Probe of Kalamazoo Psychiatric Hospital Continues

The state says a former director of the Kalamazoo Psychiatric Hospital failed to report that the death of a patient in March may have involved negligence.

WOOD-TV and the Kalamazoo Gazette obtained details of an investigation by the Michigan Department of Community Health's Office of Recipient Rights via the Freedom of Information Act.

The state earlier suspended Director James J. Coleman as it acted on complaints about patient treatment, which included the March 6 death of 68-year-old Majel Youdell of Kalamazoo. Video surveillance shows she removed her own oxygen tube.

Coleman, who disputes the investigation's findings, later resigned. A nursing director and nurse were fired.

The facility is one of three state hospitals in Michigan that provide adult inpatient psychiatric services. It has an average of 160 patients.

-AP