Rollout Investigations, Sign up for More than the Score Sports newsletter, GoFundMe to help pay for Justin Reeders funeral expenses, State mental hospital backlog grows, new record exceeds 2,500 waiting in jail, State hospital staffing emergency looms as record 2,100 wait in jail for treatment, As Bowie archive finds new home at UK museum, start, 5 fun crafts for kids on St. Patricks Day, Inspired by the Iditarod race? Claim this business. World War II brought about a wartime shortage of available employees with only 234 staff members serving a patient population of about 2,400. Police said this was the 18th homicide in Wichita Falls in 2022. The hospital's population remained relatively steady between 1945 and the mid-1970s; its physical growth, however, continued. The average daily census of patients at Rusk State Hospital in 1964 was 1,942; by 1967, 1,886 patients were housed there, and a maximum-security unit for the criminally insane was a part of the facility. High turnover and vacancies were exacerbated by the pandemic and remain a problem. Before your visit, please contact the patients treatment team to coordinate any visits or releases. 28, 2023, Lisa Esposito and Michael O. SchroederFeb. Narrow your results to famous, Non-Cemetery Burials . They had agonized for days over what to do about 55-year-old Keith Clayton, who was hallucinating, talking about suicide and showing symptoms of schizophrenia. Roy, reached by telephone, declined to discuss the letter or Clayton's death. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely. There are a few things everyone should know before visiting us: We hope you come visit us and your loved ones in our care soon! 940-692-1220 940-552-9901 940-552-1400. We have security observation towers, use electronic monitoring and have cameras in our buildings and in certain areas outside of our buildings, he said. It was an unseasonably cold day when the officers arrived; a light snow sprinkled the high plains of Texas Panhandle country. When COVID hit, Justin was thrown way off, Mandy said. VERNON, Texas (KTRK) -- Six miles from the Oklahoma border and a world away from Houston, 450 of Texas' most violent accused killers, rapists, and otherwise criminally charged defendants wander the campus of a renovated geriatric treatment center getting mental health treatment. 940-552-1400. U.S. News also ranked hospitals in the Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, McAllen . The treatment comes with a far higher cost than traditional jail stays. If you have experience with or information about the Texas state hospital system, email ewalters@texastribune.org. State statistics show the wait list has grown in recent years. Justin . The North Texas State Hospital (NTSH) is an inpatient mental health facility owned by the State of Texas and under the Texas Health and Human Service Commission's Health and Specialty Care System division. , TX. Its our 10th year participating in Amplify, and to celebrate, weve got $15,000 in matching funds from four generous Tribune supporters. Read more , High Performing in 6 Specialties & 11 Procedures/Conditions, Memorial Hermann Greater Heights Hospital in Houston, TX is not nationally ranked in any specialty. Coverage Areas: Kaufman County. RELATED: APB issued for escaped North Texas State Hospital patient. State and federal government websites often end in .gov. Texas Health & Human Services Commission. "The vast majority adapt quickly.". When pressed, department spokeswoman Christine Mann wrote in an email that there was "no additional releasable information" on Keith Clayton's death "No police report or video footage.". In all the years Justin had lived at home through difficult periods and outbursts that could require physical restraint never once did Justin get anything beyond a bruise or scratch, Mandy said. It took five months for a medical examiner to rule the death an accident. Samantha Clayton said she struggles daily with the guilt of agreeing to have her father committed to an institution. But amid the state's investigation, James Smith, the superintendent of the North Texas State Hospital, offered a spirited defense of Roy and his colleagues, saying he disagreed with the findings and had doubts about the "objectivity" of the Adult Protective Services review. Saturday - Sunday: Closed. Crucial information about the circumstances of Clayton's death, she wrote, "was requested and not received.". North Texas State Hospital is located at 6515 Kemp Blvd, Wichita Falls, TX 76308 and can be contacted via phone number (940) 692-1220. Lack of workers forcing North Texas State Hospital to turn patients away. State hospital policy also does not require an autopsy for every death on campus. What first inspired you to pursue your career? Program Name: Forensic Veteran Program. In one of his final job performance reviews, less than three months after Clayton's death, a supervisor at the state hospital wrote that Tinoco "has good verbal communication to help promote prevention of restraint and seclusion.". That's the case with the award-winning Pullitzer Prize-nominated author David Foster Wallace. According to the report, Ervin's mother said he "hated the perception that he was mentally ill" and that "he often denied his symptoms, refused medications and had so much trouble in treatment programs." 6515 Kemp Boulevard 4730 College Drive 8407 FM 433W. Last summer, Joshua Lopez, who shot and killed ElmendorfPolice Chief Michael Pimentel nearly fouryears ago, arrived here after years of legal wrangling and competency hearings. North Texas State Hospital. Ted Oberg Investigates made the seven-hour trip to Vernon to see the hospital for ourselves. Some depression stories don't have a happen ending. Adult Protective Services investigators determined that Roy had committed "Class I Physical Abuse.". The North Texas State Hospital is located in Vernon, Texas just 6 miles from the Texas-Oklahoma border. Services: Cultural Awareness/Competencies Training, Forensic Psychiatry, Psychiatric Rehabilitation. The green line is the total of both categories. "I really don't feel comfortable just talking to you over the phone about something that happened two years ago," he said. He is 5-foot, 8-inches tall, bald with a mustache, and was last seen wearing a grey hoodie, tan pants and a whitet-shirt. The Austin American-Statesmen previously reported that Ervin was found not guilty by reason of insanity in the 2013 fatal stabbing of his 58-year-old father in West Austin. Alexander Ervin, 29, has been missing from the Vernon Campus of the North Texas State . Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, TX is nationally ranked in 1 adult specialty. UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, TX is nationally ranked in 9 adult specialties. It is Medicare certified. Mandy said she has hired a legal team to represent them. When they did, Tinoco told them Clayton had come up behind him and punched him in the back of the head while he was supervising another patient. If you need help with the Public File, call 210-351-1241. "There should not be a waiting list for state mental health services. By that time, Tinoco had left the state hospital and was working at a nearby factory. According to Vernon Police Department Captain Wayne Hodges: Shortly before 7 p.m., Sunday, Alexander Ervin, 29, was taken into custody in Austin by city police. Throughout Justins life there were times when he would experience a cycle, or period where his medications werent balanced or effective. There are no handcuffs, no shackles, dormitory doors are locked only at shift changes; guards are out of sight. Youll find it here at North Texas State Hospital in the passion of our expert staff and the courage of our patients. NOTE: All statistics and proposals were current as of Nov. 2016. ", "We didn't have any idea if it was a patient that did it, or if it was a staff member, or not," she said. At 235 lbs. Information. The victim, Mauricio Garcia, 57, was transported to United Regional Health Care. For two years, she said, she'd been told he died in a "scuffle. AUSTIN (KXAN) Mandy Reeder has been left devastated and baffled by the loss of her eldest son who died in North Texas State Hospital in September. Rusk State Hospital for the mentally ill was opened in 1919 by the conversion of the Rusk Prison building into a hospital. The Helen Farabee Family Living Center at North Texas State Hospitals Wichita Falls campus and the Vernon Paradise House offer rooms for friends and families visiting residents of the Wichita Falls and Vernon hospital campuses. On the day of abc13's visit, some of the mentally ill accused criminals were silk-screening shirts for a nearby school, while others were pruning plants for an on-site nursery. Actively violent patients are kept in a more secure, constantly locked unit where staff work behind fortified glass and locked doors. Ascension Seton Medical Center Austin in Austin, TX is not nationally ranked in any specialty. Contact: North Texas State Hospital 6515 Kemp Boulevard Wichita Falls TX, 76308 www.tx.us (940) 692-1220. . Services Phone Numbers. They wouldn't tell us anything.". . Wichita Falls Police have arrested a murder suspect in an incident that occurred at the North Texas State Hospital Nov. 20. And we couldnt do that., Mandy said she was disturbed by Justins downward spiral and that he was being put in mechanical restraints a chair with a four-point restraint, ankles and wrists.. A 2008 Harris County study suggests that same patient is housed and treated in the Harris County Jail for just $21. Staff checked for pulse. Surrounding the facility is a 15-foot-high unclimbable fence. Early on, it included a general hospital. Government Agency. The grief hits you in waves, Mandy said. In the quiet room, nurses said they noticed Clayton had lost consciousness and turned pale. Restraints may not obstruct a patient's breathing or put pressure on the patient's torso. The wait list has never been this long. DSH-Patton provides treatment to forensically and civilly committed patients within a secure treatment area. To the contrary. Clayton, grabbing him from behind in a bear hug-like move and bringing him down to the floor, where he "applied pressure to his shoulders" for roughly five minutes, according to the police report. At every turn, they said, they were told the information they sought was secret. We also serve forensic psychiatric patients primarily referred for competency restoration. The Texas Department of Health and Human Services confirms the death at Sundance Behavioral Hospital in Arlington on Saturday, September 15. Published: Jun. Twenty-six meet high U.S. News standards and are ranked in the state. 55 were here. We're here to help you have your day in court.". Instead judges send them for mental health treatment with the hope they can be restored to mental health competency. "Believe me the security staff knows exactly where we are, everywhere we've been and where we will be all day," he said. KXAN has requested records related to Justins death from local and state law enforcement and HHSC. It was not a spur-of-the-moment decision for the elderly couple from Borger, Texas. Proudly providing successful drug and alcohol treatment services in Vernon, TX, North Texas State Hospital customizes each treatment program to the patient's status and special needs. "I'm tough on crime, but when a judge says a man is sick and sends him to a hospital, I thought they meant it," he said. heavier than Clayton, according to police records. Vernon, TX 76385 Vernon, near the Texas-Oklahoma border, is home to a maximum-security facility for mentally incompetent people often charged with felonies and considered dangerous. When Justins condition didnt improve, Mandy said, he was later moved in March 2021 to the Vernon campus of North Texas State Hospital. He would go to a hospital and his medications would be recalibrated. An autopsy found he died of a ruptured spleen caused by blunt trauma to the abdomen. Any visitors must be buzzed in. Patients and staff will be moving to the Victory Field campus . We also serve forensic psychiatric patients primarily referred for competency restoration. Best Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC), Best Medicare Advantage Plan Companies 2023, Best Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plan Companies 2023, Baylor Scott and White Medical Center-Temple, Memorial Hermann Greater Heights Hospital, Find Continuing Care Retirement Communites. Intermediate security forensic psychiatric services to adults . Copyright 2023 KTRK-TV. His team of mental health providers cannot move patients out any faster, especially ones who need more treatment than in years past. He threw everything he could at Justin to try to get him back, Mandy said. More than two months after that, on Sept. 8, 2014, Love updated the report once more to say the medical examiner still could not determine the cause of Clayton's death because of missing information. When the Tribune obtained a list of employees who witnessed the restraint and presented it to the state health department, officials said it would cost more than $400 to provide information about those employees. 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