‘Deplorable condition’ in unit at R.I. state-run hospital, advocacy group finds

The independent, federally-mandated Disability Rights Rhode Island found dead bugs in a patient’s room, cockroaches and spiders, evidence of rodents, black mold on a shower used by patients, and bathroom sinks filled with discolored water.

The Eleanor Slater Hospital's Adolf Meyer Building in Cranston.Lane Turner/Globe Staff

CRANSTON, R.I. — A patient advocacy organization in late November found part of an Eleanor Slater Hospital building in “deplorable condition,” according to a report the organization sent to the state-run hospital’s leadership Tuesday.

Problems at the Adolf Meyer building in Cranston included dead bugs in an occupied patient room, water leaks, exposed metal around windows and floors, cockroaches and spiders, evidence of rodents, peeling and chipping paint, black mold on a shower used by patients, and bathroom sinks that were filled with discolored water. The report singled out in particular an area of the building called ”AM-11″ where two patients are now occupying rooms, describing the “deplorable condition” there.

A photo included in a Disability Rights Rhode Island report shows discolored water in a sink in part of the Eleanor Slater Hospital Adolf Meyer building in Cranston. Disability Rights Rhode Island

The issues were identified on Nov. 29 by two investigators with Disability Rights Rhode Island, the independent, federally-mandated advocacy organization for people with disabilities. The monitoring visit came after DRRI, as the organization is known, learned that patients were being housed in an area of the Adolf Meyer building that wasn’t previously occupied. The patients had been discharged from a different facility.

“Disability Rights Rhode Island has conducted monitoring visits to the Adolf Meyer building at Eleanor Slater Hospital and we have documented health and safety deficiencies,” DDRI Executive Director Morna Murray said Friday in an e-mail. “On December 6, 2022, we sent a corrective action plan to BHDDH to address these deficiencies, with a deadline of 30 days. We look forward to prompt compliance by the state.”

A photo included in a Disability Rights Rhode Island report shows mold in part of the Eleanor Slater Hospital Adolf Meyer building in Cranston.Disability Rights Rhode Island

In a statement, the state Department of Behavioral Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Hospitals said it “disagrees with DRRI’s characterization of the condition of the unit as ‘deplorable,’” but acknowledged there were “cosmetic concerns throughout the building” which are addressed as needed. Patient care areas are cleaned on a daily basis, BHDDH said.

“Mold issues are routinely addressed and those identified by DRRI have been addressed,” spokesman Randal Edgar said Friday in an e-mail. “The building also sees routine pest control. The sinks cited by DRRI are in areas that are not being used. In some cases, the design features of the building are what they are. For instance, the holes in screen frames are keyholes. Some of the issues raised by DRRI are in non-patient areas.”

Edgar said that Eleanor Slater Hospital opened an additional wing at the Adolf Meyer building in mid-November to take admissions from the Rhode Island State Psychiatric Hospital.

“The wing in question was thoroughly cleaned before patients were admitted and major mechanical issues were addressed,” Edgar said. He added later in his statement: “The hospital is working with the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance to address concerns in the building and keep it properly maintained while it is still in use.”

The report outlining the problems ran 34 pages in total, and includes numerous photographs of the problems. Jeanne Natale, the director of investigations for DRRI, e-mailed the report to Richard Charest, the director of the Department of Behavioral Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Hospitals. BHDDH runs Eleanor Slater Hospital, which has units in Cranston and Burrillville. Across its campuses, Eleanor Slater Hospital cares for a mix of patients with complex psychiatric and medical needs, like patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and patients who are on ventilators. The system has been under scrutiny for years over issues ranging from patient care to the condition of the buildings.

As the report Tuesday demonstrates, those issues continue. Because of the “deficiencies” that the monitoring visit revealed, Natale requested the state take steps, including a plan of action about repairing the issues; a report of all pest control inspections for the past two years; and a copy of water testing and lead paint testing done at Adolf Meyer, often known as the AM building.

In the report, Natale also sought an explanation for why patients were being discharged from the Rhode Island State Psychiatric Hospital, now a separate facility outside the Eleanor Slater Hospital umbrella, to the AM building. DRRI investigators were told the patients had been moved there because they were ready for discharge, but the organization said it is seeking clarity because “AM is considered a higher level of care for a person who is discharge ready.”

Edgar said in an e-mail: “The courts are seeing more individuals who have had past contact with the criminal justice system and who also have significant behavioral health conditions that require treatment, and the Rhode Island State Psychiatric Hospital is required by state law to admit court-ordered patients who are incompetent to stand trial. Because of space limitations at the Rhode Island State Psychiatric Hospital, the Adolf Meyer building is used to accommodate patients who have reduced acuity and it will continue to be used, as needed, until renovations planned for the Regan facility are complete.”

The Regan facility is also in Cranston.

A state consultant in October 2020 described the Adolf Meyer building as in poor condition, with numerous safety issues to address. It was originally built in 1908. The state considered closing the building when Gina Raimondo was governor. In June 2021, then-Secretary of the Executive Office of Health and Human Services Womazetta Jones echoed that recommendation in a report to Governor Dan McKee, when she listed closing the AM building as a priority action that should be completed in about the next 12 months.

The state now says the Adolf Meyer building is projected to close in mid-2025.

The Globe reported in a separate incident this week that a worker was arrested and charged with keeping an AR-15 ghost gun in his locker in the motor pool building of the Zambarano campus in Burrillville.

This story has been updated with additional details from a statement from BHDDH spokesman Randal Edgar.