University Legal Services, a District-based disability advocacy organization, filed documents in U.S. District Court Monday alleging that St. Elizabeth's, the District's public mental hospital, lacks enough staff to maintain the facility and treat the patients, The Washington Post reported.
The organization, which spent more than a year looking at hospital documents and recording witness depositions as part of a lawsuit against the District government, alleged that the staff shortages at St. Elizabeth's were the cause of a host of problems including insufficient psychiatric treatment and unsanitary conditions, according to The Post.
University Legal Services said the documents add further weight to its argument that the court system must order the District to make changes at the hospital, since the problems occurring there are endangering both the patients and staff, The Post reported.
The allegations came to light after Mark Harris, a 39-year-old patient at St. Elizabeth's, died after a staff member tried to restrain him, according to The Post.
